< Previous | Contents | Next >
The Himalayas consist of four lithotectonic mountain ranges, namely (i) the Trans-Himalaya or the Tethys Himalaya, (ii) the Greater Himalaya, (iii) the Lesser Himalaya, and (iv) the Shiwalik or the Outer Himalaya. The Indian Himalayas extend from the eastern boundary of Pakistan to the border of Myanmar for about 2500 km with a varying width of about 500 km in the west and about 320 km in the east. They lies to the north, of the Ganga-Brahmaputra Plains and are separated from the plains by the Himalayan Front Fault (HFF). They include parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh. Their offshoots run in a north-south direction along the India-Myanmar boundary through Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram.