Where are the Himalayas located? About the most impregnable mountains of the planet. Mountains of India - Himalayas Where is the mountains of the Himalayas on the map

Himalayas - in the world, the name of which, translated from Sanskrit, literally means "a place where snow lives." Located in South Asia, this mountain range divides the Indo-Gangetic Plain and is home to most of the closest points to the sky on planet Earth, including Mount Everest, the highest peak (the Himalayas are called the "roof of the world" for a reason). It is also known under another name - Chomolungma.

mountain ecology

The Himalayan mountains are characterized by a wide variety of landscape forms. The Himalayas lie on the territory of as many as five states: India, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Pakistan. Three large and powerful rivers originate in the mountains - the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. The flora and fauna of the Himalayas is directly dependent on climate, precipitation, mountain heights and soil conditions.

The surroundings of the foot of the mountains are characterized by a tropical climate, while on the peaks there is eternal ice and snow. Annual rainfall increases from west to east. The unique natural heritage and height of the Himalayan mountains are subject to modification due to various climatic processes.

Geological features

Himalayas - mountains consisting mainly of sedimentary and mixed rocks. A distinctive feature of the mountain slopes is their steepness and peaks in the form of a peak or ridge, covered with eternal ice and snow and occupying an area of about 33 thousand km². The Himalayas, whose height in some places reaches almost nine kilometers, are relatively young compared to other, more ancient mountain systems of the Earth.

Like 70 million years ago, the Indian plate is still moving and moving at a distance of up to 67 millimeters per year, and over the next 10 million years it will move 1.5 km in the Asian direction. What also makes the peaks active in terms of geology is that the height of the Himalayan mountains is increasing, gradually rising by about 5 mm per year. Such seemingly insignificant processes over time have a powerful effect on the geological side, in addition, the region is unstable from a seismic point of view, earthquakes sometimes occur.

The river system of the Himalayas

The Himalayas are the third largest ice and snow deposits in the world after Antarctica and the Arctic. There are approximately 15 thousand glaciers in the mountains, which contain about 12 thousand cubic kilometers of fresh water. The highest areas are covered with snow all year round. The Indus, which originates in Tibet, is the largest and full-flowing river, into which many small ones flow. It flows in a southwestern direction through India, Pakistan and flows into the Arabian Sea.

The Himalayas, whose height at the highest point reaches almost 9 kilometers, are characterized by great river diversity. The main water sources of the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin are the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Yamuna rivers. The Brahmaputra joins the Ganges in Bangladesh and together they flow into the Bay of Bengal.

mountain lakes

The highest Himalayan lake, Gurudongmar in Sikkim (India), is located at an altitude of about 5 kilometers. In the vicinity of the Himalayas there are a huge number of picturesque lakes, most of which are located at an altitude of less than 5 kilometers above sea level. Some lakes are considered sacred in India. The Nepalese lake Tilicho in the vicinity of the Annapurna mountain landscapes is one of the highest mountains on the planet.

The great Himalayan mountain ranges contain hundreds of beautiful lakes in India and neighboring Tibet and Nepal. The Himalayan lakes give a special attraction to the magnificent mountain landscapes, many of which are covered with ancient legends and interesting stories.

Climate impact

The Himalayas have a great influence on climate formation. They prevent the flow of cold dry winds in a southerly direction, which allows a warm climate to reign in South Asia. A natural barrier is formed for the monsoons (which cause heavy rainfall) to prevent their northward movement. The mountain range plays its definite role in the formation of the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts.

The main part of the Himalayan mountains falls under the influence of subequatorial factors. In the summer and spring season it is quite hot here: the average air temperature reaches 35 °C. At this time of the year, the monsoons bring with them a large amount of precipitation from the Indian Ocean, which then falls on the southern mountain slopes.

