Physiography of India: The Six Physical Divisions

India has some of the world’s youngest mountains and some of its oldest rock. Both sit inside one country. This article covers the six physical divisions that make up India’s landmass.

India, a Subcontinent: Physiography at a Glance

IndGeo0007

India is a distinct sub-region of Asia: huge, ringed by nature, and built of three geological regions.

6

Physiographic divisions

Himalayas, Northern Plains, Plateau, Desert, Coasts, Islands

3

Himalayan ranges

Himadri, Himachal and the Shiwaliks

8,586 m

Kangchenjunga

India’s highest peak, world’s third

Himalayas

North & east wall

Youngest mountains, the subcontinent’s boundary

Ocean

South & west seas

Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal

Stable

Peninsular shield

Oldest rock, one of Earth’s most stable landmasses

The young Himalayas and the ancient, stable Peninsular shield sit together in one landmass.

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Must Know

• India has six physiographic divisions: the Himalayas, the Northern Plains, the Peninsular Plateau, the Indian Desert, the Coastal Plains, and the Islands.
• The Himalayas have three parallel ranges. Himadri (Greater Himalayas) averages 6,000 m and holds the tallest peaks. Himachal (Lesser Himalayas) runs 3,700-4,500 m. Shiwaliks (Outer Himalayas) run only 900-1,100 m.
• Kangchenjunga, at 8,586 m, is India’s highest peak and the world’s third-highest.
• The Northern Plains are alluvial plains, built by the Indus, Ganga, and Brahmaputra river systems and their tributaries.

Good to Know

• The Peninsular Plateau is one of the most stable landmasses on Earth. It formed from the ancient Gondwana landmass and is made of hard igneous and metamorphic rock.
• The Coastal Plains split into two. The Western Coastal Plain (Konkan, Malabar) is narrow. The Eastern Coastal Plain (Coromandel) is wider, and carries the deltas of the Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri rivers.
• India’s Islands have two different origins. Lakshadweep, in the Arabian Sea, is coral in origin. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, are an extension of Myanmar’s Arakan Yoma range.
• Long valleys between the Lesser Himalayas and the Shiwaliks are called “Duns.” Dehra Dun is the best-known example.

Test Yourself

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1. How many major physiographic divisions does India have?

Four

Six

Eight

Five

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Great to Know

• The age gap between the Himalayas and the Peninsular Plateau explains a lot about India’s hazard map. The young, still-rising Himalayas sit in an active seismic zone, while the ancient, stable Peninsular Plateau sees far fewer major earthquakes.
• Alluvial soil in the Northern Plains isn’t a coincidence of geography. It exists because three major rivers deposit fresh sediment nearly every monsoon, which is exactly why the plains support India’s most intensive farming.
• The Western and Eastern Coastal Plains differ in width for a structural reason, not a random one. The west coast is a fault-guided, steep coastline near the Western Ghats, while the east coast is a wide, gently sloping depositional plain built up by major river deltas.
• Two very different island chains getting grouped under one heading, “Islands,” shows a limit of physiographic classification. Coral-built Lakshadweep and the geologically mountainous Andaman and Nicobar Islands have almost nothing in common except being surrounded by sea.

Why India Is a Subcontinent

• India is the world’s seventh-largest country, covering about 3.28 million km² — large enough to rank as a subcontinent.
• The Himalayas wall it off from Asia’s mainland to the north and northeast, while the Indian Ocean bounds it to the south.
• Three broad geological regions — the Himalayan range, the Indo-Gangetic plain, and the Peninsular plateau — differ in structure and age.
• The ancient Peninsular shield, with some of Earth’s oldest rock, is among its most stable landmasses, unlike the young, rising Himalayas.
• Its size and relief yield varied climate, soils, flora, and fauna — alpine to tropical — all within one landmass.
• Shared Himalayan drainage, a common monsoon regime, and long historical-cultural unity bind it into one sub-region of Asia.

Previous Year Questions

• Why is India considered as a subcontinent? Elaborate your answer. (UPSC Mains 2021, GS Paper I, 10 marks)
• How to answer: Define a “subcontinent” as a large, self-contained landmass within a continent, then build the case for India with its size, natural boundaries, contrasting geological regions, stable Peninsular shield, and resulting climatic and cultural diversity.
• Target about 150 words: open with the definition, give one or two sentences to each supporting point, and close with the unity the monsoon and shared drainage give the region.