General information about the countries of South Asia, relief, soil, minerals. Soil resources

The possibilities of using bamboo are no less wide. It is used for the construction of huts, platforms, roads, suspension bridges, making household utensils and furniture, agricultural implements, water pipes, for reinforcing concrete, weaving baskets, mats; its leaves and shoots are used for food, livestock feed, and the stems and rhizomes are used as raw materials for paper production.

Soils in India are very diverse in both types and levels of fertility. On the vast plains of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and other large rivers, alluvial meadow and alluvial-gley soils prevail. Alluvial soils are annually enriched with silt and rich in humus. These are the most agriculturally important soils in India. Half of the population of the entire country lives on the territory occupied by them.

The peninsula is dominated by red-colored soils, only on basalt rocks they give way to black soils "regura". Red-colored soils vary depending on moisture content from red-yellow (in areas of evergreen forests) to red-brown soils (in desolate savannas). Red-yellow soils are rated as moderately fertile for field crops and highly fertile for gardens, tea and rubber plantations. Red-brown soils are extremely poor in humus and very dry. Legumes and millet crops grow best on them, but yields are very low. Among the red-colored soils, the most fertile are monsoon forests.

Black soils "regura" are widespread on the products of weathering of basalts, andesites, dolerites. These are powerful - colored soils of heavy texture (60-80% of silty particles) and having, despite the black, low humus content - about 1%. The properties of regurs favorable for agricultural use are their microbiological and moisture capacity. They have long been successfully used in agriculture: the wet period - under and dzhovar, in the dry - under wheat, barley.

High intensity of tropical rains and loose surface sediments lead to the rapid development of planar and gully erosion. In many interior regions of India, the area of \u200b\u200beroded land reaches 60-80%. However, while they are still producing crops, they are continuously used, and only after they turn into primitive-fragmental, the site is left. All soils in India are poor in nitrogen and humus and need constant fertilization to maintain fertility.

It is impossible even to list all the bird species of India. Some of them (for example, green ones) harm agriculture; others (and various) perform sanitary, destroying carrion and waste, which is very important in a tropical climate; still others destroy agricultural pests.

Reptiles are diverse. In the Ganges lives the sacred - ha-vial 6-7 m long. In India there are many lizards, turtles, there are 216 different species of snakes, of which 52 are poisonous. About 200 thousand people are exposed to snake bites in the country per year, of which at least 15 thousand die.

There are fish in the waters of the rivers. Every year during spawning, it migrates from the Bay of Bengal up the Hills rivers, akin to herring.

Exceptionally abundant in India. There are many mosquitoes - carriers of malaria, which affects millions of people every year. Found everywhere. The bites of many scorpions and poisonous spiders are dangerous and sometimes fatal.

In the seas washing India, the Indian lives - one of the rarest animals in the world, a representative of a small detachment of lilacs, or sea cows, the only herbivorous marine mammals.

Among the diverse natural resources of India are essential. Many of the country's deposits are among the largest in the world in terms of their reserves. Huge reserves are concentrated in India. is a global exporter of chromium and is a world leader in the extraction and reserves of manganese and iron ores, as well as graphite and beryl. The alluvial and coastal-marine placers of titanium and zirconium, the so-called black deposits of the Travancourt coast, have a large industrial area. India has about g / w of the world's zirconium reserves. In terms of titanium mining, India ranks second in the capitalist world.

Almost all the most important deposits of minerals in India are concentrated in the peninsular part of the country, within the platform, which is one of the most important metallogenic provinces in the world. Here are concentrated huge iron and manganese, chromites, copper, nickel, cobalt, lead, zinc, gold, platinum, uranium, as well as asbestos, "" graphite, magnesite. An extremely favorable combination of minerals for industry and the surface occurrence of many ores, often constituting elevated reliefs, make ore mining economically profitable and technically uncomplicated.

Of the energy minerals, it is of the greatest importance. In terms of wealth in coal, India ranks second in foreign Asia (after). Almost all known reserves are located in North-East India, which, in combination with deposits of iron and manganese ores, is very favorable for the development of ferrous metallurgy. However, the reserves of coking coal are small compared to the colossal reserves of iron ores.