People and culture of the Himalayas

Due to the climatic features of the Himalayas (mountains in Asia) are a fairly sparsely populated region. Most people live in the lowlands. Some of them make a living as guides for tourists and escorts for climbers who come to conquer certain mountain peaks. Mountains have been a natural barrier for many thousands of years. They stopped the assimilation of the interior of Asia with the Indian peoples.

Some tribes are based in the Himalayan mountain range, namely in Northeast India, Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan, parts of West Bengal and others. More than 80 tribes live in Arunachal Pradesh alone. The Himalayan mountains are one of the largest places in the world with a large number of endangered animal species, as hunting is a very popular activity in the Himalayas. The main religions are Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism. The famous Himalayan myth is the story of Bigfoot, who lives somewhere in the mountains.

Height of the Himalayan mountains

The Himalayas rise almost 9 kilometers above sea level. They stretch for a distance of about 2.4 thousand kilometers from the Indus Valley in the west to the Brahmaputra Valley in the east. Some mountain peaks are considered sacred by the local population and many Hindus and Buddhists make pilgrimages to these places.

On average, the height of the Himalayan mountains in meters, together with glaciers, reaches 3.2 thousand. Mountain climbing, which gained popularity at the end of the 19th century, became the main activity of extreme tourists. In 1953, from New Zealand and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first to conquer Everest (the highest point).

Everest: mountain height (Himalayas)

Everest, also known as Chomolungma, is the highest point on the planet. What is the height of the mountain? The Himalayas, famous for their hard-to-reach peaks, attract thousands of travelers, but their main goal is Chomolungma, 8.848 kilometers high. This place is just a paradise for tourists who cannot imagine their life without risk and extreme sports.

The height of the Himalayan mountains attracts a large number of climbers from all over the globe. As a rule, there are no significant technical difficulties with climbing certain routes, however, Everest is fraught with many other dangerous factors, such as fear of heights, sudden changes in weather conditions, lack of oxygen and very strong gusty winds.

Scientists have precisely established the height of each mountain system on Earth. This was made possible through the use of NASA's satellite surveillance system. By measuring the height of each mountain, they came to the conclusion that 10 of the 14 most on the planet are in the Himalayas. Each of these mountains belongs to a special list of "eight-thousanders". The conquest of all these peaks is considered the peak of the climber's skill.

Natural features of the Himalayas at different levels

The Himalayan swampy jungle, located at the foot of the mountains, is called "terai" and is characterized by a wide variety of vegetation. Here you can find 5-meter thickets of grass, palm trees with coconuts, ferns and bamboo thickets. At an altitude of 400 meters to 1.5 kilometers there is a strip of wet forests. In addition to numerous species of trees, magnolias, citrus fruits and camphor laurel grow here.

At a higher level (up to 2.5 km), the mountainous space was filled with evergreen subtropical and deciduous forests; here you can find mimosa, maple, bird cherry, chestnut, oak, wild cherry, and alpine mosses. Coniferous forests extend up to a height of 4 km. At such a height, there are fewer and fewer trees, they are replaced by field vegetation in the form of grass and shrubs.

Starting from 4.5 km above sea level, the Himalayas are a zone of perpetual glaciers and snow cover. The animal world is also diverse. In different parts of the mountainous surroundings, you can encounter bears, elephants, antelopes, rhinos, monkeys, goats and many other mammals. There are many snakes and reptiles that pose a great danger to people.

The Himalayas are the highest mountain system on Earth. To date, the peak of Chomolungma (Everest) has already been conquered about 1200 times. Including a 60-year-old man and a thirteen-year-old teenager managed to climb to the very peak, and in 1998 the first person with disabilities conquered the peak.

The majestic Himalayas... A harsh land of pristine beauty, where a person can be left alone with the whole world. Thousands of square kilometers of mountains and amazing wildlife, evoking thoughts of the eternal secrets of life - all this can be found by a wanderer in the Himalayas. Here is the top of the world, and we invite you to learn more about it.

