HIMALAYAS

Nepali >Himalaya great mountain system of Asia forming a barrier between the Tibetan Plateau to the north and the alluvial plains of the Indian subcontinent to the south. The Himalayan ranges contain 30 mountains rising to heights greater than 24,000 feet (7,300 m) above sea level, including Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, which reaches an elevation of 29,028 feet (8,848 m). The mountains extend without interruption in a broad arc for about 1,550 miles (2,500 km) from their western end at Nanga Parbat peak in the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, eastward to Namcha Barwa peak in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, near its southern border with India. Between these western and eastern extremities lie several Indian states and the Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan. The Himalayas' total area covers about 229,500 square miles (594,400 square km). The backbone of the mountain system is formed by the Great Himalayas, a single high range rising above the line of perpetual snow to its maximum height in Nepal and having in that section 9 of the 14 highest peaks in the world. The Himalayan ranges' most characteristic features, in addition to their great heights, are their snowcapped and steep-sided jagged peaks, extremely large valley glaciers, deeply cut river gorges, and rich temperate and Alpine vegetation. The Himalayan ranges act as a great climatic divide, affecting air- and water-circulation systems, and therefore exercise a dominating influence on the meteorological conditions in bordering regions. The height of the highest mountain range, the Great Himalaya Range, obstructs the passage of cold continental air from the north into India in winter and also forces the southwest monsoonal (rain-bearing) winds to give up most of their moisture before crossing the range northward, thus causing a heavy precipitation of rain and snow on the Indian side but arid conditions in Tibet. The mountain region is drained by 19 major rivers, of which the Indus and Brahmaputra are the largest. The economic resources of the Himalayas include rich arable land, extensive grassland and forest, workable mineral deposits, and a tremendous potential for easily harnessable hydroelectric power. The Himalayan mountain ranges. Nepali Himalaya great mountain system of Asia forming a barrier between the Tibetan Plateau to the north and the alluvial plains of the Indian subcontinent to the south. The Himalayas include the highest mountains in the world, with more than 110 peaks rising to elevations of 24,000 feet (7,300 metres) or more above sea level. One of these peaks is Mount Everest (Tibetan: Chomolungma; Chinese [Wade-Giles romanization]: Chu-mu-lang-ma Feng; Nepali: Sagarmatha), the world's highest, which reaches a height of 29,035 feet (8,850 metres). The great heights of the mountains rise above the line of perpetual snow. For thousands of years the Himalayas have exerted a personal and profound effect on the peoples of South Asia, as their literature, politics, and economies, as well as their mythologies and religions, reflect. The vast glaciated heights long have attracted the attention of the pilgrim mountaineers of ancient India, who coined the Sanskrit name Himalaya-from hima, "snow," and alaya, "abode"-for this great mountain system. In modern times the Himalayas have constituted the greatest attraction and the greatest challenge to mountaineers throughout the world. Forming the northern border of the Indian subcontinent and an almost impassable barrier between it and the lands to the north, the ranges are part of a great mountain belt that stretches halfway around the world from North Africa to the Pacific coast of Southeast Asia. The Himalayas themselves stretch uninterruptedly for about 1,550 miles (2,500 kilometres) from west to east between Nanga Parbat (26,660 feet), in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir, and Namcha Barwa (25,445 feet), in Tibet. Between these eastern and western extremities lie the two Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan. The Himalayas are bordered to the northwest by the mountain ranges of the Hindu Kush and Karakoram and to the north by the high Plateau of Tibet. The width of the Himalayas from south to north varies between 125 and 250 miles. Their total area amounts to about 229,500 square miles (594,400 square kilometres). Though India, Nepal, and Bhutan have sovereignty over most of the Himalayas, Pakistan and China also occupy parts of them. In the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan has administrative control of some 32,400 square miles of the range lying north and west of a "line of control" established between India and Pakistan in 1972. China's occupation of 14,000 square miles in the Ladakh district of Kashmir, as well as Chinese incursions in 1962 south of the McMahon Line (a 1914 boundary line establishing the limit of Tibetan sovereignty in the Assam district of northeastern India) into what is now Arunachal Pradesh, have accentuated further the boundary problems faced by India in the Himalayan region. Additional reading Descriptions and analyses of the natural history of the Himalayas are found in D. Mordecai (compiler), The Himalayas: An Illustrated Summary of the World's Highest Mountain Ranges (1966); J.S. Lall and A.D. Moddie (eds.), The Himalaya, Aspects of Change (1981), which, in addition to discussing the physical geography and natural history of the region, treats human influence on the natural environment; appropriate parts in John Cleare, The World Guide to Mountains and Mountaineering (1979); and Marvels and Mysteries of the World Around Us (1972), published by the Reader's Digest Association. The life of the mountain peoples and their interaction with their environment are explored in Larry W. Price, Mountains & Man: A Study of Process and Environment (1981); Jack D. Ives and Bruno Messerli, The Himalayan Dilemma: Reconciling Development and Conservation (1989); James F. Fisher, Sherpas: Reflections on Change in Himalayan Nepal (1990); Barry C. Bishop, Karnali Under Stress: Livelihood Strategies and Seasonal Rhythms in a Changing Nepal Himalaya (1990), and "The Mighty Himalaya: A Fragile Heritage," National Geographic, 174:624-631 (November 1988); and Nigel J.R. Allan, Gregory W. Knapp, and Christoph Stadel (eds.), Human Impact on Mountains (1988). Barry C. Bishop