India's climate and ecosystems

Where

Reaches Keralam first, then spreads north to cover the whole country by early July

When

June to September; the normal start date over Keralam is 1 June

It brings about three-quarters of India's yearly rain. It arrives in two branches: the Arabian Sea branch hits the Western Ghats, and the Bay of Bengal branch hits the north-east and then turns west along the Himalaya. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) declares the onset over Keralam when rain, wind and cloud reach set levels; in 2026 it declared it on 4 June, three days after the normal date.

Where

Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, about 70 km from Shillong

Often called the wettest place on Earth, with an average of nearly 11,900 mm (about 12 metres) of rain a year. Moist winds from the Bay of Bengal are funnelled into the Khasi Hills and forced to rise up their steep slopes, so they drop their water.

Where

Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, about 15 km east of Mawsynram

When

Record year August 1860 to July 1861

For a long time it was called the wettest place on Earth, until records showed Mawsynram's average was higher. It still holds two world records: about 26,000 mm (26 metres) of rain in the twelve months from August 1860 to July 1861, and 9,300 mm in the single month of July 1861.

Where

Western Rajasthan, around Jaisalmer, Barmer and Bikaner, running into Pakistan

Together with the cold desert of Ladakh, the driest part of India: both get less than 10 cm of rain in a year. Jaisalmer, in the heart of the Thar, is the classic exam answer for India's driest city.

Where

The Deccan Plateau, mainly Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh

Made with

Weathered basalt, the dark lava rock of the Deccan

A heavy, clay-rich soil that holds moisture for a long time, so crops survive between rains. It swells when wet and shrinks into deep cracks when dry, which lets air into the ground. Cotton grows so well in it that it is named after the crop.

Where

Western Ghats, Keralam, Karnataka, Goa and the hills of the east and north-east

Laterite forms where it is hot and very wet. The heavy rain washes most nutrients deep down, a process called leaching, and leaves behind red iron and aluminium. The name comes from the Latin later, a brick, because the soil hardens in air and is cut into building blocks.

Where

The delta of the Ganga and Brahmaputra, in West Bengal and Bangladesh

The largest mangrove forest in the world. Mangroves are trees that grow in salty tidal water, on roots that rise above the mud so they can breathe. The forest is named after its most common tree, the sundari. It is home to Bengal tigers that swim between islands, and the Indian part is a national park, tiger reserve, biosphere reserve, World Heritage Site and Ramsar site all at once.

Where

Nainital district, Uttarakhand, along the Ramganga river

When

Set up in 1936; renamed after Jim Corbett in the mid-1950s

Who

Named after Jim Corbett, a hunter turned naturalist and author who helped create it

India's first national park. It opened in 1936 as Hailey National Park, after Malcolm Hailey, the British governor of the province, was renamed Ramganga National Park after independence, and then Corbett National Park. It was one of the first nine tiger reserves when Project Tiger began in 1973.

When

Launched on 1 April 1973

Who

Government of India; run today by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)

Tigers were being hunted and their forests cut so fast that the government set up special reserves for them, nine at the start. As of October 2026 there are 58 tiger reserves, the newest being Madhav in Madhya Pradesh (March 2025). The 2022 tiger count estimated 3,682 wild tigers in India, about three-quarters of the world's total.

When

Launched in 1992

Who

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

A national programme to protect wild elephants, their forests and the corridors they walk between forests, and to reduce clashes between elephants and people. Unlike Project Tiger, it works through elephant reserves that overlap with other protected areas. The Indian elephant is India's National Heritage Animal.

Where

Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh

When

First release on 17 September 2022

The cheetah died out in India and was declared extinct here in 1952, after years of hunting and the loss of its grasslands. In September 2022 eight African cheetahs were flown in from Namibia and released at Kuno, and twelve more came from South Africa in February 2023. In March 2023 the first cheetah cubs in over 70 years were born in India.

Where

Odisha coast, south of Puri

When

One of India's first two Ramsar sites, 1 October 1981

The largest saltwater (brackish) lagoon in India, where the sea mixes with river water. It was listed as a Ramsar site in 1981, together with Keoladeo in Rajasthan. Pollution put it on the Ramsar danger list, the Montreux Record, in 1993; after a clean-up it was taken off in 2002. It is famous for Irrawaddy dolphins and for winter birds such as flamingos.

Where

The mountain chain along India's west coast, from Gujarat to Keralam, together with Sri Lanka

The rainforests of the Western Ghats hold hundreds of plants, frogs and animals found nowhere else. The Western Ghats are also a World Heritage Site (2012).