Where are the Himalayas

About 70 million years ago, two giant tectonic plates collided - the Indo-American and the Eurasian. A powerful push marked the beginning of the largest mountain system on our planet. Just imagine: it occupies 0.4% of the total area of the planet, which is incredibly large in relation to other geographical objects.

The Himalayas are located on the continent of Eurasia, in the Asian part. They border in the north with the Tibetan Plateau, in the south - with the Indo-Gangetic plain. The length of the system is more than 2400 km, the width reaches 350 km. Adjacent to the southern part of the Himalayas are the so-called Pre-Himalayas - the smaller Sivalik Mountains. This mountain system contains many of the highest peaks in the world. The average height of the mountain ranges of the Himalayas is 6000 meters. The highest is the famous Mount Everest (otherwise - Chomolungma, 8848 meters). And this, as we probably remember, is the highest point on our planet.

The ridges of the Himalayas give rise to the largest rivers in southern Asia: the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra.

We already have the first data, namely, where the Himalayas are located. More specifically, about countries with a mountainous landscape on their territory, further.

Countries whose territories cover the Himalayas

Since the borders of the countries are divided almost regardless of the relief features, the mountain ranges of the Himalayas are located in several. These countries are India, Nepal, China (the area known as Tibet), Bhutan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Tajikistan. Each of them got a plot of a beautiful natural formation.

The area of the entire mountain system is about 650 thousand square kilometers. In remoteness from one another, many peoples live here. The natural conditions here are extremely harsh: cold at high altitudes, dangerous terrain. However, the locals are happy with their magnificent home.

The Himalayas have already revealed the first secrets to us: where are they, a country (even several), which has mountainous areas on its territory. Further on the climatic conditions in the territories of the Himalayas.

Climate features

The Himalayas are a particularly large landform. The mountains themselves on their southern side are swampy jungles, lush tropical forests, coniferous and deciduous, as well as a variety of shrubs and grasslands. The northern slopes are not so rich and varied. Their surfaces are semi-deserts and mountain steppes. The ridges of the Himalayan ranges are of the Alpine type - sharp, steep. Huge glaciers lie on them in an unmeasured amount.

It is noteworthy that the coordinates where the Himalayas are located are such that the mountain system serves as a natural climatic boundary between the tropics of the south and the desert lands north of the Himalayas. The colossal areas and high altitudes of the mountains greatly influenced the climate of the surrounding countries. So, south of the Himalayas, at their very foot, there is a city with the highest amount of precipitation on the planet. This happens because the mountains delay precipitation moving with air masses from the Indian Ocean, and they fall at their foot. At an altitude of 4500 meters above sea level in the Himalayas lies a zone of eternal snow.

The Himalayas, where there are huge glaciers, impressed us. And what about the inhabitants of the mountain system?

Inhabitants of the mountain system

Surprisingly, in such harsh conditions as in the Himalayas, many people live. According to scientists, the records of the first settlements in the territory of the mountain system date back to 8000 BC. e. People came from the south (peoples from the Hindustan peninsula), and from the northeast (Tibetans), and from the west (Turkic peoples).
People settled their settlements in the valleys. Their remoteness from one another contributed to the separate development of these ethnic groups.

Readers must have wondered: how can one survive in such inhospitable places? Those communities that led a settled way of life were engaged in subsistence farming where there were all conditions for this: a horizontal surface, water, more or less fertile soil, a suitable climate. Modern inhabitants of the Himalayan valleys also provide themselves with their own labor. Here is another phenomenon that struck us in the Himalayas, where one of the oldest subsistence farms is located.

In the higher territories, the key occupation of the local population is pasture cattle breeding. The opportunity to do it is almost everywhere to the edge of the snow.

And we will consider some more facts that will be interesting to know about the Himalayas.

In addition to knowing where the Himalayas are, several other features of this corner of the planet will also be of interest. That this is the most impregnable, the highest (by average) mountain system in the world, we know about the Himalayas. But what does their name mean?

