Geography(Chap-8) Human Environment Interactions: The Tropical & The Subtropical Region

Geography(Chap-8)    Human Environment Interactions: The Tropical & The Subtropical Region

Ø  The Tropical region lies very close to the equator. As it is located between 10’North and 10’South of the equator, so, it is also called Equatorial region.

Ø  The river Amazon flows through the equatorial region, from the mountains to the west and reaches the Atlantic Ocean to the east.

Ø  The Amazon river was first discovered by the Spanish explorers. During that time they were attacked by a group of local tribes wearing headgears and grass skirts.  These people reminded them about the fierce tribes of women warriors known in the Roman Empire as the Amazons. Hence the river got its name Amazon.

Ø  The place where a river flows into another body of water is called the river’s mouth.

Ø  Numerous tributaries join the Amazon river to form the Amazon basin. The river basin drains portions of Brazil, parts of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Columbia and a small part of Venzuela.

Ø  Tributaries: Tributaries are small rivers that join the main river. The main river along with all its tributaries that drain an area forms a river basin or the catchment area.

Ø  The Amazon Basin is the largest river basin in the world.

Ø  As the Amazon Basin stretches directly on the equator, it is characterized by hot and wet climate throughout the year. Both days and nights are almost equally hot and humid as it rains everyday. The day temperature are high with high humidity. At night the temperature goes down but humidity remains high.

·         Rainforests :

Ø  As it rains heavily, thick forests grow. The leaves and branches does not allow the sunlight to reach the ground and the dense ‘roof’ created by the leaves, so it remains dark and damp. Only shade tolerant vegetation may grow here. Orchids, bromeliads grow as plant parasites.  

Ø  Bromeliads are special plants that store water in their leaves. Animals like frogs use these pockets of water for laying their eggs.

Ø  The rainforests are rich in fauna.

Ø  Birds like Toucans, Humming birds, bird of paradise with their brilliantly coloured plumage are found which are not seen in India.

Ø  Animals  like Sloth, monkey, ant eating tapirs, reptiles, python snakes are found here.

Ø  Several species of fishes including the flesh-eating Piranha fish is found here.

Ø  Slash and Burn is a way of cultivating land where farmers clear a piece of land by slashing and cutting down trees and bushes. These are then burnt, which releases the nutrients into the soil. New crops are grown in this cleared field for a few years.

Ø  The staple food is manioc, also known as cassava that grows under the ground like potato.

Ø  People stay in large apartment like houses called ‘Maloca’ with a steeply slanting roof.

·         Life in the Ganga- Bramaputra Basin:

Ø  The tributaries of rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra together form the Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin.

Ø  The basin lies in the subtropical region that is located between 10’N  to 30’N latitudes.

Ø  The tributaries of Ganga like the Ghagra, the Son, the Chambal, the Gandak, the Koshi and the tributaries of Brahmaputra like the Lohit, the Dibang, Dhansiri, Kolang, Subansiri, Manas, Teesta etc. drains it.

Ø  The plains of Ganga & Brahmaputra, mountains and the foothills of the Himalayas and the Sundarban delta are the main features of this basin.

Ø  Ox-bow lakes dot the plain area.

Ø   The area is dominated by monsoon climate which bring rains from mid-June to mid-September.

Ø  The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through China, India and Bangladesh. This river  is known as Tsang Po to the Tibetans, the Brahmaputra, Lohit, Siang & Dihang to the Indians and Jamuna to the Bangladeshis.

Ø  Population density means the number of persons that live in one square kilometer of area. For example, the population density of Uttarakhand is 189 while the density of West Bengal is 1029.

Ø  In the Ganga and Brahmaputra plain tropical deciduous trees grow, along with teak, sal and peepal.

Ø  There is variety of wildlife in the basin , Elephants , tigers , deer , monkeys etc.

Ø  The one-horned rhinoceros is found in Bramhaputra plain.

Ø  In the fresh water of Ganga & Bramhaputra – a variety of dolphin locally called ‘Susu’ (also called blind dolphin) is found. The presence of Susu is the indication of health of the river.

Ø  The Ganga- Brahmaputra plain has several big towns & cities like, Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi etc.

Ø  To conserve the river Ganga, ‘Namami Ganga’ programme has been launched.

Ø  Tourism is another activity of the basin:

 Taj Mahal is located on the banks of Yamuna river,

 Allahabad on the confluence of the rivers Ganga-Yamuna,

 Buddhist stupas in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,

Lucknow with its Imambara,

Assam with Kaziranga,

Manas with wildlife sanctuaries &

Arunachal Pradesh with its distinct tribal culture are some of the worthy places for tourism.