6. Write short notes on the …

(i) The Indian Desert: The Indian Desert, popularly known as the That desert, lies towards the western margins of the Aravali Hills. It is an undulating sandy plain covered with sand dunes. This region receives very low rainfall below 150 mm per year. It has arid climate with low vegetation cover. Streams appear during the rainy season. Soon after the rainy season they disappear into the sand. Luni is the only large river in this region. Crescent shaped dunes popularly known as Barchans are an important feature of the Indian Desert.

(ii) The Central Highland: The Peninsular Plateau consists of the broad divisions the Central Highlands and the Deccan Plateau. The part of the Peninsular plateau to the north of the Narmada river covers a major area of the Malwa plateau is known as the Central Highlands. The Vindhyas range is bounded by the Central Highlands on the south and the Aravalis on the northwest. The further westward extension gradually merges with the sandy and rocky desert of Rajasthan. The flow of the rivers draining this region, namely the Chambal, the Sind, the Betwa and Ken is from southwest to northeast, thus indicating the slope. The Central Highlands are wider in the west but narrower in the east. The eastward extensions of this plateau are locally known as the Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand.

(iii) The Island Groups of India: India has two island groups - the Lakshadweep Islands and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Lakshadweep Islands group lies close to the Malabar coast of Kerala. This group of islands is composed of small coral islands. Earlier they were known as Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindive. In 1973, these were named as Lakshadweep. It covers small area of 32 sq km. Kavaratti Island is the administrative headquarters of Lakshadweep. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are located in the Bay of Bengal. They are bigger in size and are more numerous and scattered. The entire group of islands is divided into two broad categories - the Andaman in the north and the Nicobar in the south. These island groups are of great strategic importance for the country. They lie close to equator and experience equatorial climate and has thick forest cover.