Mountains, plateaus and deserts of India

Where

The northernmost range, from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh

The highest and most continuous of the three ranges, with an average height of about 6,000 m. Its peaks are under snow all year, and its glaciers, such as the Gangotri, feed the great rivers of the north. It holds the giants: Kangchenjunga in Sikkim and Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand (pictured), with Everest across the border in Nepal.

Where

South of Himadri

The middle range, mostly between 3,700 m and 4,500 m high. Its best-known ranges are the Pir Panjal and the Dhauladhar (pictured, above Dharamshala). Most Himalayan hill stations sit here, such as Shimla, Mussoorie and Nainital, along with wide valleys like Kashmir, Kangra and Kullu.

Where

The southernmost range, along the edge of the northern plains

The lowest and youngest range, about 900 m to 1,100 m high (pictured from Chandigarh). It is made of loose gravel, sand and clay that rivers carried down from the higher ranges, so it erodes easily. Between the Shiwalik and Himachal lie long, flat valleys called duns, the best known being Dehradun.

Where

North of the Great Himalaya, in the far north of India's official map

A separate range north of the Himalaya, with some of the highest peaks on Earth. Its highest is K2 (pictured), also called Godwin-Austen, at 8,611 m the second-highest mountain in the world after Everest. K2 stands in Gilgit-Baltistan, which India's official map shows as part of the Union Territory of Ladakh, but which has been held by Pakistan since 1947. The Siachen Glacier, held by India, lies in the eastern Karakoram.

Where

Along India's eastern border with Myanmar

Past Arunachal Pradesh the Himalaya bends sharply south, and these lower hills run north to south along the Myanmar border. From north to south they are the Patkai hills, the Naga hills, the Manipur hills and the Mizo hills (pictured), also called the Lushai hills. They are made mostly of sandstone and covered in thick forest.

Where

Along the west coast, from Gujarat and Maharashtra to the tip of Tamil Nadu

An almost unbroken wall of hills about 1,600 km long, getting higher towards the south. In Maharashtra it is called the Sahyadri. It stops the monsoon winds, so its western side gets very heavy rain, and most of the big peninsular rivers, including the Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri, rise here and flow east. Its highest peak is Anamudi (pictured), 2,695 m, in the Anaimalai hills of Keralam. The range is a World Heritage Site.

Where

Along the east coast, from Odisha through Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu

Lower than the Western Ghats, with an average height of about 600 m, and broken into separate groups of hills. They are broken because the big east-flowing rivers, the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri, have cut through them on their way to the Bay of Bengal. Groups include the Nallamala, Javadi and Mahendragiri hills.

Where

From Delhi through Haryana and Rajasthan to near Ahmedabad in Gujarat

The oldest fold mountains in India, formed well over a billion years ago and worn down into low, rounded ridges (pictured near Alwar). They run about 670 km from south-west to north-east, and the Delhi Ridge is their tail end. The highest point is Guru Shikhar, 1,722 m, at Mount Abu in Rajasthan. The Thar Desert lies to their north-west.

Where

Central India, mainly Madhya Pradesh

Two ranges of hills that run east to west across the middle of India. The Vindhya lie north of the Narmada river and the Satpura lie south of it, so the Narmada flows west in the long valley between them. They have long been seen as the line between north and south India. The highest point of the Satpura is Dhupgarh, about 1,350 m, at Pachmarhi (pictured).

Where

On the border of Sikkim and Nepal

When

8,586 m high

The third-highest mountain in the world and the highest peak in the area India governs. It is sacred to the people of Sikkim. The Khangchendzonga National Park around it became India's first "mixed" World Heritage Site, listed for both nature and culture, in 2016.

Where

Most of peninsular India, south of the Satpura

A huge triangle of high land, with the Western Ghats on its west, the Eastern Ghats on its east, and the Satpura and nearby hills on its north. It tilts gently towards the east, which is why most of its rivers flow east. Its north-western part is the Deccan Traps: layer upon layer of basalt rock left by huge lava flows about 66 million years ago (pictured near Mahabaleshwar). This rock weathers into black soil, which is good for growing cotton.

Where

Most of Jharkhand, with parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar

India's storehouse of minerals, with large deposits of coal, iron ore, mica and bauxite. That is why the steel towns of Jamshedpur and Bokaro and the coalfields around Dhanbad grew up here. Rivers drop off the edges of the plateau in waterfalls, such as Hundru Falls near Ranchi (pictured).

Where

Western Madhya Pradesh and south-eastern Rajasthan

A plateau of old volcanic rock with fertile black soil, lying between the Aravalli to the north-west and the Vindhya to the south. The Chambal river rises here, near Mhow, and flows north to join the Yamuna. Its main cities are Indore and Ujjain. The fort town of Mandu sits on its southern edge (pictured), looking across to the Vindhya hills.

Where

North-west of the Aravalli, mostly in Rajasthan, and across the border into Pakistan

India's hot, sandy desert, with less than 150 mm of rain a year in its driest parts. The wind piles the sand into long ridges and crescent-shaped dunes called barchans (pictured). The Luni is its only large river. Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Barmer are desert towns, and the Indira Gandhi Canal brings river water into it.

Where

Kutch district, Gujarat, with a small part in Pakistan

A huge salt marsh rather than a sandy desert. In the monsoon it floods with seawater and rain; in the dry season the water evaporates and leaves a hard white crust of salt (pictured). It has two parts, the Great Rann and the Little Rann. The Rann Utsav festival is held on the white salt at Dhordo each winter, and the Little Rann is a sanctuary for the Indian wild ass.

Where

Ladakh, and the Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh

A desert that is cold instead of hot. Ladakh is very high (Leh is about 3,500 m above sea level) and lies behind the Great Himalaya, which blocks the monsoon clouds, so it gets very little rain or snow. Summers are dry and winters bitterly cold. The Nubra valley (pictured) even has sand dunes, where two-humped Bactrian camels live.