With the help of Soviet geologists, in the late 60s and early 70s, the Cambay and Assam oil fields were discovered in India. Exploration is underway and oil production has begun on the offshore shelf near Bombay.

Rivers are an important energy resource in India, which is estimated at 41 million kWh. part of the hydropower potential falls on the rivers of the Himalayas, Western Ghats and the central part of the peninsula. In the Ganges basin alone, the total potential is estimated at 13 million kW. Sharp flows of most Indian rivers necessitate the construction of reservoirs not only with seasonal, but also with long-term flow regulation. Rocky soils of mountain rivers, a sharp drop in the channel, natural narrowing of valleys, large ones create favorable conditions for concentration of pressure there. However, for the full use of the hydropower potential of the rivers, it is not enough to build reservoirs in the upper reaches, which in most cases is complicated by impassable roads, increased seismicity, as well as the need for large capital costs and the complexity of engineering work. Hydropower development of the middle and lower sections of rivers is often impossible due to the need to flood densely populated agricultural areas.

India's natural resources are conducive to agricultural development. According to the relief conditions, about 63% of the territory is suitable for agriculture. Rich thermal resources - 4000-8000 ° per year - allow to collect two or three hundredths, 550 cubic meters. km, U3 river flow, and currently 255 cubic meters are used. km, or 46% of the potential. Irrigation is especially well developed in the Indus and Ganges basins, where the oldest powerful irrigation canals are located, 200-300 km long. The Ganges alone accounts for about 40% of the country's irrigation potential. Among the peninsular rivers, the Godavari and the rivers flowing from the Western Ghats have the greatest irrigation potential. The irrigation possibilities of the Deccan rivers are almost completely exhausted. The shortage of water for irrigation of this region has become so acute that the issue of transferring water from the Ganges basin to the Narmada, Godavari and Kaveri basins is being considered. In addition to irrigation, ameliorative harvesting activities can provide great opportunities for expanding agricultural resources. However, in most of the country, year-round is possible only with artificial irrigation. With artificial irrigation, it not only rises sharply, but also there is a real opportunity to collect several crops per year. If the country uses all the land suitable for cultivation and the maximum use of water resources is achieved, the current level of food grain production will increase more than 3 times.

Alluvial soils are distributed mainly in the Indo-Gangetic plain and occupy an area of \u200b\u200bat least 775 thousand square meters. km (including outside India), but are also found in other areas (for example, in Gujarat and in river deltas on the eastern coast of Hindustan). In general, the cultivation of alluvial soils provides food for more than half of the population of the Indian subcontinent. The texture of these soils is characterized by a high content of coarse fractions at the foot of the Sivalik Mountains and silty particles in the delta regions. On many plains, significant differences are expressed between the older alluvium (bhangar), developed on relatively raised interfluves, and the young alluvium (khadar), confined to floodplains. Khadar contains more humus and fine fractions and is characterized by the close occurrence of groundwater. In general, alluvial soils contain sufficient calcium, but are often deficient in nitrogen and organic matter.

Regurs are well developed on the Deccan basalt lavas, especially in relief depressions. They are also found among the massifs of alluvial soils on the low terraces of the large river valleys of Hindustan. Regura swells when moistened, which leads to mixing of particles from different horizons along the profile and retention of soil moisture. The main centers of Indian cotton growing (with the exception of the Punjab plains in the northwest) were formed in the areas of distribution of regurs and soils close to them.

Red-colored soils occupy the largest areas in Hindustan. They are predominantly thin and poor in mineral nutrients for plants, but their loamy varieties, confined to depressions in the relief, where loose weathering products carried out from drainage basins accumulate, are very fertile.

Eroded and depleted soils. In general, the soils of India are not very productive. In many areas, they have been eroded and degraded due to continuous agricultural use without crop rotations and the application of mineral fertilizers. As a result, there is a lack of nutrients in the soils, which are partially replenished by adding cow dung to the soil.

