GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISION OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

GEOGRAPHICAL  DIVISION OF JAMMU KASHMIR 

Where is Jammu and Kashmir? What are its physical division of Jammu and Kashmir?

All your query will be answered here. ;)

Jammu Kashmir is the northern most state of India. It is located between latitude 32’.15’ north and 37’5’ north, longitude 72’.35’east and 80’.20’ east. It is one of the disputed territory between india and Pakistan, making it very sensitive, politically, jammu and Kashmir is under India, Pakistan and china. 

Jammu Kashmir is surrounded by Pakistan (azad Kashmir and Gilgit) to east, china to the west, Afghanistan in north, and in south it share boundary with Indian mainland. Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are Indian state which share boundary with it, the Ravi river form a rough boundary between jammu Kashmir and other two states. Jammu and Kashmir was one of the princely state under British India, before independence, after the treaty of Amritsar between maharaja Gulab Singh and britishers, and by that treaty, Ravi was determined as boundary between jammu and Kashmir and rest of India.

Political  Division

Jammu and Kashmir, is an autonomous state of northern India, article 370 of Indian constitution endow it with some special powers, these are

Separate constitution

Separate flag

Special provision for  state subject

 (Only state, in India which provide dual citizenship to its citizens Indian as well as JKians ;)  )

The state is divided into three regions, these are

Jammu

Kashmir

Ladakh

Geographical division

Jammu and Kashmir is one of the most beautiful and incredible state of india, the state is a mix bag of features, ranging from scorching heat of  outer plains to chilling coldness of Ladakh, making it one of the most diverse climatic state of India, in this article we will tell you about this

State total area:- 222236 sq km

State total population:- 12548926 (according to 2011 census)

Now, let’s concentrate on physical division of state,

1-      Sub-Himalayan  jammu

2-      Himalayan Kashmir

3-      Trans-Himalayan Ladakh

Sub Himalayan Jammu

It can be further bifurcated into more divisions, that are

1-     Outer plains

These plains are part of great plain of india, thses plains are formed by the mighty river Chenab, Ravi, Tawi, Ujh, Basantar, Beein, these plains range from ravi to Chenab, about 110km, the depth of alluvium at its northern limit is about 46,00 m. thses plains are also known as “Andarwah” and “Bajwat” also, the width of plains vary from 7km to 30 km, making it a narrow corridor. The outer plains are subtropics in nature and this assist two crops in a year. The district of jammu, samba, kathua are mainly outer plain of jammu and Kashmir.

KANDI:- These are plains range from 300 m to 350m, these are most backward region of jammu and Kashmir, but with advent of NH1A, and more vehicular movement along that, this region is turning into new hotspot of development., these plains are transvered with numerous torrents, locally known as “khad”, most of the year these kahds are dry, and during rainy season, these torrent turn into huge gushing rivers, here we find weed growth, locally called “khar” or elephantine grass.

2-     Siwaliks or outer hills

Low hills, with elevation of 600m to 1220m, a continous chain of hills from Jhelum till Brahmaputra. Thse are young mountains, 200km length from Ravi to Jhelum. Initially it have gentel slope, but suddenly attain steep slope, making them void of vegetation. Full of longitudinal valleys, making floors for numerous rivulets and indirectly for big rivers, locally known as “duns”, the jhajjar dun, udhampur dun and jammu dun are its prime examples. The two lakes Mansar and Suruinsar are located in between these range, situated at about 600mt, these lakes are now in samba district, well connected with Udhampur from north and NH1A from south, making them popular among travel mongers.

3-     Middle Himalaya or Pahar.

Stretches from Ravi in the east and Poonch in the west, average elevation of about 3600-4600 meters. Full of vegetation, have east-west extention but TRIKUTA mountain is a offshoot of it, running to north west, on which holy Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine is situated, which attract crore of devotees.

Several rivers like Tawi, Basantar, Ujh, Manawar Tawi, track their origin over here

The rock strata of these mountains are dominated by sandstone, shale and limestone.

These mountains are full of vegetation, and due to it forestry services are flourishing, lumbering and cattle grazing are important occupation of locales.

Himalayan Kashmir

         valley of Kashmir is its integral part, and also known as “Paradise on the earth” due to      

          incredible beauty and landforms, which make it very tempting. The valley of Kashmir       

          is oval in shape, the valley is surrounded by Mighty Pir-Panjal to south, the Zanskar   

           range to its east, the mighty Kashmir Range to its north, and west is drained by      

          kishanganga  valley to its west. The valley is surrounded by ring of mountains, the    valley have thick deposit of Sediments, forming table like landform, laocaly konown as “karewas”, these karewas are table like in form, and we can notice them easily, because during paddy cultivation we can find them uncultivated due to there elevation, but world famous Jafaran or saffron are cultivated over them.

Here in Kashmir, we find some sub-valleys too, namely

1-     Lolab valley~  north of Kashmir.

2-     Lidder valley~ south and south east of Kashmir.

3-     Sind valley~ west of Kashmir valley.

Kishanganga valley-  formed by river kishanganga, valley is formed at north west region of Kashmir, it is a tributary of river jhelum, join it at Muzzafarbad in POJK or azad Kashmir, the areas of Tilel, Gurez and karnah are situated along it, this region is very natural, due to less presence of humans.

Trans-Himalaya Ladakh

Also known as Greater Himalaya or Himadri range, this range enjoy perpetual cover of snow, and rise towards west, till K2 (2^nd highest peak in the world).

This can be further divided into other part,

1-     Zanskar range

Average altitude 5940m, there are two valleys in these range,  Suru valley and janskar valley, long winter and short summers.

2-     Indus valley

It originates from near mansarovar lake in Tibet and enter Ladakh from south-east, and cover 700km distance in india, it form a narrow valley, river terraces and alluivial fans, the Leh town is situated on a such alluvial fan.

It is joined by Shyok to its right bank, Shigar from right and Gilgit also from right bank.

The river form a well alluvium type plain, of 30 km area, inhabitated by numerous villages.

3-     Karakoram range

This range comprise of northern area of Ladakh. Have lofty peaks, K2 or godwin austen, height of 8610 m. also endowed with largest glacier in the world namely, siachen, Baltoro, Rimo, Baifa and Batuna.

4-     Plateue of Chang-Thang

It is situated at eastern part of Ladakh, the lofty peaks of Ladakh and zanskar enclose it, face continues chilling nights and very short summer.

Edible salt is extracted from salt or saline lakes, like Rupshu and Tsomori.

5-     Plains of Aksai Chin

It is north eastern part of laadakh, consist of vast palins, the plains are not suitable for cultivation, Pongong lake lies in its south, here is a village named Chushul.

In 1962, during indo-sino war, Chinese PLA had illegally occupied these area, and till date it is under Chinese occupation, it an barren plains.

Here, in this article KAS IAS team tried to clear all your doubts regarding jammu and Kashmir, often people, have conception that Jammu and Kashmir, means scenic valleys and snow, but truth is described here for all IAS KAS CSE aspirants.

For more information, kindly drop comment.

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