Geographical Features of North-Western India

The question asks us to identify the region in India characterized by a combination of deserts, fertile plains, and moderately forested mountains. Let's examine the geographical features of each option provided.

Understanding the geographical features of India's different regions is crucial for answering this question. We need to find a region that encompasses all three distinct landforms: deserts, fertile plains, and mountains with moderate forest cover.

Analysing the Regions

• South-Western border along Arabian Sea: This region primarily includes the Western Ghats and coastal plains. The Western Ghats are known for dense forests, especially in the southern parts, and the plains are coastal and tropical. It lacks a desert component.
• Coromandel Coast: This is a coastal plain in the south-east of India, characterized by tropical dry evergreen forests and seasonal rivers. It is neither a desert region nor does it have significant mountains with moderate forests like the Himalayas.
• North-Eastern Frontier: This region is known for high rainfall, dense tropical and subtropical forests (part of the Eastern Himalayas and associated ranges), and fertile valleys like the Brahmaputra valley. While it has fertile areas and mountains, it does not have deserts.
• North-Western India: This region covers states like Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and parts of Jammu & Kashmir. Let's look at its features:
  • Deserts: A significant part of Rajasthan is covered by the Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert.
  • Fertile Plains: Punjab and Haryana are part of the vast Indo-Gangetic plain, known for extremely fertile land due to the river systems (Indus and its tributaries, Ghaggar).
  • Moderately Forested Mountains: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and parts of Jammu & Kashmir fall in the Himalayan foothills and lower ranges. These areas have mountains covered with forests, often described as moderately forested compared to the dense tropical rainforests found elsewhere.

Based on this analysis, North-Western India is the only region among the options that exhibits the combination of deserts (Thar Desert), fertile plains (Punjab and Haryana), and moderately forested mountains (Himalayan foothills).