The word "Himalaya" means "abode of snow". And indeed: after all, already at an altitude of 4.5 kilometers, the snow never melts here. By the amount of snow, this natural form is in third place on the planet. Only the Arctic and Antarctic have overtaken the Himalayas.
It is also interesting to know that with such a cold climate in most areas of the mountains, Hindus are sure that they are the haven of their god Shiva.

Mount Everest (Chomolungma) is the highest in the world (above sea level). She is associated with triumph. Extreme people from all over the world are literally trying to climb Everest. This first happened in 1953 when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit. Mountaineering in the Himalayas is very popular. The mountain system contains ten of the fourteen eight-thousander mountains (in fact, their height is even slightly higher). To conquer them all is the dream of professional climbers.

On this, our article about where the Himalayas are located and what this mountain system is, comes to an end.

Conclusion

"The abode of the snows", the Himalayas are mountains to which the prefix "most" is firmly attached. The highest, most impregnable... And people tend to get here in order to experience the power of nature, which created such a miracle. But the Himalayas do not invite guests. They are unshakable and harsh. However, brave travelers should try to become friends with the "under heaven". Yes, indeed "under heaven", because the sky is so close here!

Solarshakti / flickr.com View of the snowy Himalayas (Saurabh Kumar_ / flickr.com) Great Himalayas - view on the way to Leh from Delhi (Karunakar Rayker / flickr.com) You will have to cross this bridge if you are going to Everest Base Camp (ilker ender / flickr.com) Greater Himalayas (Christopher Michel / flickr.com) Christopher Michel / flickr.com Christopher Michel / flickr.com Sunset on Everest (旅者河童 / flickr.com) Himalayas - from a plane (Partha S. Sahana / flickr.com) Lukla Airport, Patan, Kathmandu. (Chris Marquardt / flickr.com) Valley of Flowers, Himalayas (Alosh Bennett / flickr.com) Himalayan Landscape (Jan / flickr.com) Ganges Bridge (Asis K. Chatterjee / flickr.com) Kanchenjunga, Indian Himalayas (A.Ostrovsky / flickr.com) Climber at sunset, Nepal Himalayas (Dmitry Sumin / flickr.com) Manaslu - 26,758 feet (David Wilkinson / flickr.com) Wildlife of the Himalayas (Chris Walker / flickr.com) Annapurna (Mike Behnken / flickr.com) ) On the border of India and Tibet in Kinnaur Himachal Pradesh (Partha Chowdhury / flickr.com) A beautiful place in Kashmir (Kashmir Pictures / flickr.com) Abhishek Shirali / flickr.com Parfen Rogozhin / flickr.com Koshy Koshy / flickr.com valcker / flickr.com Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal (Matt Zimmerman / flickr.com) Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal (Matt Zimmerman / flickr.com)

Where are the Himalaya mountains, the photos of which are so amazing? For most people, this question is unlikely to cause difficulty, at least they will answer exactly on which mainland these mountains stretch.

If you look at a geographical map, you can see that they are located in the northern hemisphere, in South Asia, between the Indo-Gangetic plain (in the south) and the Tibetan plateau (in the north).

In the west, they pass into the Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain systems.

The peculiarity of the geographical position of the Himalayas is that they are located on the territory of five countries: India, Nepal, China (Tibet Autonomous Region), Bhutan and Pakistan. The foothills also cross the northern outskirts of Bangladesh. The name of the mountain system can be translated from Sanskrit as "abode of snows".

Height of the Himalayas

The Himalayas contain 9 of the 10 highest peaks on our planet, including the highest point in the world - Chomolungma, whose height reaches 8848 m above sea level. Its geographic coordinates are 27°59′17″ north latitude 86°55′31″ east longitude. The average height of the entire mountain system exceeds 6000 meters.

The highest peaks of the Himalayas

Geographic description: 3 main stages

The Himalayas form three main steps: the Sivalik Range, the Lesser Himalayas and the Greater Himalayas, each of which is higher than the previous one.