Irrigated lands. The construction of powerful irrigation systems during the period of British colonial rule made it possible to draw into agriculture significant areas of fertile, but arid lands, especially in the northwest of the country. In the southeast, irrigation at the expense of thousands of small reservoirs (locally called "tanks") makes it possible to significantly expand the area of \u200b\u200barable land.

Nature of india

Republic of India (in the Hindi language - Bharat), a state in South Asia. The territory of India in the north extends in the latitudinal direction for 2930 km, in the meridional direction for 3220 km. India is washed by the waters of the Arabian Sea in the west, the Indian Ocean in the south and the Bay of Bengal in the east. Its neighbors are Pakistan to the northwest, China, Nepal and Bhutan to the north, Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east.

Surface structure

India is located within three large orographic regions: the Himalayan Mountains, the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Deccan Plateau on the Indian subcontinent. The Deccan is a vast ancient land mass composed of Precambrian crystalline rocks, mainly gneisses, granites and shales. A significant part of the surface is covered with volcanic lava, with the greatest thickness of the lava cover in the northwest. The Dean was part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, which united South America, Africa and India, and approx. 200 million years ago, it disintegrated into several blocks. The vast Indo-Gangetic plain stretches between the Deccan and the Himalayas.

Himalayas - the highest mountains on Earth

Rising over the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the Himalayan ranges within India stretch from northwest to southeast along the border with China from Afghanistan to Nepal.

In India west of Nepal, the Himalayas consist of a series of distinct ridges and intermontane valleys. The lowest Sivalik mountains (900–1200 m), the Pir-Panjal ridge (3000–3600 m), the Kashmir Valley (1500–1800 m), the Zaskar ridge (with maximum heights of up to 6100 m), the upper reaches of the Indus River valley, Ladakh ridge, Nandadevi peak (7817 m) and Karakorum with numerous peaks higher than 7600 m, including K2 (also known as Chogori, Godwin-Osten, Dapsang, etc. - 8611 m). In the east, the mountain system of the Karakorum is replaced by the Tibetan Plateau.

Part of the Eastern Himalayas within India is characterized by high altitudes, but the structure of the mountains is less complex. To the north of the Ganges Valley stretches a swampy jungle strip of Terai (after the local name of its natural vegetation cover), over which a belt of merging proluvial trails gradually rises at the foot of the Sivalik Mountains. The ridges of the Lesser Himalayas (up to 3000 m) rise directly to the north. The next high-altitude step is formed by the Great Himalayas (5500–5800 m), including Chomolungma (Everest, 8848 m) in Nepal and Kanchenjunga (8598 m) - the highest point of India.

In the east, the southern continuation of the Himalayas is the Namkhiu Mountains, which include the Patkai and Barail ranges and the Shillong and Lushai plateaus.

The Ganges (2700 km) and Brahmaputra (2900 km) rivers originate in the Himalayas.

Indo-Gangetic Plain

This vast area, stretched parallel to the Himalayan ridges, is a foothill trough filled with strata of sedimentary rocks and alluvium. The surface of the plain is flat. Its width ranges from 280 to 320 km, and its length reaches 2400 km from the border with Pakistan to the mouth of the Ganges. Even the watershed between the Indus and the Ganges, west of Delhi, is a flattened surface no more than 300 m high. Under an agreement with Pakistan on the division of the Indus system, the flow of the Bias and Sutlej rivers flowing there belongs to India.

The Ganges Plain is divided into three parts. The upper, more arid part of the Ganges basin receives approx. 1000 mm of precipitation per year, average, transitional, - approx. 1500 mm and the lower one, which also includes the delta regions of Bengal, is wet (2000–2500 mm).

The Brahmaputra Basin, also known as the Assam Valley, is a long and narrow trough of tectonic origin. It is enclosed between the Himalayas in the north, the Shillong plateau (divided into Garo, Khasi and Jaintia) and the Patkai and Barail mountains in the south. The river flows in a southwest direction, and at the border with Bangladesh, it turns sharply to the south, where it merges with the branches of the Ganges.

