The Western Ghats stretch along the coast of the Indian subcontinent from north to south. It is customary to call them a mountain range, but in fact it is not really ordinary mountains. The folds of the terrain were formed in ancient times when the ancient supercontinent Godwana disintegrated. The ghats are the edge of a huge peninsula that forms the whole. The ridge is separated from the Indian Ocean by a small flat strip.

Location

The title describes very well external features mountains Translated from ancient Sanskrit, the word "gaty" means steps. Mountains, however, are similar to them. The Western and Eastern Ghats are different from each other. The western edge is steep, while the eastern one passes into the plain more smoothly. The northern part of the mountains is represented by monolithic ridges formed by the influx of one plate onto another more than 150 million years ago. The Southern Ghats, called the Malabar Coast, are more like solitary rolling hills.

One of the most popular tourist destinations for which the Western Ghats are famous is Goa. This small Indian state is dotted with riverbeds that flow down from the mountains and carry their waters to the Arabian Gulf. The traveler can easily choose a suitable excursion to the mountains, which will meet his wishes. By the way, rest and accommodation in Goa is considered one of the most economical options. The tourism infrastructure of the region is under development. active development, local business owners have room to grow. But the beautiful nature more than compensates for the shortcomings of the service.

An equally popular place for which many seek to visit the Western Ghats is Mumbai. This ancient city is the second in the world (after the Philippine capital) in terms of population. Here you will find luxurious hotels and restaurants, theaters and museums, colorful antiquities and monuments of modern art.

Unique nature

Biologists call the Western Ghats a unique nature reserve. Several species of animals live here, which are not found anywhere else in the world: lion-tailed macaque, hooded gullman, prickly dormouse, goat tar, and others. Along with them live less rare animals, for example, Indian elephant and baboon. Many tourists go here to admire the population of butterflies. AT last years their numbers have dwindled and were once among the largest in the world. Total rare species animals living in the Ghats exceeded 3 hundreds.

Diverse and vegetable world. calling card India is tea. The country ranks second in the world (after China) in its harvesting. Most of the harvest is obtained on the terraces of the Gat Mountains. Organized by the East India Company at the end of the century before last. When the British colonialists left Hindustan, the plantations were preserved and have been diligently cultivated ever since.

The local population has been engaged in agriculture. Many crops brought by Europeans in colonial times are grown here.

Man-made and natural attractions

Think about your itinerary before heading to the Western Ghats. Fans of the animal world will be interested in visiting unique nature reserves: Mudumalai, Bandipur, Nilgiri. Worthy of attention is the luxurious rose garden in Udhagamandalam. National parks Eravikulam, Karimpuzha, Mukurthi and Silent Valley are cool on a hot day and will help you learn more about unique nature ghats mountains.

There is something to see and lovers of antiquities. Particularly interesting in this regard is the city of Palakkad. Going to it, visit the ancient fort, the Jain temple, the Brahmin monastery.

  • Mount Ana Moody is the highest point in India south of the Himalayas. Its name is translated from Sanskrit as "elephant's head". In shape, it resembles the forehead of an elephant.
  • Yakshagana is a traditional art in these parts. This is a dance with a story, which is performed only by men.
  • AT botanical garden you can admire the petrified tree, which is 20 million years old.
  • On the terraces of the Western Ghats, unique tea trees grow from the bushes.
  • And the most important thing is the following. The Western Ghats is a unique place where there is no concept " holiday season". Nature is kind here all year round and you can go on a trip at any time.

Western Ghāts, Sahyadri, mountain system, forming the app. edge of the Deccan Plateau (India). Ghats in Sanskrit means "steps". The length from north to south is 1,500 km, from the valley of the river. Tapti to Cape Komorin. They are separated from the ocean by a narrow strip of plains of the Malabar coast. Avg. height 900 m, max. 2698 m (Anaimudi). On S. in ext. The structure is composed of covers of basalts up to 2 km thick; in the south, granites and gneisses. Zap. the slope is high and steep, descending in steps to the coastal plains. Receives 2000-5000 mm of precipitation per year, covered with tropical rainforests. Vost. the slope is more gentle and dry (600–700 mm of precipitation); savannahs are common. To the south are the Bandipur and Mudumalai reserves.


Watch value Western Ghats in other dictionaries

Atlantic Western Languages- see West Atlantic languages.

