Habitat
From the highest point of the
Kanchenjunga peak at 8598 meters to
the lowest point at 0 meters at the
Indian Ocean, India is the land that
spells variety.
The 7th largest country in the
world, it covers a total area of
3,287,590 sq km in area. It lies in
south Asia jutting into the Indian
Ocean in its south, undulating over
the frozen wasteland of the
Himalayas in the north, braving
drought in its desert-like west and
surviving fierce floods in its east.
A substantial portion of northern
India is the fertile plain where the
great Gangetic riverine system
irrigates vast expanses of the land
bringing agrarian well being. The
Deccan Plateau in Central India is
rich in minerals. The Western and
Eastern Ghats fringe the southern
peninsula and are the setting for
coffee, tea, cashew plantations, the
Nilgiri langur and gaur, and the
silversmith Toda tribal.
In the north-west, Pakistan borders
India, and to the east lie China,
Nepal, Burma, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
To the south lies the teardrop
shaped island nation of Sri Lanka.
Beyond the peninsula the waters of
the Bay of Bengal in the east, the
Arabian Sea in the west and the
Indian Ocean at the very south wet
the shores of Indias 7000 km long
coastline. Great vanquishing rivers
are worshipped. The Narmada,
Godavari, Krishna, Cauveri, the
Brahmaputra, Ganga and Yamuna criss-cross
the terrain bringing prosperity and
fertility and often wreaking havoc
in flood. They inspire songs and
they bring misery; increasingly they
are bringing hydroelectric power to
millions across the country.
The Tropic of Cancer splits India in
half. Sub tropical jungles house the
Royal Bengal tiger, multiple species
of deer and antelope, the Asian
elephant, the Common, Golden and
Nilgiri langurs, the one horned
rhino in the forests of Assam,
prides of Asiatic lions in the dry
wilds of Sasan Gir in the west. And
there is much more: river dolphins
in the Ganges and Brahmaputra,
crocodiles, waters that are teeming
with mahseer, trout, carp, fresh
water prawns, woods with fishing
cat, civets, leopard, the cobra,
krait and python, the grey mongoose,
the gaur, the sloth bear.
There are over 1200 bird species
including the Great Indian Bustard,
the Malabar hornbill, Paradise
Flycatcher, cormorants, egrets,
darters and migratory Siberian
cranes in the winter. Indias
jungles, rivers, streams are simply
bursting with wildlife, much of it
protected in her 80 National Parks
and 441 Sanctuaries. Camels in the
deserts of Rajasthan, stoic yaks,
sure-footed Himalayan Tahr and
mountain goats in the north extend
the scope beyond just that which is
typical to Asian sub tropical
forests of sal, shisham and teak.
There are mangrove forests in the
east and evergreen conifers in the
upper climes of Himachal Pradesh and
Jammu and Kashmir.
Common flowers include roses,
bougainvilleas, sunny marigold,
water lilies, lotus and fragrant
jasmine. In the breathtaking Valley
of Flowers a sea of lilies, poppy,
daisies, holly, pansy, geranium,
zinnia, petunia, fox, caryopsis
dianthus, saxifrage and calendula
stretches out in the shadow of
towering snowbound Himalayan peaks.
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