Sivalik Range- the southernmost, lowest and most geologically young step. It stretches for about 1700 km from the Indus Valley to the Brahmaputra Valley with a width of 10 to 50 km. The height of the ridge does not exceed 2000 m. Sivalik is located mainly in Nepal, as well as in the Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
The next step is the Lesser Himalayas, it passes north of the Sivalik ridge, parallel to it. The average height of the ridge is about 2500 m, and in the western part it reaches 4000 m. The Sivalik ridge and the Lesser Himalayas are strongly cut by river valleys, breaking up into separate massifs.
Greater Himalayas- the northernmost and highest step. The height of individual peaks here exceeds 8000 m, and the height of the passes is more than 4000 m. Glaciers are widely developed. Their total area exceeds 33,000 square kilometers, and the total fresh water reserves in them are about 12,000 cubic kilometers. One of the largest and most famous glaciers - Gangotri, is the source of the Ganges River.

Rivers and lakes of the Himalayas

The three largest rivers of South Asia - the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra - begin in the Himalayas. The rivers of the western extremity of the Himalayas belong to the Indus basin, and almost all other rivers belong to the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin. The easternmost edge of the mountain system belongs to the Irrawaddy basin.

There are many lakes in the Himalayas. The largest of them are Lake Bangong Tso (700 km²) and Yamjo Yumtso (621 km²). Lake Tilicho is located at an absolute mark of 4919 m, which makes it one of the highest in the world.

Climate

The climate in the Himalayas is quite diverse. Monsoons have a strong influence on the southern slopes. The amount of precipitation here increases in the direction from west to east from less than 1000 mm to more than 4000 mm.

On the border of India and Tibet in Kinnaur Himachal Pradesh (Partha Chowdhury / flickr.com)

The northern slopes, on the other hand, are in the rain shadow. The climate here is dry and cold.

In the highlands there are severe frosts and winds. In winter, temperatures can drop to minus 40 °C or even lower.

The Himalayas have a strong influence on the climate of the entire region. They are a barrier to cold dry winds blowing from the north, which makes the climate of the Indian subcontinent much warmer compared to neighboring regions of Asia located at the same latitudes. In addition, the Himalayas are a barrier to the monsoons blowing from the south and bringing a huge amount of rainfall.

High mountains do not allow these humid air masses to pass further north, which makes the climate of Tibet very dry.

There is an opinion that the Himalayas played a significant role in the formation of the deserts of Central Asia, such as Takla-Makan and Gobi, which is also explained by the rain shadow effect.

Origin and geology

Geologically, the Himalayas are one of the youngest mountain systems in the world; refers to the Alpine folding. It is composed mainly of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, crumpled into folds and raised to a considerable height.

The Himalayas were formed as a result of the collision of the Indian and Eurasian lithospheric plates, which began approximately 50-55 million years ago. During this collision, the ancient Tethys Ocean closed and an orogenic belt was formed.

Flora and fauna

The flora of the Himalayas is subject to altitudinal zonation. At the foot of the Sivalik Range, the vegetation is represented by swampy forests and thickets, known locally as "terai".

Himalayan Landscape (Jan / flickr.com)

Above, they are replaced by evergreen tropical, deciduous and coniferous forests, and even higher - by alpine meadows.

Deciduous forests begin to prevail at absolute elevations of more than 2000 m, and coniferous forests - above 2600 m.

At an altitude of more than 3500 m, shrub vegetation already predominates.

On the northern slopes, where the climate is much more arid, the vegetation is much poorer. Mountain deserts and steppes are common here. The height of the snow line varies from 4500 (southern slopes) to 6000 m (northern slopes).

Wildlife of the Himalayas (Chris Walker / flickr.com)

The local fauna is quite diverse and, like the vegetation, depends mainly on the height above sea level. The fauna of the tropical forests of the southern slopes is typical for the tropics. Elephants, rhinos, tigers, leopards, and antelopes are still found here in the wild; numerous monkeys.