Eastern Ghats- (Eastern Ghats) - mountains that form the eastern outskirts of the Deccan Plateau, in India. Divided into separate massifs up to 1680 m high. Eastern slopes facing ........
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Ghats- (Ghats) - mountains on the Hindustan Peninsula, in India; see Western, Eastern.
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Western Alps- the highest (up to 4807 m, Mont Blanc) part of the Alps in France, Switzerland, Italy, to the west of the conditional line connecting Lake Constance and Como. Includes Bernese, Glarnian,........
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Western Beskids- part of the northern frame of the Zap. Carpathians in Poland and Slovakia. Length approx. 250 km. Altitude up to 1725 m (Babya). Beech and coniferous forests, subalpine meadows.
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Western Ghats- (Sahyadri) - the western elevated outskirts of the Deccan plateau, in India. Length approx. 1800 km. Altitude 1500-2000 m, maximum 2698 m.
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Western Carpathians- part of the Carpathians in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary. Length approx. 400km. Altitude up to 2655 m (Gerlakhovsky-Shtit in the Tatras).
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Western Romanian Mountains- (Apuseni) (Muntii Apuseni) - part of the Carpathians in the west of Romania. They include Bihor (height up to 1848 m), Metalich and other massifs. Beech, oak and coniferous forests, meadows.
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Northwest Territories- (Northwest Territories) - an administrative-territorial unit in northern Canada. 3380 thousand km2. Population 62 thousand people (1992). Adm. c. - Yellowknife.
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Eastern Ghats- mountains to the east. coast of the Hindustan Peninsula; India. The name of the Ghats (Ghats) is from the Hindi ghati "mountain passage, pass; gorge, valley; slope". Plural form h. (eng. Ghauts) accepted ........
Geographic dictionary

Western Ghats- mountains, see Eastern Ghats
Geographic dictionary

Southwestern Islands- see Barat-Daya
Geographic dictionary

Western Provinces of the Roman Empire in the Second Half of the 1st Century and in the 2nd Century AD — Common features in the development of the provinces. Britannia. Gaul. Spain
It has already been said above that the provinces in the I-II centuries. n. e. experienced a certain upsurge. However, the economic recovery...
Historical dictionary

Western Satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire- Traveling in the middle of the 5th century. BC. but to the western outskirts of the Achaemenid state, the "father of history" Herodotus drew attention to the diversity of this territory, to the diversity ........
Historical dictionary

Western Ghats, Sahyadri, a mountain range in India, the western elevated edge of the Hindustan peninsula. Length around 1800 km, height up to 2698 m(city of Anaimudi). The western slope is a steep cliff of the Deccan Plateau, falling in steps to the Arabian Sea, the eastern slope is gently sloping plains, descending to the hinterland of the Hindustan Peninsula. Z. G. are divided by transverse tectonic valleys, which serve as communication routes between the Malabar coast and the Deccan plateau. southern part composed mainly of gneisses and charnockites, forming separate massifs with sharp, irregular outlines of peaks (Nilgiri, Anaimalay, Palni, Cardamom Mountains); the northern part is dominated by basalts forming flat-topped stepped hills. The climate is subequatorial, monsoonal. The annual amount of precipitation on the windward slopes is from 2 to 5 thousand tons. mm, on leeward - 600-700 mm. On the western slopes below and in the north there are mixed deciduous-evergreen forests, in the south - evergreen moist forests. rainforests(largely reduced); on the eastern slopes - dry savannas with candelabra-like spurges, acacias, deleba palms.

L. I. Kurakova.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia M.: " Soviet Encyclopedia", 1969-1978

Separating this plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The mountain range begins near the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra, south of the Tapti River, stretches for about 1600 km through the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, ending at Kanyakumari, the southern end of Hindustan. About 60% of the Western Ghats lies in Karnataka.

The mountains occupy 60,000 km², the average height is 1200 m, the highest point is Anamudi (2695 m). More than 5,000 species of flowering plants, 139 species of mammals, 508 species of birds, 179 species of amphibians live in the mountains. Many species are endemic.

