The physical features of India can be divided into six broad categories:

1. The Himalayan Mountains
2. The Northern Plains
3. The Peninsular Plateau
4. The Indian Desert
5. The Coastal Plains
6. The Islands

The Himalayan Mountains

• Young & fold mountains run in a  west-east direction from the Indus to the Brahmaputra.
• Width varies from 400 Km Kashmir to 150 Km in Arunachal Pradesh and covers a distance 2400 KM.
• The Greater Himalayas or the Himadri, with average peaks reaching up to 6000 meters above the sea-level.
• The Outer most range of Himalayas is called the Shiwalik Range

Northern Plains

• Formed  by the three major river systems of India- Indus, Ganga and the Brahmaputra along with their tributaries have fed the foothills of the Himalayas.
• Since these river basins had a huge amount of alluvial deposits from these glacial rivers, these regions grew fertile over hundreds of years and led to the Northern Plains. Furthermore, the Northern Plains can again be divided into three significant parts-
  • The Punjab Plains- The Indus River and its tributaries lead to the formation of these vast plains, a major part of which now lies in Pakistan
    • The Punjab plains are located in the northwest corner of the northern plain.
    • The Delhi-Aravalli ridge separates it from the Ganga plains in the east.
    • The Indus and its tributaries, such as the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, form this.
    • Pakistan controls a large portion of these plains.
    • It's divided into many Doabs (do-"two" + ab-"water or river" = "a region or land lying between and reaching the confluence of two rivers").
  • The Ganga Plains- This spreads across the states of North India, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi and West Bengal.
  • The Brahmaputra Plains- This covers major parts of Assam and the other North Eastern States
• Rich Soil , favorable climate for agriculture.
• Majuli, in the Brahmaputra river , is the largest inhabited riverine Island in the world.
• Northern Plains can be divided into 4 regions:
  • Bhabar- Narrow belt of about 8 to 16 km parallel to Shivaliks.
  • Terai- Swampy and marshy region , thickly forested region full of wildlife. , Dudhawa National Park
  • Bhangar-  largest part formed of older alluvium ,soil in this region contains calcareous  deposits ,known as Kankar.
  • Khadar- new and younger deposits of the floodplains.

Peninsular Plateau

• The oldest landmass of India
• Was the result of the tectonic shifts of the Gondwana Land.
• This massive plateau area is further divided as-
  • The Central Highlands – lying on the north of the Narmada River and covering a large part of the Malwa Plateau.
  • The Deccan Plateau- a triangular landmass lying on the south of the Narmada River. The Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats border the Deccan plateau on its eastern and western sides respectively. While the Satpura mountain ranges stand on its northern part, the Western Ghats have higher elevation with a maximum height of 1600 meters. On the other hand, the Eastern Ghats reach to a maximum of 600 meters in height.

Indian Desert

The undulating sandy plains covered with sand dunes on the western fringes of the Aravali Hills comprise the Indian Desert. With rainfall as low as 150 mm per annum, this region is the aridest in the country and thus, low on greenery. The states of Rajasthan and northwestern parts of Gujarat collectively form the desert region.

Coastal Plains

• A landmass bounded by sea on three sides is referred to as a peninsula.

Right on the outer edges of the Indian peninsula, lies the narrow strips of the coastal plains. These sea fed regions cover the shores of the Bay of Bengal in the East and the Arabian Sea on the West. The western coast along the Arabian Sea can again be divided into three sections-

• The Konkan Coast- covering coastal Maharashtra and Goa
• The Kannada Plains- covering coasts of Karnataka
• The Malabar Coast- covering Kerala

On the other hand, the Eastern coast has two broad sections-

• The Northern Circar
• The Coromandel Coast

Islands

Two groups of islands lie on the two oceans surrounding the main landmass of the subcontinent. These most likely complete the physical features of India. And, the island region is divided by the mainland as well as the seas. Thus forming two major island states-

• The Lakshadweep, which lies closer to the Malabar Coast. And, these consist of clusters of coral islands collectively named Lakshadweep.
• The Andaman & Nicobar Islands which are off the Bay of Bengal and lie on the Indian Ocean. These group of islands are larger in size than their western counterparts and have rich biodiversity. Because the Andaman & Nicobar islands are closer to the equator, the region also experiences equatorial climate.