The Himalayan bears, mountain goats and rams, yaks, etc. are found higher up. In the highlands, there is still such a rare animal as the snow leopard.

The Himalayas are home to many different protected areas. Among them, it is worth noting the Sagarmatha National Park, within which Everest is partially located.

Population

Most of the population of the Himalayas lives in the southern foothills and in the intermountain basins. The largest basins are Kashmir and Kathmandu; these regions are very densely populated, and almost all the land is cultivated.

Bridge over the Ganges (Asis K. Chatterjee / flickr.com)

Like many other mountainous regions, the Himalayas are characterized by great ethnic and linguistic diversity.

This is due to the inaccessibility of these places, due to which the population of almost every valley or basin lived very apart.

Contacts even with neighboring regions were minimal, since in order to reach them, it is necessary to overcome high mountain passes, which in winter are often covered with snow, and they become completely impassable. In this case, some intermountain basin could be completely isolated until next summer.

Almost the entire population of the region speaks either Indo-Aryan languages, which belong to the Indo-European family, or Tibeto-Burman languages, which belong to the Sino-Tibetan family. Most of the population professes Buddhism or Hinduism.

The most famous people of the Himalayas are the Sherpas, who live in the highlands of Eastern Nepal, including in the Everest region. They often work as guides and porters on expeditions to Chomolungma and other peaks.

Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal (Matt Zimmerman / flickr.com)

Sherpas have hereditary high-altitude adaptation, thanks to which, even at very high altitudes, they do not suffer from altitude sickness and do not need additional oxygen.

Most of the population of the Himalayas is employed in agriculture. In the presence of a sufficiently flat surface and water, people cultivate rice, barley, oats, potatoes, peas, etc.

In the foothills and in some intermountain basins, more heat-loving crops are also grown - citrus fruits, apricots, grapes, tea, etc. In the highlands, the breeding of goats, sheep and yaks is common. The latter are used as a beast of burden, as well as for meat, milk and wool.

Sights of the Himalayas

In the Himalayas there are many different attractions. This region has a huge number of Buddhist monasteries and Hindu temples, as well as simply places considered sacred in Buddhism and Hinduism.

Valley of Flowers, Himalayas (Alosh Bennett / flickr.com)

In the foothills of the Himalayas, the Indian city of Rishikesh is located, which is sacred to Hindus, and is also widely known as the yoga capital of the world.

Another sacred Hindu city is Hardwar, located at the point where the Ganges descends from the Himalayas to the plain. From Hindi, its name can be translated as "gateway to God."

Of the natural attractions, it is worth mentioning the Valley of Flowers National Park, located in the Western Himalayas, in the Indian state of Uttarkhand.

The valley fully justifies its name: it is a continuous flower carpet, quite different from ordinary alpine meadows. Together with the Nanda Devi National Park, it is a UNESCO heritage site.

Tourism

Mountaineering and hiking in the mountains are popular in the Himalayas. Of the hiking routes, the most famous track around Annapurna, passing along the slopes of the mountain range of the same name, in the north of the central part of Nepal.

Climber at sunset, Nepal Himalayas (Dmitry Sumin / flickr.com)

The length of the route is 211 km, and its altitude varies from 800 to 5416 m.

Sometimes tourists combine this track with a hike to Lake Tilicho, located at an absolute mark of 4919 m.

Another popular route is the Manaslu trek, which runs around the Mansiri-Himal mountain range and overlaps with the Annapurna route.

How long it will take to complete these routes depends on the physical fitness of the person, the time of year, weather conditions and other factors. In high altitude areas, you should not climb too quickly to avoid symptoms of altitude sickness.

The conquest of the Himalayan peaks is quite difficult and dangerous. It requires good training, equipment and implies the presence of mountaineering experience.

Himalayas

There are no higher mountains on Earth than the Himalayas and the Karakorum, and in no other mountain there are such sharp contrasts of nature as in the Himalayas.

