Geography of South Asia

A Diamond Breaks Away This area is called a subcontinent because it is so large and separated by water from other land areas The Himalayas are a mountain range in the area and the tallest mountain there is Mount Everest measuring 29, 035 feet. Its highest peak was remeasured in the late 1990s. Tibetans call Mount Everest “Goddess Mother of the World.” It is the tallest mountain in the world.

Snow to Monsoon India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives Islands are part of South Asia The Hindu Kush mountains in the northwest and the snowcapped Himalayas in the northeast separate South Asia from the rest of the Continent. In the south, the Indian Ocean borders the rest of South Asia

3 seasons Temperatures are mild to cool from October through February They shift to very hot from March through May Then comes monsoon season, or the rainy season, which lasts from June through September

Great Rivers, Great Plain 3 rivers flow through the Indian subcontinent –Indus –Ganges –Brahmaputra The Indus River flows through the country Pakistan The land surrounding the river is referred to as the Indus River Valley

Plateau, Coast, and Islands The Deccan Plateau is an area of higher land that forms a diamond south of the Indo-Ganges plain –It is framed on the west (Western Ghats) and east (Eastern Ghats) by rugged mountains Most people in India work as farmers Along the coast, many people fish The islands of Sri Lanka and Maldive Islands export tea, coconuts, fish, and rubber.