THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF INDIA
A great arc of mountains, consisting of the Himalayas, Hindu Kush, and Patkai ranges define the northern Indian subcontinent. These were formed by the ongoing tectonic collision of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate that started around 50 million years ago. The mountains in these ranges include some of the world's tallest mountains which act as a natural barrier to cold polar winds. They also facilitate the monsoon winds which in turn influence the climate in India. Rivers originating in these mountains, flow through the fertile Indo–Gangetic plains. These mountains are recognised by biogeographers as the boundary between two of the Earth's great ecozones: the temperate Palearctic that covers most of Eurasia and the tropical and subtropical Indomalaya ecozone which includes the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Indonesia.
India has eight major mountain ranges having peaks of over 1,000 m (3,281 ft):
* The Himalayan range is considered as the world's highest mountain range, with its tallest peak Mt. Everest on the Nepal–China border.[12] They form India's northeastern border, separating it from northeastern Asia. They are one of the world's youngest mountain ranges and extend almost uninterrupted for 2,500 km (1,553 mi), covering an area of 500,000 km2 (193,051 sq mi).[12] The Himalayas extend from Jammu and Kashmir in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east. These states along with Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Sikkim lie mostly in the Himalayan region. Numerous Himalayan peaks rise over 7,000 m (22,966 ft) and the snow line ranges between 6,000 m (19,685 ft) in Sikkim to around 3,000 m (9,843 ft) in Kashmir. Kanchenjunga—on the Sikkim–Nepal border—is the highest point in the area administered by India. Most peaks in the Himalayas remain snowbound throughout the year. The Himalayas act as a barrier to the frigid katabatic winds flowing down from Central Asia. Thus, North India is kept warm or only mildly...