The Himalayan Mountain Range

The Himalaya is still growing. Every year, the same tectonic push that first raised it lifts it a little higher, and shakes the ground while doing so.

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Indian Geography · IndGeo0022

The Himalaya: Three Ranges, North to South

Himadri (Greater Himalaya)

6,000+ metres, the highest peaks

Mount Everest and Kanchenjunga sit here, permanently snow-covered.

Himachal (Lesser Himalaya)

3,500-4,500 metres, valleys and hill stations

Home to Kullu and Kangra — the belt most people mean by “the hills.”

Shiwalik (Outer Himalaya)

900-1,200 metres, the youngest belt

Duns — river-cut valleys — separate it from Himachal to the north.

Still rising, still shaking

The Indian Plate keeps pushing north at ~5 cm a year — lifting the Himalaya a few millimetres annually, and keeping the whole belt seismically active.

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Must Know

• The Himalaya formed when the Indian Plate collided with the Eurasian Plate, roughly 50 million years ago.
• That collision thrust land upward, folding it into mountains. It’s a classic fold-mountain range.
• The range splits into three parallel belts: Himadri (Greater Himalaya), Himachal (Lesser Himalaya), and Shiwalik (Outer Himalaya).
• Himadri, the northernmost belt, holds the highest peaks, including Mount Everest and Kanchenjunga, both permanently snow-covered.
• Shiwalik, the southernmost and youngest belt, sits lowest, at roughly 900 to 1,200 metres.

Good to Know

• Himachal, the middle belt, averages 3,500 to 4,500 metres. It holds well-known valleys like Kullu and Kangra.
• Longitudinal valleys called duns sit between the Shiwalik and Himachal ranges.
• Duns formed as Lesser Himalayan rivers cut across the rising Shiwaliks, first forming lakes, then draining as the rivers cut through.
• Regionally, geographers divide the Himalaya into five stretches: Punjab, Kumaon, Nepal, Assam, and the Eastern Hills, or Purvanchal.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. The Himalaya formed through the collision of which two tectonic plates, roughly 50 million years ago?

The Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate

The Pacific Plate and the North American Plate

The African Plate and the Arabian Plate

The Antarctic Plate and the Australian Plate

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Great to Know

• The Indian Plate keeps pushing north into the Eurasian Plate, at roughly 5 centimetres a year.
• That ongoing push still lifts the Himalaya by a few millimetres each year.
• Convergence rates vary along the arc: about 13 millimetres a year in Kashmir, rising to 18 to 20 millimetres a year in the central Himalaya.
• Because the collision never stopped, the entire Himalayan belt remains seismically active today.