Page 8 - SST Class 04

Great

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Northern Mountains

Northern Mountains and I

The northern mountains may be far from your house, but
they have a great effect on your life. The monsoon winds rise
from the ocean and sail to the north. They are checked by
these mountains, due to which rainfall comes to India. These
mountains sit on the forehead of our Motherland like a
glorious crown.

To the north of India are located the great mountains. They separate our country from

the rest of Asia. They are like an arc. They form a mountainous wall which stretches
for about 3,600 km. Their width ranges from 150 km to 400 km.

The northern mountains comprise two ranges : Karakoram range and Himalayan
range .

Karakoram Range

The Karakoram range extends from the Pamir Knot in north-west Asia to Kashmir in
India up to the Indus Gorge. This range has very high mountains. Mount Godwin (K2)
is located in this range. This peak is 8,611 metres high and is the second highest in the

world. The well-known Siachen and Baltoro glaciers are also located in this range. A
glacier is a river of ice.

Himalayan Range

The word ‘Himalaya’ means ‘abode of snow’. Located in the north, the Himalayas
stretch for about 2,500 kilometres from the Indus River in the west to the Brahmaputra
River in the east.

We can divide the Himalayas in two ways : lengthwise and widthwise.

Lengthwise, from west to east, the Himalayas can be divided into three parts : western
Himalayas , central Himalayas and eastern Himalayas .

8 Contemporary Social Science-4