Extending over 1,92,000 sq. km. on the western half of the Deccan plateau
bounded by Andhra Pradesh in the east, Maharashtra in the north and
Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the south, Karntaka has a population of over
45 millions. The coast about 330 km long with its silver sand beaches
and blue lagoons hedged by miles and miles of tall, waving, palmgroves
against the back drop of majestic mountain regions is strikingly beautiful.
The Malnad stretches about 650 km from north to south with an undulating
range of mountains.
The region is well developed with coffee plantations, tea, timber, minerals
and hydro-electricity. The east is a sloping from the fertile soil which
yields all the crops of tropical or temperate zones. A majority of the
state lies on the Deccan Plateau. The Western Ghats, with an average
height of 2500 to 3000 feet separate the narrow coastal plains from
the Plateau. The state capital is Bangalore. Here is detailed information
on the geography of Karnataka.
Physiograpically, Karnataka State
forms part of two well defined macro regions of Indian Union; the Deccan
Plateau and the Coastal plains and Islands. The State has four physiographic
regions
Northern Karnataka Plateau
Northern Karnataka Plateau comprises
of the districts of Belgaum, Bidar, Bijapur and Gulbarga and is largely
composed of the Deccan Trap. It represents a monotonous, treeless extensive
plateau landscape with a general elevation of 300 to 600 metres from
the mean sea level. However the river plains of the Krishna, the Bhima,
the Ghataprabha and the Malaprabha with the intervening watersheds,
the step like landscapes, lateritic scarpments, residual hills and ridges
break the monotony of this extensive plateau. The general slope is towards
the east. This region is largely covered with rich black cotton soils.
Central
Karnataka Plateau
Central Karnataka Plateau covers
the districts of Bellary, Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Dharwad, Raichur
and Shimoga. The region represents the transitional surface between
the Northern Karnataka Plateau of Deccan Trap and southern Karnataka
Plateau with relatively higher surface. By and large, this region represents
the area of Tungabhadra basin. The general elevation varies between
450 and 700 metres. The general slope of this region is towards the
east.
Southern
Karnataka Plateau
The Southern Karnataka Plateau
covers the districts of Bangalore, Bangalore Rural, Hassan, Kodagu,
Kolar, Mandya, Mysore and Tumkur. This region largely covers the area
of the Cauvery river basin lying in Karnataka. It is bounded by 600
metres contour and is characterised by a higher degree of slope. In
the west and south, it is enclosed by the ranges of Western Ghats and
the northern part is an interrupted but clearly identifiable high plateau.
In the east the valleys of the Cauvery and its tributaries open out
to form undulating plains. The general elevation of the region varies
from 600 to 900 metres. However, residual heights of 1,500 to 1,750
metres are found in the Biligirirangan hills of Mysore district and
the Brahmagiri range of Kodagu district.
Karnataka
Coastal Region
The Karnataka Coastal Region, which
extends between the Western Ghats, edge of the Karnataka Plateau in
the east and the Arabian Sea in the West, covers Dakshina Kannada and
Uttara Kannada districts. This region is traversed by several ridges
and spurs of Western Ghats. It has difficult terrain full of rivers,
creeks, water falls, peaks and ranges of hills. The coastal region consists
of two broad physical units, the plains and the Western Ghats. The Coastal
plains, represent a narrow stretch of estuarine and marine plains. The
abrupt rise at the eastern flanks forms the Western Ghats. The northern
parts of the ghats are of lower elevation (450-600 metres) as compared
to Southern parts (900 to 1,500 metres). The Coastal belt with an average
width of 50 to 80 km covers a distance of about 267 km. from north to
south.
Karnataka has representatives of
all types of variations in topography - high mountains, plateaus, residual
hills and coastal plains. The State is enclosed by chains of mountains
to its west, east and south. It consists mainly of plateau which has
higher elevation of 600 to 900 metres above mean sea level. The entire
landscape is undulating, broken up by mountains and deep ravines. Plain
land of elevation less than 300 metres above mean sea level is to be
found only in the narrow coastal belt, facing the Arabian Sea.
There are quite a few high peaks
both in Western and Eastern Ghat systems with altitudes more than 1,500
metres. A series of cross-sections drawn from west to east across the
Western Ghat generally exhibit, a narrow coastal plain followed to the
east by small and short plateaus at different altitudes, then suddenly
rising upto great heights. Then follows the gentle east and east-north-west
sloping plateau. Among the tallest peaks of Karnataka are the Mullayyana
Giri (1,925 m), Bababudangiri (Chandradrona Parvata 1,894 m) and the
Kudremukh (1,895 m) all in Chikmagalur Dt. and the Pushpagiri (1,908
m) in Kodagu Dt. There are a dozen peaks which rise above the height
of 1,500 metres.
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