Page 298 - New Medley 4 Semester 1

• Critical thinking
• Information literacy
21st CENTURY SKILLS

5 India—The Southern Competencies

Plateaus

C-1.1, C-4.2, C-5.3

Warm Up

Why do the Nilgiri Hills look blue?

The Southern Plateaus are located towards the south of the Northern

Plains of India. A plateau is a large and flat land area which rises abruptly
from the surrounding areas. The Southern Plateaus are roughly triangular

in shape. They are surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides.

The Southern Plateaus cover about half of the

total land area of India. They extend from
north to south over a distance of about 1,600

kilometres and from east to west to a distance
of about 1,400 km. The average height of the

Southern Plateaus ranges between 600 metres
to about 1000 metres. The general slope of the

southern plateau region is from west to east.
But in the Narmada–Tapi region, it is from

east to west. The plateau region is made up of
hard rocks and the surface is highly uneven.

The Narmada river divides the southern plateau
region into two unequal parts. These are:

� Central Highlands � Deccan Plateau

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