The North Indian Mountains comprises the Himalayas and the associated mountains. Their salient features are as follows: The Himalayas: the Himalayan ranges are the world's highest mountain ranges. They consist of four parallel ranges:
1. The Shiwalik Range: -
(a) It is the southernmost and lowest Himalayan range. Its altitude varies between 900 and 1,100 metres.
(b) Between the Shiwalik and Himachal ranges, there are a number of valleys known as 'Dun', E.g., Dehra Dun, etc.
2. The Lesser Himalayan or Himachal range: -
(a) It lies to the north of the Shiwalik range it is less than 4500 metres high.
(b) It consists of Pir Panchal range in Kashmir and Dhaula Dhar in Himachal Pradesh..
3. The Great Himalayas or Himadri: -
(a) It is the most continuous, longest, highest and northernmost range of the Himalayas.
(b) It rises to nearly 6000 metres. Some of its peaks exceed 8000 metres.
4. Trans-Himalayan ranges:
(a) The ranges in the Himalayan system but lying between the main Himalayan ranges and the Tibetan Plateau are called "Trans-Himalayan ranges".
(b) They are about 40 Km wide and 965 Km long consisting of mainly Karakoram, Ladakh and Kailas ranges..
Himalayas can also be divided into three regions called
(1) The Western Himalayas: -It stretches from Indus to the Kali River.
(2) The Central Himalayas.: -It stretches from the Kali river to the Tista river and
(3) The Eastern Himalayas.: -It stretches from the Tista river to the Brahmaputra river.
