Land, Climate and Environment of pakistan

Noor Akbar

Topic 4

Location

4.1.1 locate Pakistan with reference to latitudes 24°N-37°N and longitudes 61°E-78°E;

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4.1.2 locate the neighbouring countries of Pakistan on the world map i.e. Afghanistan, India, China and Iran;

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Neighbouring countries of Pakistan

• In the north , Pakistan has a 2313 km long border line with India in the EAST and NORTH-EAST . This border line is also called Radcliffe Line.
• A 600 km long border line with People’s Republic Of China in the North.
• A 2250 km long border line with Afghanistan in the west.
• A 950 km long borderline with Iran in the South-West.

Another view

Topic 2:

Natural Topography of pakistan

What does the term “Topography” means?

Topography is the study and description of the surface features of land, which includes both natural and artificial features.

Natural Topography: Mountains, Plateaus, Plains, Desserts etc.

4.2.1 locate the following landform features on the map of Pakistan;

• Plains: Upper Indus, Lower Indus
• Desert: Thar, Thal, Kharan
• Mountain Ranges: Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Himalayan Range, Sulaiman Range, Safed Koh, Kirthar, Waziristan, Salt Range Plateau: Potwar and Baluchistan.
• Coastal areas: Karachi, Makran Coast (Balochistan)
• Rivers: Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, Kabul, Hab, Dasht;

Indus Plain

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The River Indus and its tributaries drain the Indus Plain located throughout most of Punjab and the central part of Sindh as shown in the figure on right.

• The part of Indus Plain from Methankot upward as colored in the map is is known as the Upper Indus Plain.
• The Part of Indus Plain below Methankot in the Sindh towards the Arabian Sea is called Lower Indus Plain.

Deserts

A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life.

Deserts in Pakistan are located at three places.

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• Thal desert: Located in Punjab between the River Indus and River Jhelum.
• Thar Desert: located in Punjab and Sindh towards south-eastern Pakistan. Also called South-eastern desert.
• The Kharan Desert: situated in Balochistan province in south-western Pakistan

Bigger view

Mountains of Pakistan

Northern & North-Western Mountain Rages

Himalayas: (Average Altitude about 4000 m). To the south of the Karakoram range. They run east to west.

Karakuram: (Average Altitude about 6000 m with second Highest Peak in the World, K2 (8610 meters). Located above the Himalaya and east of the Hindukush range.

Hindukush: (Average Altitude 5000 m). Runs in the north-south direction with mountains like Tirich Mir (7690m).

Himalayas, Karakuram and Hindukush

Western Mountains

Safed koh: located in an east-west direction south of the Kabul River. Called safed koh because their peaks are often covered with snow.

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Waziristan Hills: located between the Kurram and the Gomal Rivers.

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Sulaiman Range: located towards the west of the River Indus. It rises to an average height of 1500 metres. Takht-i-Sulainman at 3383 metres is the highest peak.

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Central Brahui Range: lying in the centre of the Balochistān plateau.

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Kirthar Range: Located to the south of Sulaiman Range in Sindh.

Plateaus

• A raised flat land (table land).
• a flat, elevated landform that rises above surrounding area

Baluchistan Plateau

• Lies to the west of Sulaiman and Kirthar range in Balochistan.

Potwar Plateau

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• covers an area of about 5,000 sq. miles (13,000 sq. km)

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• lies at an elevation of some 1,200 to 1,900 feet (350 to 575 metres).

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• Lies in between Jhelum River and the Indus River.

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Coastal Areas:

(The areas where land meets the sea or ocean)

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.Karachi, Makran Coast (Balochistan)

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Karachi

• The largest city in In Sindh on Coast of Arabian Sea in southeastern part of Pakistan.
• The city has a vast coastline running from Cape Monze in the west to Gharo in the east.

Makran Coast

• Makran is a semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan.
• Stretches from Gaddani coast in Karachi to Jiwani coast in Balochistan.
• It further stretches into Iran part along the coast of the Gulf of Oman.

Rivers of Pakistan

Indus Water System

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• The is the largest river of Pakistan.

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• Enters south-east of Baltistan from Tibet and Kashmir and flows north-west through KPK, Punjab and Sindh to into Arabian Sea.

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• The Sutlej, Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum are the main eastern tributaries of the Indus.

Western Rivers

Rivers to the west of Indus are smaller in length and width and have less water than the eastern tributaries. They are as follows:

• River Swat, Kabul, Kurram, Tochi in KPK
• River Zhob, Gomal and Hab flow from Balochistan east ward to join Indus River.