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Himalayas
Columbia Encyclopedia entry: Himalayas
Himalayashĭmäl'əyəz, hĭməlā'əz [Sanskrit,=abode of snow], great Asian mountain system, extending c.1,500 mi (2,410 km) E from the Indus River in Pakistan through India, the Tibet region of China, Nepal, E India, and Bhutan to the southern bend of the Brahmaputra River in SE Tibet. For most of its length, the Himalayas comprise two nearly parallel ranges separated by a wide valley in which the Indus and Sutlej rivers flow westward and the Brahmaputra flows eastward. The northern range is called the Trans-Himalayas. The southern range has three parallel zones: the Great Himalayas, the perpetually snow-covered main range in which the highest peaks (average elevation 20,000 ft/6,100 m) are found; the Lesser Himalayas with 7,000 to 15,000 ft (2,130–4,570 m) elevations; and the southernmost Outer Himalayas, 2,000 to 5,000 ft (610–1,520 m) high. A relatively young and still growing system subject to severe earthquakes, the Himalayas' main axis was formed c.25 to 70 million years ago as the earth's crust folded against the northward-moving Indian subcontinent. Some 30 peaks rise to more than 25,000 ft (7,620 m), including Mt. Everest (29,035 ft/8,850 m) and Kanchenjunga (28,208 ft/8,598 m), the world's highest and third highest peaks. Himalayan peaks have long been the goal of mountaineers. The towering ranges are penetrated by many roads and tracks, and air flights reach remote towns. Railroads reach only the southern foothills; from there the main route follows footpaths across primitive bridges, ropeways, and high mountain passes. Improved roads run between Kashmir and China and from India through Nepal to China, and there are major airports at Katmandu and Srinagar. The aridity of the Tibetan plateau and the Tarim basin of W China results from the interception of the moisture-laden northwest monsoon by the Himalayas' southern face. Consequently, the northern slopes receive relatively light snowfall and have little drainage, while the snow-covered and extensively glaciated southern slopes give rise to the Indian subcontinent's major rivers, including the Indus, Sutlej, Ganges, and Brahmaputra. Little of the region is inhabitable or of great current economic value. The southern piedmont plains of Tarai and Duars were formerly malarial jungle and swamps but have been converted to agriculture, with many wild animals in nature preserves. Grazing is possible on some of the gentler slopes, and extensive farming is carried on in the valleys; there is some lumbering in the forests found below 12,000 ft (3,660 m). Limited amounts of iron ore, gold, and sapphires are worked in the west. The Himalayan rivers offer much scope for hydroelectric power and irrigation. Hill resorts such as Shimla, Naini Tal, Mussoorie, and Darjeeling are popular summer retreats from the heat of the Indian plains. The Himalayas are associated with many legends in Asian mythology (see abominable snowman); on isolated slopes are found the retreats of rishis (holy sages), gurus (teachers), and Tibetan monks.

The Columbia Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2001-09 Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

Wikipedia search results for: Himalayas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short, meaning "abode of snow" in Sanskrit, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. By extension, it is also the name of a massive mountain system that includes the Karakoram, the Hindu Kush, Tian Shan, Kunlun and other, lesser, ranges extending out from the Pamir Knot. The Himalayan mountain system is the planet's highest and home to the world's highest peaks, the Eight-thousanders, which include Mount Everest and K2. To comprehend the enormous scale of this mountain range consider that Aconcagua, in the Andes, at, is the highest peak outside Asia, whereas...more »
Columbia Encyclopedia search results: Himalayas
Results 1 - 10  of 64
  • Chomo Lhari

    Chomo Lhari, peak, 23,997 ft (7,314 m) high, on the Bhutan-China border, in the Himalayas. It is sacred to the Tibetans.

  • Freshfield, Douglas William

    Freshfield, Douglas William, 1845–1934, English explorer and mountaineer. A prominent member of the Royal Geographical Society, he did pioneer climbing in the Caucasus, the Himalayas, and the ...

  • Hindustan

    Hindustan [Persian,=Hindu land], historical term, usually applied to the Ganges Plain of N India, between the Himalayas in the north and the Deccan plateau in the south. Used variably througho...

  • Kanchenjunga

    Kanchenjunga, Kanchanjanga, or Kinchinjunga, mountain, on the India-Nepal border, E Himalayas; geologically regarded as part of the main axis of the Himalayan range. The third highest mountain...

  • honeyguide

    Honeyguide, small plainly colored Old World bird of the family Indicatoridae, known for its habit of leading man and some lower animals (notably the honey badger) to the nests of wild bees. Ho...

  • Beas

    Beas, river, 250 mi (402 km) long, rising in the Himalayas and flowing generally SW through the fertile Kulu Valley of Himachal Pradesh and the Shiwalik Range to join the Sutlej River, S of Am...

  • Bilaspur

    Bilaspur. 1 Former principality, Himachal Pradesh state, NW India, in the W Himalayas. It is the site of the Bhakra dam, a massive project on the Sutlej River. The town of Bilaspur (1991 pop. ...

  • Chenab

    Chenab, one of the five rivers of the Punjab, 675 mi (1,086 km) long, rising in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and flowing NW through the Kashmir Himalayas, then SW through Pakistani Pun...

  • Dharamsala

    Dharamsala, town (2001 est. pop. 19,200), Himachal Pradesh, N India. Located on the slopes of the Kangra valley at the edge of Dhauladhar range in the outer Himalayas. Dharamsala is noted as t...

  • Ghaghara

    Ghaghara or Gogra, river, major tributary of the Ganges, c.640 mi (1,030 km) long, rising in the Himalayas, SW Tibet region of China, and flowing generally S through Nepal (where it is called ...

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