4. The Central Himalayas

This range stretches from river Kali to river Tista for about 800 km occupying an area ol about 116,800 sq km. A major part of it lies in Nepal except the extreme eastern part called Sikkim Himalayas and in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal. All the three ranges of the Himalayas are represented here. The highest peaks of the world like Mt. Everest (8850 m), Kanchenjunga (8598 m), Makalu (8481 m), Dhaulagiri (8172 m), Annapurna (8078 m), Manaslu (8154 m) and Gosainath (8014 m) are situated in this part of the Himalayas. It has very few passes. The passes of Nathu-La andjelep-La (4538 m in Sikkim) connect Gangtok (Sikkim) with Lhasa (Tibet, China).

Kanchenjunga: Situated on the border of Sikkim and Tibet, it is the third highest mountain peak in the world. It is 8,598 metres above sea level and remains snow covered throughout the year. Some of the important rivers of India like Kosi and Tista have their origin in this mountain.