Hindustan Peninsula

Between the Indo-Gangetic plain and the Deccan plateau proper, there is a complex mosaic of plateaus and low ridges, which is sometimes called the Rajputan Upland. The dissected surface has a general slope to the northeast. The rise rests on a denuded ancient crystalline basement. The rocks of this basement also include the low Aravali mountains up to 1052 m high, the Malwa plateau formed by lava sheets, the Vindhya mountains (700–800 m above sea level), the Bhanrer and Kaimur ridges and the graben of the Narmada and Son rivers.

The rest of the Indian subcontinent - the Deccan plateau as a whole decreases from west to east. The mosaic nature of the geological structure and numerous faults predetermined the significant fragmentation of the relief. Satpura mountains are clearly defined; mountain ranges Mahadeo and Maikal, sometimes taken for the northern ledge of the plateau; the highly dissected and relatively sparsely populated Chkhota-Nagpur plateau (1225 m above sea level) in the northeast, as well as the valley of the upper reaches of the Godavari and the Chhattisgarh basin.

The mountains of the Western and Eastern Ghats rise along the edges of the plateau. The western Ghats (Sahyadri) are taller, steeper, and occupy a large area, with individual peaks rising to 1800–2600 m asl, forming a giant wall above a narrow coastal lowland known as the Malabar Coast. The eastern Ghats are lower, although some peaks exceed 1600 m. The coastal lowland in the east of Peninsular India - the Coromandel coast - is wider than the Malabar coast. In the south of Hindustan, sharp-pointed peaks composed of crystalline rocks have been preserved from the ancient uplifts. In the southwest there are the Nilgiri Mountains up to 2670 m high and to the south - the Cardamom Mountains with a maximum elevation of 2695 m, which extend almost to Cape Kumari, the southernmost tip of Hindustan. In the southeast, the Javadi, Shevaroy and Palni mountains stretch.

The inner part of the plateau is usually called the Deccan; within it, a lava plateau in the northwest and the South Deccan are distinguished. The lava plateau covers an area of \u200b\u200bapprox. 520 thousand sq. km and stacked with traps. These lavas were deposited in the Cretaceous period (about 130 million years), and their thickness in places reaches 1800 m. In the South Deccan, peneplained plateaus are widely represented, raised to a height of 600–900 m above sea level. and occupying most of the state of Karnataka.

The rivers, generally following the general slope of the plateau, flow eastward and into the Bay of Bengal. The exception is the Narmada, Tapti and Mahi rivers flowing into the Gulf of Cambay. The largest rivers of the Deccan plateau are flowing to the southeast of Godavari and to the east of Krishna.

Climate

In India, which occupies a large area and is distinguished by significant vertical differentiation of the relief and different distance from the ocean, contrasts in the distribution of heat and moisture are pronounced. In general, the climate of the country is greatly influenced by monsoons. The altitude factor predetermined the cold climate of the high mountains in the north of India, while the temperate climate prevails on the low slopes of these mountains and on the plateau. The resorts of Northern India are located in the altitude zone from 1500 to 2300 m. For example, in Darjeeling and Srinagar, the climatic conditions are comfortable throughout the year. Average monthly temperatures in Darjeeling range from 4 ° C in winter to 17 ° C in mid-summer, when the weather is moderately warm.

In many parts of Hindustan, the average air temperatures of the coldest month, January, are 18-24 ° C, and in the summer months - 24-29 ° C. However, the temperature often rises to 32 ° C during the day. On the northern plains, from West Bengal to the border with Pakistan, it is very hot in summer and average temperatures in Bengal reach 29 ° C; they gradually increase as they move to the northwest and in May in Delhi reach 33 ° C. The average summer temperature in Amritsar (Punjab) is 34 ° C, in the Thar Desert (Rajasthan) - 32 ° –38 ° C, the average winter temperatures there are 7-16 ° C.

Annual precipitation ranges from less than 100 mm in the Thar Desert to 10,770 mm at Cherrapunji station in the Khasi Mountains, one of the wettest places on Earth. For Western India, the average annual precipitation is as follows: Punjab 400–500 mm, Thar Desert 50–130 mm, Saurashtra (Kathiyavar Peninsula) 650–1000 mm, the western coast of Hindustan more than 2000 mm and the eastern coast at the foot of the Eastern Ghats 1300–2050 mm. Central India receives an average of 650–1300 mm of precipitation per year. In the north-east of peninsular India and in the flat north of the country, 1300–2050 mm fall, and in the eastern Himalayas and most regions of Bengal and Assam - more than 2000 mm.

The rains in India are brought by the summer monsoon penetrating from the Indian Ocean, which intensifies in early June on the west coast and around mid-June on the east coast - in Bengal. When passing over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, the monsoons are saturated with moisture and move over India in a northwest direction. Rising over the Western Ghats and the mountains of Assam, monsoons traveling at a speed of 16–24 km / h cause heavy rainfall. Thunderstorms, especially strong in June, literally fall on the slopes of the mountains, but later their frequency and strength weaken, and in the period from late September to mid-October, showers cease altogether. From November to March, a dry northeast monsoon blows from the land side. Cool, clear weather is associated with it; only in the southeastern coastal strip at the time of the retreat of the wet monsoon, precipitation falls: their maximum falls on October - December.

Taking into account data on thermal regime, precipitation and winds, the calendar year in India can be divided into three main and two intermediate climatic seasons. In November - February, when the northeast monsoon prevails, it is cool, sunny and dry. Temperatures gradually rise in March. The hot dry season lasts from late March to June. By the end of June, humidity rises and the weather becomes unbearably hot and rainy in the great plains of India. Humid hot weather persists from July to mid-September; the heat subsides a little when the sky is overcast and heavy rains are pouring, but in general, southwestern winds are combined with high temperatures. October is a transitional time; humidity is high due to evaporation from the surface of the fields, but the rains stop.

Soil

Traditionally, soils in India are divided into four types: alluvial on the Indo-Gangetic plain; regurs, or "black cotton soils", on the Deccan lavas; red-colored soils in the rest of Hindustan; lateritic soils on the periphery of the peninsula.

Regurs are well developed on Deccan basalt lavas, especially in relief depressions. They are also found among the massifs of alluvial soils on the low terraces of the large river valleys of Hindustan. Regions swell when moistened, which leads to mixing of particles from different horizons along the profile and retention of soil moisture. The main centers of Indian cotton growing (with the exception of the Punjab plains in the northwest) were formed in the areas of distribution of regurs and soils close to them.

Red-colored soils occupy the largest areas in Hindustan. They are predominantly thin and poor in mineral nutrients for plants, but their loamy varieties, confined to depressions in the relief, where loose weathering products removed from catchments accumulate, are very fertile.

Lateritic soils

The peculiarity of these soils is that soluble substances are washed out of them, which are replaced by iron and aluminum oxides. Thus, a ferruginous or ferruginous-alumina horizon is formed in the soil profile. Low-fertile lateritic soils are common along the foothills of the Western Ghats and in northeastern Hindustan, while partially lateritized soils occupy large areas in southern India.

Eroded and depleted soils

In general, the soils of India are not very productive. In many areas, they have been eroded and degraded due to continuous agricultural use without crop rotations and the application of mineral fertilizers. As a result, there is a lack of nutrients in the soils, which are partially replenished by introducing cow dung into the soil.

Irrigated land

The construction of powerful irrigation systems during the period of British colonial rule made it possible to draw into agriculture significant areas of fertile but arid lands, especially in the north-west of the country. In the southeast, irrigation at the expense of thousands of small reservoirs (locally called "tanks") makes it possible to significantly expand the area of \u200b\u200barable land.

Vegetation

The territory of India stretches almost 30 ° from north to south and covers an altitude range of approx. 9100 m, in addition, within its limits, the average annual precipitation in different regions ranges from less than 100 to more than 10,000 mm. Therefore, it is not surprising that the country's vegetation is very diverse.

