“So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked.”

– Mark Twain in ‘Following the Equator’

India is a vast country with a great diversity of physical features. Certain parts of India are so fertile that they are counted amongst the most fertile regions of the world while other are so unproductive and barren that hardly anything can be grown there. Climates vary from the blazing heat of the plains to freezing point in Himalayan areas. On one hand, areas like Cherapunji in Meghalaya get more than 1000cm of rainfall per year, and on the other hand, Sindh and Rajasthan get less than 10cm of rainfall per year.

In this article series, we make an attempt to understand the geography of this “epitome of the world” along the following lines:

1. Geography of India: An Introduction
2. The Geological Structure of India
3. Physiography
   • The Northern and Northeastern Mountains
     • Part 1 – The Himalayas – Origin and Development, North-South Divisions
     • Part 2 – West-East division and Important Passes of Himalayas; the North-Eastern Hills and Mountains (Purvanchal)
   • The Northern Plains
     • Part 1 – Formation, Chief Characteristics, and Physiographic Divisions
     • Part 2 – Regional Divisions of Northern Plains
   • The Peninsular Plateau
     • Part 1 – Location, Geological History and Chief Characteristics
     • Part 2 – Physiographic Divisions, Hill Ranges, Significance of the Region
   • The Indian Desert
   • The Coastal Plains
   • The Islands
4. Drainage System
   • Part 1 – Basic Terminology used for the study of rivers
   • Part 2 – Discordant and Concordant Drainage; Drainage patterns
   • Part 3 – Classification of the Indian Drainage System; The Himalayan Drainage System, the Indus river system.
   • Part 4 – The Himalayan Drainage – The Ganga and Brahmaputra River Systems.
   • Part 5 – The Peninsular Drainage System – Evolution and River Systems.
   • Part 6 – Differences between the Himalayan and Peninsular Drainage; the Shifting Courses of Rivers.
5. The Climate
   • An Introduction
   • The Winter Season
   • The Summer Season
   • The South-West Monsoon Season
     • Part 1
     • Part 2
   • The Post Monsoon Season/ Autumn (North-East Monsoon Season)
6. Natural Vegetation and Wildlife
   • Part 1 – An Overview of Natural Vegetation Types Found in India
   • Part 2 – Distribution and Chief Characteristics of the Tropical Evergreen, Tropical Deciduous and Tropical Thorny Vegetation
   • Part 3 – Distribution and Chief Characteristics of the Sub-tropical, Temperate, Sub-Alpine and Alpine, Littoral and Swamp Vegetation
   • Part 4 – Vegetation Zones of the Himalayas, The Problems of Indian Forestry
   • Part 5 – Conservation of Forests – Afforestation Schemes and Other Initiatives
   • Part 6 – Conservation of Wildlife
7. Soils
   • Part 1 – Formation of Soil
   • Part 2 – Factors Responsible for the Formation of Soil, Soil Profile
   • Part 3 – Characteristics of Soil, Classification of Indian Soils
   • Part 4 – Indian Soils – Alluvial, Black, Red and Laterite soils
   • Part 5 – Indian Soils – Arid, Saline and Alkaline, Peaty and Forest Soils
8. Irrigation
   • Part 1 – Sources and Methods of Irrigation
   • Part 2 – Multipurpose River Valley Projects
   • Part 3 – Irrigation Application Methods
9. Agriculture
   • Part 1 – An Introduction
   • Part 2 – Important Food Crops (Rice, Wheat, Maize, Millets, Pulses and Barley) and Horticultural Crops
   • Part 3 – Important Cash Crops (Sugarcane, Cotton, Jute, Tobacco, and Oilseeds) and Plantation Crops (Tea and Coffee) in India
   • Part 4 – Cropping Patterns and Systems in India
10. Miscellaneous Topics
    • Agroforestry