CLASS 3 SOCIAL SCIENCE CHAPTER- 5 OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY CONTENT-1 LANDFORMS OF INDIA LANDFORMS OF INDIA HILLS AND PLAINS PLATEAUS DESERTS ISLANDS MOUNTAINS MAJOR LANDFORMS AND RIVERS OF INDIA HILLS AND MOUNTAINS • A high land with a round top is called a hill . The Vindhya Ranges in central India and the Nilgiri Hills in south India are examples of hills. • Very high hills with sharp tops (peaks) are called mountains . The Himalayan Mountain Ranges in the north is a example of mountains. • The Himalayan Mountain Ranges lie in the north. There are many peaks in these mountains. In mountain regions, it is cold throughout the year. • Mount Everest, on the Nepal-China border, is the highest peak in the Himalayan mountain ranges as well as in the world. Many rivers such as the Ganga, Yamuna, Satluj and Brahmaputra originate in these mountains and flow down to the plains. These rivers are formed by the melting snow. THE HIMALAYAS ARE THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN RANGE IN THE WORLD PLAINS • Flat and level land is called a plain . To the south of Himalayas lie the Great Plains of India. In the plains, summers are hot and winters are cold. Rivers such as the Ganga and the Yamuna flow through these plains. These rivers have made the sofiel rtile . As a result, many crops are grown here. • There is a narrow strip of flat land along the eastern and the western coasts of India. It is known as the Eastern Coastal Plain and the Western Coastal Plain. These plains meet at Kanniyakumari. Rivers such as the Narmada, Tapi, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri flow through these plains and fall into the sea. The coastal areas are neither very hot nor very cold. THE GREAT PLAINS ARE ALSO KNOWN AS THE FOOD BASKET OF INDIA PLATEAUS • A high land with steep sides and a flat top is called a plateau . The southern part of India is a plateau. • The southern plateau is called the Deccan Plateau. It covers the largest area of our country. The region is surrounded by hill ranges on three sides. It has an uneven surface. The land is hard and rocky. It is less fertile than the plains. • There are many rivers in the Deccan Plateau. They depend on the rain for water. Some parts of the plateau ae covered with thick forests. • The southern part of India is surrounded by water bodies on three sides. This type of land is called a peninsula. THE SOUTHERN PLATEAU IS LOCATED BETWEEN THE EASTERN AND WESTERN COASTAL PLAINS DESERTS • A large area of land covered with sand is called a desert . In the north-western part of India lies the Indian Desert, also called the Thar Desert. It covers a large part of Rajasthan. This area is hot and dry. It gets very little rainfall. Very few plants and trees grow here. • The largest desert in the world is the Sahara. It lies in the northern Africa. The Sahara is one of theh ottest regions in the world. CAMELS ARE THE MAIN MEANS OF TRRANSPORT INDICATES THAR DESERT IN DESERTS ISLANDS • A piece of land surrounded by water on all sides is called an island . There are two groups of islands in our country. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie on the eastern side, in the Bay of Bengal . The Lakshadweep Islands lie on the western side, in the Arabian Sea . PREPARED BY- GEETA RANI.