Flora of India has more than 20 thousand species, many endemics. The forests of India are subdivided into two groups - tropical forests within Hindustan and temperate forests that cover the slopes of the Himalayas at an altitude of more than 1500 m above sea level.

Rainforests

Evergreen and semi-deciduous tropical rainforests stretch in a narrow strip along the Western Ghats and occupy a wider range in the Assamo-Burma Mountains, mainly in areas with more than 3000 mm of rainfall per year. This is the so-called. "Jungle", i.e. a high-stemmed forest with a closed canopy, but a poorly developed subcutaneous layer (due to strong shading). The lower tier is well expressed only where there are gaps in the canopy, for example, along the banks of rivers and streams, which are usually occupied by dense bamboo thickets.

Deciduous tropical or "monsoon" forests cover a much larger area and form natural vegetation cover in the Indian Subcontinent south of the Himalayas and east of the Thar Desert. The composition and structure of stands vary greatly depending on the amount of precipitation and soil moisture. Although most trees shed their foliage for six to eight weeks during the dry season, leafless periods are not necessarily the same for different species, so the entire forest is rarely exposed. The underfloor layer is often evergreen and much denser than in the "jungle". There are a lot of valuable tree species, of which the most important are Shorea robusta, with its rare ability in the tropics to form clean stands, broadleaf dalbergia, or sissa (Dalbergia latifolia), and teak, or jat tree (Tectona grandis), found mainly in the Western Ghats. Houses and other structures are, perhaps, most often made of lard, railway sleepers, etc. The species that do not give large-sized industrial wood, but are also valuable, include white sandalwood (Santalum album), growing mainly in the state of Karnataka, the terminal chebul, or myrobalan (Terminalia chebula), used in the manufacture of furniture and bearing fruits from which tanning substances and dyes, as well as bassia latifolia (Bassia latifolia), an important raw material for the furniture industry and the production of methyl alcohol. Monsoon forests provide many other products: bamboo for building, weaving baskets and making household utensils, various dyeing, tanning, medicinal raw materials, fruits, essential oils, etc., as well as shellac exported. This wax-like substance, used as an insulating material in radio engineering, is released by the so-called. lakbug - an insect that lives mainly on lard and some other trees in the north-east of Hindustan.

In drier areas bordering the Thar Desert and in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats, monsoon forests are gradually replaced by low woodlands and shrubs - the so-called. "Thorny forest". The main species here are a variety of acacias, used for making small wooden items and for obtaining tannins and dyes. For example, catechu, or porridge, extract from acacia catechu (Acacia Catechu), is used as a dye and preservative for sails and rigging ropes; they are painted orange in the robes of Buddhist monks in Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Temperate and mountainous forests

Up to 2000 m above sea level in the foothills of the Himalayas, a wide belt of subtropical forests is developed, which occupies an intermediate position between monsoon forests and typical temperate forests. In its eastern, more humid part (approximately east of Darjeeling), there are mainly evergreen oaks and chestnuts, entwined with numerous vines and epiphytes. In the western part of this belt, clear stands of long-coniferous pine are widespread, producing commercial timber and commercial resin. Above, along the entire length of the Himalayas, there is a belt of humid temperate forests, mainly coniferous, with an admixture of oak on the better warmed southern slopes. These are tall-stemmed, albeit relatively sparse, communities of pine, cedar, white fir, hemlock, and spruce with a dense shrub layer. In the west, mainly in Kashmir, the main business breed is the Himalayan cedar, or deodar. Above this belt, which, depending on the amount of precipitation, the exposure of the slope and the nature of the soil, extends to heights of 2750–3350 m above sea level, the forest becomes denser, and the shrub layer is more developed. Pine still predominates, but the role of juniper, birch and rhododendron is increasing. Finally, on the drier Tibetan macroslope of the mountains, this low-stemmed forest is thinned out and gradually turns into forest-steppe and shrub-grass steppe.

