INDIAN STATES

1.West Bengal

Stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south, West Bengal is primarily composed of plain land, except the north where the southern flank of the Himalayas extends into the state. Part of the Ganga- Brahmaputra delta constitutes the eastern part of West Bengal. From the northern highlands to the tropical forests of Sunderbans, variations in altitude result in great variety in nature and climate.

2.Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand is located in the foothills of the Himalayas. The region is mostly mountainous with a major portion covered with forests.

3,Uttar Pradesh

On the basis of its physiography, the main regions of Uttar Pradesh are the central plains of the Ganga and its tributaries, the southern uplands, the Himalayan region, and the submontane region between the Himalayas and the plains. The Gangetic Plain occupies about three-fourths of the total area of Uttar Pradesh.

4.Tripura

Tripura is a land of hills, plains and valleys. The central and northern part of the state is a hilly region that is intersected by four major valleys.

5.Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu is divided between the flat areas along the eastern coast and the hilly regions in the north and west. The Kavery delta is the broadest part of the eastern plains, with the arid plains of Ramanathapuram and Madurai towards the south.

6.Sikkim

Sikkim is a small hilly state situated in the Eastern Himalayas. It is a basin surrounded on three sides by steep mountain walls.

7.Rajasthan

Rajasthan is the largest state in India. It shares an international boundary with Pakistan in the west.

8.Punjab

Punjab is largely a flat plain that rises gently from about 150 metres in the southwest to about 300 metres in the northeast. Physiographically, it can be divided into three parts:

9.Orissa

Orissa has a coastline of about 450 km. It is divided into five major physiographic regions: the central plateaus, the coastal plain in the east, the western rolling uplands, the middle mountainous and highland regions, and the flood plains. The middle mountainous and highland region covers about threefourths of the entire state and is a part of the Eastern Ghats.

10.Nagaland

The State is mostly mountainous except those areas bordering Assam valley. The Naga Hills run through this state.

11.Mizoram

Mizoram is a mountainous region with steep hills separated by rivers that create deep gorges between them. Phawngpui or the Blue Mountain is the highest peak (2210m). The Tropic of Cancer runs through the state.

12.Meghalaya

The state of Meghalaya is a region of uplands that has been formed by a detached part of the Deccan Plateau. In the western part of Meghalaya, the Garo Hills rise abruptly from the Brahmaputra valley to about 300 metres.They merge with the Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills.

13.Manipur

Manipur can be divided into two distinct physical regionsthe outlying area of rugged hills and narrow valleys, and the inner area of flat plains. The Loktak Lake is an important geographic feature of the central plain area.

14.Maharashtra

The dominant physical feature of the state is its plateau, the western upturned edges of this plateau rise to form the Sahyadri Range. The major rivers and their main tributaries have eroded the plateau into alternating river valleys and intervening higher-level interfluous.

15.Madhya Pradesh

The second largest Indian state, lying between the Indo- Gangetic Plain in the north and the Deccan Plateau in the south. Its landscape, which is largely made up of wide-ranging plateaus, low hills and river valleys, ranges from 100 to 1200 metres.

16.Kerala

Kerala is a narrow strip of land on the south-west coast of India. The Lakshadweep Sea lies on the west, while the Western Ghats lie on the east.

17.Karnataka

About 750 km from north to south and 400 km from east to west, Karnataka can be divided in four physiographic regions:

18.Jharkhand

The Jharkhand region lies to the south of Bihar and encompasses Santhal Parganas and Chota Nagpur. It is a plateau region about 1000 metres above sea level, which features densely forested hill ranges.

19.Jammu and Kashmir

The northern extremity of India, Jammu and Kashmir is bounded by Pakistan, Afghanistan and China from west to east Himachal Pradesh and Punjab are on its south.

20.Himachal Pradesh

Almost completely mountainous with attitudes varying from 350 m to 6,975 m above sea level, Himachal Pradesh can be divided into five zones:

21.Haryana

The state has four main geographical features: (i) The Shivalik hills in the north, source of main seasonal rivers; (ii) The Ghaggar-Yamuna plain, which is divided into two parts—the higher one called ‘Bangar’ and the lower one ‘Khadar’; (iii) A semi-desert plain, bordering the state of Rajasthan and (iv) The Aravalli Hills in the south, a dry area with uneven landscape.

22.Gujarat

The expansive Kathiawar Peninsula lies to the south of Kutch, between the Gulf of Kutch and the Gulf of Khambhat. This is another arid region and the coastal region gives way to a low area of wooded hilly region in the central part.

23.Goa

Goa is situated on the western (Konkan) coast of the Indian Peninsula, has a coastline of 131 km. It has a partly hilly terrain, with the Western Ghats rising to nearly 1200 metres in some parts of the state.

24.Chhattisgarh

The state has three agro-climatic zones namely Chhattisgarh plains, the northern hills of Chhattisgarh and the Bastar plateau. The Satpura mountain range lies in the northern part of the state; the plains of river Mahanadi and its tributaries lie in the central part of the state, while in the south lies the plateau of Bastar.

25.Bihar

Bihar is one of the landlocked states. The river Ganga flows through the middle of the Bihar plain from west to east and divides it into two halves.

26.Assam

Assam can be broadly divided into three geographical units: the alluvial Brahmaputra Valley covering large parts of the state in the north, the Barak Valley in the southern part of the state, and the hilly region that separates the two valleys.

27.Arunachal Pradesh

This state is land of lush green forests, deep river valleys, plateaus and mountainous with the Himalayan ranges lying along the northern borders crisscrossed with north-south running ranges. These divide the state into five river valleys: the Kameng, the Subansiri, the Siang, the Lohit and the Tirap.

28.Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh has three main physiographic regions: a coastal plain, the Eastern Ghats, and a plateau west of the Eastern Ghats. The coastal plain extends from the Bay of Bengal to the mountain ranges and runs nearly the entire length of Andhra Pradesh.