India, which has the world's highest and the most spectacular mountains, is 
    also fortunate in possessing one of the world's most extensive and fertile 
    plains, made up of alluvial soil brought down in the form of fine slit by the
    mighty rivers. These Great Northern Plains consists of the Indus basin, the 
    Gangaputra-Brahmaputra basin and the tributaries of these mighty river
    systems. The bulk of the Indus basin falls within Pakistan but a part of it
    is shared by Punjab and Haryana. The Ganga-Brahmaputra basin is larger of
    the two and covers a large number of states in northern India.

    The most characteristic feature of the Great Plains of northern India is 
    the  extreme horizontality or levelness. There is practically no difference
    in geomorphological features of the two parts, the Indus basin and the 
    Ganga-Brahmaputra basin, except the water divides which separates 
    these two basins. This divide is made by a low narrow ridge of Aravalli
    range passing through Delhi and Ambala. The average height of the water 
    divide is not more than 300 mts above the sea level, and this gives the
    plain a touch of continuity between these two drainage basins of Indus 
    and Ganga. However, according to the terrain characteristics, this plain
    can be divided into two parts : 
    (1) The Upland Plain which lies above the flood level and is made up of 
        old Alluvium. This plain is called the Bangar Land.
    (2) The Lowland Plain which is liable to inundaion during floods and thus 
        acquires fresh doses of new alluvium. This is also called the Khadar Land.             

  
   |GREAT MOUNTAIN WALL|  |DRAINAGE OF GREAT PLAINS|  

   |GREAT PLATEAU OF PENINSULAR INDIA|  |GREAT DESERT OF RAJASTHAN|
   
   |COASTAL STRIPS|  |INDIAN ISLANDS|