Other types of vegetation

The Sundarbana littoral forest in the outer part of the Ganges and Brahmaputra deltas is of great importance: dense communities dominated by Eritiera tinder, a tall tree with good timber and ship timber. The banks of numerous canals here are lined with mangroves, which provide the local population with fuel, as well as thickets of the low bush palm (Nipa fruticans), which is used as a roofing material and as a raw material for making sugar and wine. Behind the strip of mangroves on the coastal sands, there are often plantings of fast-growing casuarinas, used for soil anchoring and fuel.

Of the numerous palm trees growing in India (more than 20 species), the most important is the coconut palm, cultivated in all humid coastal regions and extremely important for the economy of the south-west of the country, the areca palm, whose nuts, together with lime and leaves of the betel pepper plant, are used for the preparation of very popular chewing mixture, and in the south - bushy nipa. Wild-growing date palms are also widespread, which do not produce edible fruits. In the south of the country, the palmyra, or toddy palm, forms real forests.

The modern natural vegetation of the plains and many of the southern plateaus of Hindustan, where agriculture has been practiced for many centuries, burns and overgrazing, is mainly low-grass, of a weed type. With the exception of the jungle, arboreal communities are confined only to river banks. These parts of the country are dominated by the acacia arabica, especially in the drier west. On dry pastures suffering from overgrazing, the original herbaceous vegetation degraded to dense thorny shrubs. The plains of Hindustan south of the Godavari River are covered with savannas with sparse low-growing trees, mainly acacias, wild date palms and milkweed, as well as thorny shrubs and grasses. A similar savanna is common in Gujarat and Eastern Rajasthan.

Animal world

The modern wild fauna of India totals approx. 350 species of mammals, more than 1200 species and subspecies of birds and over 20 thousand species of insects. In recent decades, the number of many species of animals, especially large ones, has been greatly reduced. Of the large predators, the Asiatic lion has survived only in the Gir Forest National Park on the Kathiyavar Peninsula (Gujarat State); tigers and leopards are found in the Terai jungles, in the Assamo-Burma border zone and in the north of Hindustan. Hyenas, cheetahs and jackals are plentiful in the northern part of the country.

The fauna of the Himalayas is the most diverse. Musk deer live at the upper border of mountain forests. The Dachigam National Park (Jammu and Kashmir) is home to the black Himalayan bear, hangul (Kashmir red deer), and leopard. In the mountains in the northeast of the country (states of Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland), the Malay bear is found. In the highlands of the Himalayas, yaks and kulans are most adapted to the harsh conditions; snow leopards are occasionally found. The smallest of the mountain sheep, the shapu, lives above the forest boundary on the steep, grassy slopes of Ladakh, the largest of the mountain sheep, the nayan, is found from northern Ladakh in the west to northern Sikkim in the east, and among the rare ones - the Marco Polo sheep and kuku -aman, or blue goat. Alpine, or mountain, goat is common in the west of the Himalayas - in Kashmir and Ladakh. Markhor (or horned goat), tar, chiru (or orongo), dzeren, takin, goral also live in the mountains.

Among the smaller mammals, monkeys stand out. In the forests of Assam, the only representative of the great apes in India is found - the hulok gibbon, or the white-browed gibbon. The most widespread monkey is the langur, or tonkotel. Monkeys and most other small animals, especially rodents, cause significant damage to agriculture. The exception is the mongooses, which control the abundance of snake populations in India.

In the savannas of the Deccan plateau gazelles, four-horned antelopes, hares, small rodents, Bengal cats, foxes, mongooses, hyenas, wolves, jackals, leopards live. Deer (Zambars, Axis, Muntjaki), Gaura bulls, Lori semi-monkeys (south of the Godvari River), tigers, red wolves are characteristic of the Deccan rainforests, and for the most humid habitats - swamp deer, wild buffaloes and elephants. In the narrow, forested gorges of the spurs of the Western Ghats, elephants, gauras and such endemic species as the Nilgir langur monkey, the Silen macaque, the brown mongoose, and the Malabar civet are found. The Deccan jungle is home to tigers and sloth bears, hyenas, jackals. Of the Deccan's small animals, squirrels are remarkable - striped, or palm, and giant Malabar, from rodents - dormouse and musk shrew.

