1. Land and the People

 Geographical Background

Great mountain zone

• Jelep La and Nathu La pass is on the main Indo-Tibet trade route in the Chumbi valley
• Shipki La in the Satluj valley.
• The mountain wall extends over a distance of about 2,400 km with a varying depth of 240 to 320 km. 
• In the east, between India and Myanmar and India and Bangladesh, hill ranges are much lower.
• Garo, Khasi, Jaintia and Naga Hills, running almost east-west, join the chain to Mizo and Rakhine Hills running north-south.

Plains of Ganga & Indus

• The plains of the Ganga and the Indus, about 2,400 km long and 240 to 320 km broad, are formed by basins of three distinct river systems—the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra.
• They are one of the world’s greatest stretches of flat alluvium and also one of the most densely populated areas on the earth. 

Desert region

• It can be divided into two parts—the ‘great desert’ and the ‘little desert’. 
• The great desert- from Rann of Kutch to the Luni river.
• The little desert- from the Luni between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur up to the northern west.
• Zone of rocky land of limestone ridges: Between the great and the little deserts

Southern peninsula

• In Peninsular Plateau hill ranges varies from 460 to 1,220 metres in height.
• Prominent hills: Aravali, Vindhya, Satpura, Maikala and Ajanta.
• The Peninsula is flanked on the one side by the Eastern Ghats and on the other by the Western Ghats. Between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea lies a narrow coastal strip, while between Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, there is a broader coastal area. 
• The southern point of the plateau is formed by the Nilgiri Hills where the Eastern and the Western Ghats meet.
• The Cardamom Hills lying beyond may be regarded as a continuation of the Western Ghats. 

Himalayan mountain belt

The Himalayan mountain belt to the north and the Naga-Lushai mountain in the east, are the regions of mountain-building movement. Most of this area was under marine conditions about 60 crore years ago. In a series of mountain building movements, the sediments and the basement rocks rose to great heights. The weathering and erosive elements worked on these to produce the relief seen today.

Indo-Ganga plains

It is a great alluvial tract that separates the Himalayas in the north from the Peninsula in the south. 

The Peninsula

• It is a region of relative stability and occasional seismic disturbances.
• Highly metamorphosed rocks of the earliest periods occur in this area; the rest being covered by the Gondwana formations, lava flows belonging to the Deccan Trap formation and younger sediments.

Himalayan rivers

• The Himalayan rivers are formed by melting snow and glaciers and therefore, continuously flow throughout the year.
• The main Himalayan river systems are those of the Indus and the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna system.

Indus: 

• It rises near Mansarovar in Tibet and flows through India and thereafter through Pakistan and finally falls into the Arabian sea near Karachi.
• Its Indian tributaries are:  Sutlej (originating in Tibet), the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab and the Jhelum.

Ganga: 

• Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda, which join at Dev Prayag to form the Ganga. It traverses through Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. 
• The Yamuna, the Ramganga, the Ghaghra, the Gandak, the Kosi, the Mahananda and the Sone are the important tributaries of the Ganga. Rivers Chambal and Betwa join the Yamuna.

Brahmaputra: 

• The Brahmaputra rises in Tibet, where it is known as Tsangpo. Near Passighat, the Debang and Lohit join it.  It crosses into Bangladesh downstream of Dhubri. 
• The Padma and the Brahmaputra join at Bangladesh and continue to flow as the Padma or Ganga.
• The Brahmaputra in Bangladesh fed by Teesta, etc. finally falls into the Ganga.
• The principal tributaries of Brahmaputra in India are the Subansiri, Jia Bhareli, Dhansiri, Puthimari, Pagladiya and the Manas.

Deccan rivers

• The Deccan rivers are rainfed and therefore fluctuate in volume and hence many are non-perennial.
• The major east flowing rivers are Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery and Mahanadi. Narmada and Tapti are major west-flowing rivers. 
• Godavari: It has the second largest river basin covering 10 per cent of the area of India.
• River basin: Godavari > Krishna > Mahanadi
• The river basin of Narmada and Cauvery are about the same size, though with different character and shape. 

