Geographic Regions of South Asia

The South Asian subcontinent has three main
geographic regions—the Northern Mountain
Rim, the Northern Plains, and the Deccan
Plateau. Off the coast are two island countries,
Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
The Northern Mountain Rim is made up
of the Hindu Kush Mountains, the Himalayas,
and the Karakoram Mountains. These
mountains separate the subcontinent from
the rest of Asia. However, some passes have
allowed Asian peoples to get through them
since ancient times. One of these, the Khyber
Pass, connects Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Himalayas stretch for 1,500 miles across
northern India and Nepal. Many of its peaks
are four and a half miles high. Few people live
in this region.

The Northern Plains lie between the
Himalayas and southern India. The region
includes the Ganges and Indus rivers that form
large deltas where they empty into the sea. A
delta is a triangular deposit of soil at the mouth
of a river. The Ganges River carries sediment
from the Himalayas to the plains. Sediment
includes minerals and debris that settle at the
bottom of a river. During the rainy season, the
Northern Plains flood, and sediment from the
Ganges River is deposited there. This makes the
plains fertile for farming.
The Deccan Plateau makes up most of
southern India. The plateau has mineral
deposits, as well as forests. The Ghats are
mountains that border the plateau. In the
interior part of the plateau, the soil is poorer,
water supplies are unreliable, and it is hot year
round. Fewer people live here than in the
Northern Plains.
Sri Lanka and the Maldives lie south and
southwest of India. Parts of mountainous Sri
Lanka receive a lot of rain. The Maldives
is a country with more than 1,200 coral islands
called atolls. People live on about 300 of
these islands.