Geology

The Western Ghats are not a full-fledged mountain range, but are a shifted edge of the Deccan plateau. They probably formed during the breakup of the Gondwana supercontinent about 150 million years ago. Geophysicists Barren and Harrison of the University of Miami have argued that the western coast of India formed 100 to 80 million years ago, after breaking off from Madagascar. Shortly after breaking off, the peninsular region of the Indian Plateau drifted through the area of ​​present-day Réunion (21°06′ S, 55°31′ E). During large eruptions, the Deccan Plateau, a wide basalt layer in central India, developed. These volcanic processes led to the formation of the northern third of the Western Ghats, their domed outlines. The underlying rocks were formed over 200 million years ago. They can be seen in some places, for example in Nilgiris.

Basalt - basic rock, it occurs at a depth of 3 km. Other rocks include harnockites, granitic gneisses, chondalites, granulites, metamorphic gneisses with occasional inclusions of limestone, iron ore, dolerites and anorthosites. There are also deposits of laterites and bauxites in the southern hills.

The mountains

The Western Ghats extend from the Satpura range in the north, running south through Goa, Karnataka, to Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The large mountain range starting in the north is Sahyadhri, which has many mountain stations. Among the smaller chains are the Kardamom Hills, Nilgiri, Anaimalai and Palni in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In the Western Ghats lies the highest point of India south of the Himalayas - Ana Moody (2695 m).

Rivers

The Western Ghats create one of the watersheds of India. They give rise to important rivers of peninsular India flowing from west to east into the Bay of Bengal, such as the Krishna, Godwari and Kaveri. Reservoirs have been built on many rivers in Maharashtra and Kerala.

Climate

The climate of the Western Ghats is humid and tropical, varying with altitude and distance from the equator. Above 1500 m in the north and over 2000 m in the south, the climate is more temperate. average temperature here +15, in some places in winter the temperature drops to 0. The coldest periods coincide with the wettest.

The mountains are stopped by the rain-carrying monsoon winds from the west, and therefore receive a lot of precipitation, especially on the western slopes. Dense forests also contribute to rainfall in this area. 3000-4000 mm of precipitation falls annually.


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See what the "Western Ghats" are in other dictionaries:

    Mountains, see Eastern Ghats Geographical names of the world: Toponymic Dictionary. M: AST. Pospelov E.M. 2001. Western Ghats (Western Ghāts ... Geographic Encyclopedia

    - (Sahyadri) the western elevated outskirts of the Deccan Plateau, in India. Length approx. 1800 km. The height is 1500-2000 m, the highest is 2698 m. On the western slopes, wet ... ... Big encyclopedic Dictionary

    - (Sahyadri), the western elevated outskirts of the Deccan Plateau, in India. The length is about 1800 km. The altitude is 1500-2000 m, the highest is 2698 m. On the western slopes ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    Western Ghats- mountains, see Eastern Ghats ... Toponymic Dictionary

    Sahyadri, a mountain range in India, the western elevated edge of the Hindustan peninsula. The length is about 1800 km, the height is up to 2698 m (Anaimudi). The western slope is a steep cliff of the Deccan Plateau, falling in steps to the Arabian Sea, the eastern ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

The Sahyadri Mountains, more commonly referred to as the Western Ghats, are a grandiose mountain range stretching for 1,600 kilometers along western edge Deccan Plateau on the Hindustan Peninsula. The mountains originate on the border of two northern Indian states, one of which is Maharashtra and the other Gujarat, and end in the region southern city Kanyakumari. The highest point of these mountains, covering an area of ​​​​60,000 square kilometers, is the top of Anamudi, reaching a mark of 2,695 meters above sea level.

Recognized as one of the most ancient mountain ranges on the planet, this grandiose mountain range has exceptional landforms and exhibits unique ecological and biophysical processes. The local alpine forests are under the constant influence of moist winds blowing from the water surface of the Indian Ocean. Moderating the western monsoons, rich in abundant rainfall, the mountains form one of the most pronounced patterns tropical climate on the planet.

The Western Ghats have the highest biodiversity, notable for a large number of endemic life forms. In this regard, the mountain range is recognized as one of the most amazing corners. wildlife on everything the globe. The local evergreen rainforests are home to 130 species of mammals, including endemics such as spiny dormouse and Wanderu macaque; 180 species of amphibians, two thirds of which are endemic and 500 species of birds. More than 100 species of fish live in local reservoirs. No less interesting is the mountain flora, which includes almost 5,000 species of flowering plants.