A 2017 UPSC question tripped up many aspirants by asserting the Himalayas span “five States only” in India. They actually span six. This article covers how many states India’s major landforms really cross, and why the exact count matters for exam questions like this one.
Western Ghats landscape from Mullayyanagiri Betta, Karnataka. Photo: iMahesh, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
MCQ QuestionsIndGeo0146 · State Spans of Major Landforms
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Both the Himalayas and Western Ghats really span six States, not five
A common UPSC trap assumes both are confined to just five States each.
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Pulicat Lake spans exactly two States: Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
Survey of India
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Aravalli Range spans Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi
Geological Survey of India
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Western Ghats declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site
UNESCO
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Age of the Himalayas, formed by the India-Eurasia plate collision
Geological Survey of India
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Pulicat is India’s second-largest brackish-water lagoon, after Chilika
Wetlands of India
✊ Must Know
Real State Counts for Three Famous Landforms
- Himalayas The Himalayas run through six Indian States/UTs: Jammu and Kashmir/Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, West Bengal, and Arunachal Pradesh.
- Western Ghats The Western Ghats run through six States: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.
- Pulicat Lake Pulicat Lake genuinely spans just two States. It sits on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
📘 Good to Know
Two More Ranges Worth Knowing
- Aravalli Range The Aravallis run through four States. That list is Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi, a Union Territory sometimes counted alongside the States.
- Vindhya Range The Vindhyas stretch across Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. They form part of the traditional boundary between North and South India.
- UNESCO status UNESCO recognised the Western Ghats as a World Heritage Site in 2012. It is one of the world's eight "hottest hotspots" of biological diversity.
Test Yourself
🌟 Great to Know
Origins and Records
- Older than the Himalayas The Western Ghats are geologically older than the Himalayas. They formed from the breakup of the ancient Gondwana supercontinent, long before the Himalayan collision began.
- A tectonic collision The Himalayas began forming around 50 million years ago, when the Indian tectonic plate collided with the Eurasian plate. That collision is still ongoing, which is why the range keeps slowly rising.
- India's second-largest lagoon Pulicat Lake is India's second-largest brackish-water lagoon, after Chilika Lake in Odisha. It is separated from the Bay of Bengal by the narrow Sriharikota barrier island, home to ISRO's main satellite launch centre.
📝 Previous Year Questions
Which Statements Are Actually Correct?
- Answer: (b) Only statement 3 is correct — Pulicat Lake genuinely spans just two States.
- Why the trap works Both the Himalayas and the Western Ghats actually span six States each, not five. The question banks on the common misconception that both are neatly confined to five States.
- View this question on the full 2017 paper →
Beyond the answer
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