Coastal Rivers

• While only handful of coastal rivers drain into the sea near the delta of the east coast, there are as many as 600 such rivers on the west coast. 

Inland Rivers

• A few rivers in Rajasthan do not drain into the sea. They drain into salt lakes and get lost in the sand with no outlet to sea.
• Besides these, there are the desert rivers which flow for some distance and are lost in the desert.
• These are Luni, Machhu, Rupen, Saraswati, Banas, Ghaggar and others. 

Winter

From December to early April, coldest months are December and January.

Summer or pre-monsoon season

For western and southern region: from April to June, the hottest month is April

For North western Region: from April to July, May is the hottest month.

Monsoon or rainy season

From June to September, dominated by the humid south-west summer monsoon. Monsoon rains begin to recede from North India at the beginning of October. South India typically receives more rainfall.

Post-monsoon season

From October to December, in north-western India, October and November are usually cloudless. 

Western Himalayas

• It extends from Kashmir to Kumaon. Its temperate zone is rich in forests of chir, pine. 
• Higher up, forests of deodar, blue pine, spruce and silver fir occur.  The alpine zone extends from the upper limit of the temperate zone of about 4,750 metres or even higher.
• The characteristic trees of this zone are high-level silver fir, silver birch and junipers.

Eastern Himalayas

It extends from Sikkim eastwards and embraces Darjeeling. It is rich in oaks, laurels, maples, rhododendrons, alder and birch. 

Assam

It comprises the Brahmaputra and the Surma valleys with evergreen forests, occasional thick clumps of bamboos and tall grasses.

Indus plain

It comprises the plains of Punjab, western Rajasthan and northern Gujarat. It is dry, hot and supports natural vegetation.

Ganga plain

It covers the area which is alluvial plain and is under cultivation for wheat, sugarcane and rice.

Only small areas support forests of widely differing types.

Deccan

It comprises the entire table land of the Indian Peninsula and supports vegetation of various kinds from shrub jungles to mixed deciduous forests.

Malabar

• It covers the excessively humid belt of mountain country parallel to the west coast of the Peninsula.
• This region produces important commercial crops, such as coconut, betel nut, pepper, coffee, tea, rubber and cashew nut.

Andamans

It abounds in evergreen, mangrove, beach and diluvial forests. ? 

Census

Census 2011 was the 15th census of its kind since 1872.  The Final Population data was released on April 30, 2013. 

Population

• 1,210.9 million (623.2 million males and 587.6 million females) in 2011
•  1901- 238.4 million, 2011- 1,210.9 million
•  From 1901 the population has grown steadily except for a decrease during 1911-21. 

Population Density

• It is defined as the number of persons per sq. km.
• PD in 2011 was 382 per sq. km-with a decadal growth 17.72 %. 
• Increased in all states and union territories between 1991 and 2011. 
• Among major states: Bihar (1,106)>West Bengal (1,028)> Kerala (860)

Sex Ratio

• It is defined as the number of females per thousand males is an important social indicator. 
• Always remained unfavourable to females.
• In 1901-972and thereafter showed continuous decline until 1941. 
• The sex ratio from 1901-2011 has registered a 10-point increase at census 2011 over 2001.
• However, child sex ratio has declined to 919 per thousand males. 

Literacy

• For the purpose of census 2011, a person aged seven and above, who can both read and write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate. 
• A person, who can only read but cannot write, is not literate.
  • In the censuses prior to 1991, children below five years of age were necessarily treated as illiterates.
  • 2011 census reveals that there has been an increase in literacy in the country. The literacy rate in the country is 73.0 per cent, 80.9 for males and 64.6 for females. 
  • Kerala retained its position by being on top with a 94 per cent literacy rate, closely followed by Lakshadweep (91.9 per cent). Bihar with a literacy rate of 61.8 per cent ranks last in the country.

Kerala also occupies the top spot in the country both in male literacy with 96.1 per cent and female literacy with 92.1 per cent. On the contrary, Bihar has recorded the lowest literacy rates both in case of males (71.2 per cent) and females (51.5 per cent).