Himalayas :
The Himalayas are the highest mountain range in the world. Over 30 peaks in the Himalayas are over 24,000 ft/7315m high.
The Himalayas, literally translated as 'Land of Snow',
Where are the Himalayan mountains?
The Himalayas are the great mountain system of Asia. They form a 1,500-mile broad crescent through North-eastern Pakistan, Northern India, Southern Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan.
The Himalayas is one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world.
The Himalayas is the highest and one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world. Its origin can be traced in the Jurassic Era, which is about 80 million years ago. That time the world's landmasses were divided into Laurasia and Gondwanaland. Laurasia was in the Northern hemisphere and Gondwanaland in the southern hemisphere. The landmass, which is now India separated from Gondwanaland and collided with Asia and thus created the highest mountain range in the world. The Himalayas are mainly young folded mountains. It extends from west to east for about 2,500 km in a curve. The main mountain range, which divides the subcontinent of Indian from Nanga Parbat in the west stretches till Sikkim and Bhutan in the east. In the west, the part of this range divides Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh from Ladakh. The highest mountain ranges here are Nun and Kun. In Kashmir, the subsidiary point of the Himalayas includes the Kolahoi, Amarnath and North Sonarmarg ranges. If we go further east we will see that the Himalayas extends till the Baralacha range in Himachal Pradesh before it merges with the Parbati range to the east of the Kullu valley. It then further extends across Kinnaur Kailas to the swargarohini and Bandarpunch ranges in Uttaranchal. The further east has distinct features of the snow-capped range north of the Gangotri glacier and the huge peaks of Nanda Devi.
The Main Himalayan Ranges are:
- Pir Panjal Range
- Dhaula Dhar Range
- Zanskar Range
- Ladakh Range
- East Karakoram Range
Pir Panjal Range: To the south of the main Himalayas lies the Pir Panjal Range at an average height of 5,000m. From Gulmarg in the Northwest, it follows the southern rim of the Kashmir valley to the Banihal pass. Here the Pir Panjal meets the ridgeline, which separates the Kashmir valley from the Warvan valley. The major passes here in Pir Panjal are the pir panjal pass due west of Srinagar, the Banihal pass which lies at the top of the Jhelum River at the southern end of the Kashmir valley, and the sythen pass linking Kashmir with Kishtwar.
Dhaula Dhar Range: To the south of the Pir Panjal lies the Dhaula Dhar range. It is easily visible because of its distinct feature of the snow-capped ridge, which forms the division between the Ravi and the Beas valleys. In the west, it divides the Chenab valley and the Tawi valley. Towards the east, it extends across Himachal Pradesh forming the high ridges of the Largi gorge and extending towards the south of the Pin Parvati valley before it forms the ridgeline east of the Sutlej River.
Zanskar Range: It lies to the north of the main Himalaya. It acts as a backbone of Ladakh south of the Indus River, extending from the ridges beyond Lamayuru in the west across the Zanskar region; there it is divided from the main Himalaya by the Stod and Tsarap valleys, the Zanskar valley. On the east of the Zanskar region, the range continues through Lahaul and Spiti. While on the North it continues across the Kinnaur before extending towards west across Uttaranchal. Some of the main passes are the Fatu La, on the Leh-Srinagar road, while the main trekking passes into the Zanskar valley are Singge La, the Cha Cha La and the Rubrang La are.
Ladakh Range: To the north of the Leh lies the Ladakh range and it is an important part of the Trans-Himalayan range that merges with the Kailash range in Tibet. Here the important passes are the famous Kardung La, and Digar La, which lie to the northeast of Leh.
East Karakoram Range: It is a giant range, which geographically divides India and Central Asia. The range consists of high mountain peaks like Saltoro Kangri, Rimo and Teram Kangri. The Karakoram Pass acts as the main connector between the markets of Yarkand, Leh and Kashgar.
Siwalik Hills: It lies to the south of the Dhaula Dhar, with an average height of 1,500 to 2,000m.It includes the Jammu hills and Vaishno Devi, and extends to Kangra and if you move further east to the range south of Mandi. In Uttaranchal side, it stretches from Dehra Dun to Almora before it heads across the southern borders of Nepal.
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