The avifauna is very rich, many bird species are famous for their colorful plumage (Kramer's pink-winged parrots, red-headed weavers, black drongos, kingfishers, fruit-bearing pigeons, black and red larvaeaters, pink-cheeked bulbuls, golden-fronted leaflets). The species diversity and abundance of cranes (rare black-necked crane, Indian antigon crane, Egyptian herons, etc.), storks (Indian marabou, etc.), parrots, honey plants, ravens, waterfowl (pelicans, teals, ducks) are striking. Banking roosters are the ancestors of domestic chickens, and the wild peacocks, often found in Central India, are mostly descendants of birds bred in the gardens of the Mughal rulers. The Indian starling, or myna, has spread over many tropical regions. There are vultures, kites and ravens. In winter, the number of birds almost doubles - birds from Europe and North Asia arrive for wintering.

In India, the reptile fauna is diverse. Cobras are found, including the largest poisonous snake in India - the king cobra, pythons and many other snakes (ribbon krait, or Bungar, coral snakes, Russell's viper, rattlesnake, or pit viper, snake, shield-tailed snakes, blind snake, egg snakes, ok . 25 species of snakes), geckos, chameleons, in the estuaries of the Bay of Bengal - crocodiles. In the waters of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, there are freshwater, or Ganges, dolphin susuk with a length of 1.8 m to 2.5 m and a crocodile Gangetic gavial up to 6.6 m long.

Among insects, centipedes and scorpions are numerous, but the main harm is brought by small insects, especially termites.

Bibliography

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Traditionally, soils in India are divided into four types: alluvial in the Indo-Gangetic plain; regurs, or "black cotton soils", on the Deccan lavas; red-colored soils in the rest of Hindustan; lateritic soils on the periphery of the peninsula. Alluvial soils are distributed mainly in the Indo-Gangetic plain and occupy an area of \u200b\u200bat least 775 thousand square meters. km (including outside India), but are also found in other areas (for example, in Gujarat and in river deltas on the eastern coast of Hindustan). In general, the cultivation of alluvial soils provides food for more than half of the population of the Indian subcontinent. The texture of these soils is characterized by a high content of coarse fractions at the foot of the Sivalik Mountains and silty particles in the delta regions. On many plains, significant differences are expressed between the older alluvium (bhangar), developed on relatively elevated interfluves, and the young alluvium (khadar), confined to floodplains. Khadar contains more humus and fine fractions and is characterized by the close occurrence of groundwater. In general, alluvial soils contain sufficient calcium, but are often deficient in nitrogen and organic matter. Regurs are well developed on the Deccan basalt lavas, especially in relief depressions. They are also found among the massifs of alluvial soils on the low terraces of the large river valleys of Hindustan. Regions swell when moistened, which leads to mixing of particles from different horizons along the profile and retention of soil moisture. The main centers of Indian cotton growing (with the exception of the Punjab plains in the northwest) were formed in the areas of distribution of regurs and soils close to them. Red-colored soils occupy the largest areas in Hindustan. They are predominantly thin and poor in mineral nutrients for plants, but their loamy varieties, confined to depressions in the relief, where loose weathering products removed from catchments accumulate, are very fertile.

Lateritic soils.The peculiarity of these soils is that soluble substances are washed out of them, which are replaced by iron and aluminum oxides. Thus, a ferruginous or ferruginous-alumina horizon is formed in the soil profile. Low-fertile lateritic soils are common along the foothills of the Western Ghats and in northeastern Hindustan, while partially lateritized soils occupy large areas in southern India. Eroded and depleted soils. In general, India's soils are not very productive. In many areas, they have been eroded and degraded due to continuous agricultural use without crop rotations and application of mineral fertilizers. As a result, there is a lack of nutrients in the soils, which are partially replenished by adding cow dung to the soil.

India

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