Physical Region

Region is a dynamic concept which has been defined differently by different geographers. It’s an area having the homogeneity of physical and cultural phenomena. It is a device of area generalization in order to make the variable world around us understandable through spatial summaries. There are certain common characteristics which all are types of region (economic, spatial, planning) posses:-

a)      Location;

b)     Spatial Location;

c)      Boundaries which are mostly transitional.

Physical regions are distinguishable from each other on the basis of – physiography, climate, geology, soil, natural vegetation.

Physiography

A)    Mountains: -

a) Himalayas (division on the basis of height)

1) Greater Himalayas;

2) Middle Himalayas;

3) Outer Himalayas.

B) Plateau: -

1) Malwa Plateau;

2) Chatanagpur Plateau;

3) Deccan Plateau (it’s southern part is called Karnataka Plateau);

4) Meghalaya plateau.

C) Islands : -

1) Coral Islands. (example : Lakshadweep Island)

2) Volcanic Islands. (example : Andaman & Niccobar Islands)

D) Plains: -

1) Coastal Plains

a) Eastern;

b) western.

2) Indus-Ganga Plains

a) Punjab plain ;

b) Upper ganga plain ; (example : Uttar Pradesh)

c) Midle ganga plain ; (example : Bihar)

d) Lower ganga plain ; (example : West Bengal)

e) Brahmaputra plain (example : Tripura).

Climate

Climatic regions generally posses a broad uniformity in climatic conditions caused by the combined effect of climatic factors.

A)    Koppen’s climatic classification: -(based on temperature and precipitation)

1)      Monsoon type with short dry season.Example: Goa.

2)      Monson type with dry season in summer. Example: Coromondol coast.

3)      Tropical savannah type. Example: Peninsular plateau excluding Malabar and Coromondol coast respectively.

4)      Semi-arid steppe type. Example: Gujrat,Rajasthan.

5)      Hot desert type. Example: west Rajasthan.

6)      Monsoon type with dry winter. Example: North Indian plains.

7)      Cold humid winter with shorter summers. Example: Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh.

8)      Tundra type. Example: Uttaranchal.

9)      Polar type. Example: Jammu and Kashmir.

B)    Thornthwaite’s climatic classification: -

1)      Perhumid.

2)      Mumid.

3)      Moist humid.

4)      Dry sub-humid.

5)      Semi-Arid.

6)      Arid.

Geology

A)    Himalaya (on the basis of the age of the rocks)

1)      Tibetan zone. Example: north of the Greater Himalayas.

2)      Central Himalayas. Example; Parts of greater and lesser Himalayas.

3)      Nappe Zone. Example: Kashmir, Himachal.

4)      Outer Zone. Example: Shiwaliks or outer Himalayas.

B)    Alluvium. Example: Gangetic plain.

C)    Pre-Cambrian block. Example: Southern India.

Division of India on the basis of soil and natural vegetation has been overlooked. In case of soil this is because, soil is formed by climate, organic matter, parent material etc. Parent material is derived from rock masses. Since, Geology deals with the rocks so indirectly while explaining soil region, we are explaining geological divisions of India. Organic matter content will depend on the natural vegetation. Natural vegetation in turn depends on climate factors like temperature, humidity, precipitation type and amount. Relief features which determine the soil formation has been explained within the physiographic division of India. Hence, division of India on the basis of different types of soil is not required.

Since, natural vegetation is also a reflection of climatic factors hence, climatic regions=natural regions.