It should be noted that the Himalayas are still very little explored and even in our time they keep a lot of unknown and unexplored. This is explained not so much by the vast territory occupied by this mountain system, but by the difficulty of penetrating into it due to the complexity of the terrain and the lack of roads.

The inaccessibility of the territory played a favorable role in preserving the unique mountain landscapes of the Himalayas. Despite the significant agricultural development of the low mountains and basins, intensive grazing on the mountain slopes and the ever-increasing influx of climbers from around the world, the Himalayas remain a refuge for valuable plant and animal species.

The Himalayas are not only one of the most beautiful places created by nature. This is a sacred land, a place where, according to legend, Buddhist and Hindu deities live. Once upon a time, these mountains were an insurmountable barrier between the states located to the south of them, and the fabulously rich cities lying to the north, on the Great Silk Road - Samarkand, Bukhara, Kashgar and Kotan.

Geographic location of the Himalayan mountains

From the French Alps to South Vietnam, the longest mountain belt on Earth stretches across Eurasia. There are no more mountains on Earth like those of Central Asia. Six mountain systems meet here. The largest and highest mountain system of the six is the Himalayas. Translated from Sanskrit, this word means "abode of snows."

The Himalayas border the Hindu Kush in the northwest and the Sino-Tibetan Mountains in the southeast. The total length of the mountain system is more than 2400 km, the width is 200-350 km, and the area is about 650 thousand km2. The Himalayas are part of China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan. The Himalayas are the most important geomorphological, climatic and floristic frontier. The physical-geographical and geomorphological boundaries of the mountain system itself are clearly expressed. In the north, these are the longitudinal intermountain valleys of the Indus and Brahmaputra, in the south - the edge of the Indo-Gangetic plain, in the northwest and southeast - the transverse valleys of the Indus and Brahmaputra.

Geologists associate the formation of the Himalayan mountainous country with the split of a single southern continent - Gondwana into several plates. One of them, the Indian one, began to move north and collided with the Eurasian plate. At the point of collision, the earth's crust shrunk and formed a giant fold - the Himalayas.

The fossilized skeletons of fish and other marine animals found in the Himalayas indicate that these giant mountains were once marine sediments. Between 570 and 65 million years ago they were the bottom of the ancient Tethys Ocean. When the Indian tectonic plate, drifting north, collided with the Asian mainland, the Himalayan mountain range shot up. The growth process of the Himalayas took many millions of years, and not a single mountain system in the world can compare with them in terms of the number of peaks - "seven-thousanders" and "eight-thousanders".

Geologists have established that the emergence of the Himalayan mountains took place in at least three stages. The Great Himalayas were the first to form, about 38 million years ago. Then, between 26 and 7 million years ago, the Lesser Himalayas arose. At the third stage, about 7 million years ago, the Sivalik Mountains appeared. Movement at the junction of two tectonic plates is a continuous process. Over the past one and a half million years, mountains have grown by 1370 m.

The uplift of the Himalayas has not ended even now, as evidenced by frequent earthquakes and the high position of the Early Quaternary deposits above sea level. Every year, the Himalayas grow three to ten millimeters higher.

Geological structure and relief of the Himalayas

The structure of the mountains involves crystalline, metamorphic, sedimentary and volcanic rocks of various ages, from Archean to Quaternary, crumpled into intense folds, complicated in the central parts by powerful thrusts and splits.

Features of the geological structure - the predominance of Precambrian rocks similar to the complexes of the Indian Platform, a very limited distribution of marine sedimentary strata and the presence of continental sediments close to Gondwanan - give reason to consider the Himalayas as a mountain system that arose on the site of the outskirts of the Indian Platform, which underwent tectonic activation in the Neogene-Quaternary time in connection with the attachment of the Hindustan plate to the rest of Eurasia and the closure of Tethys. The Himalayas do not form ridges stretched over long distances, but break up into separate massifs, separated from one another by deep transverse river valleys. This is due to the fact that the valleys of the largest rivers - the Indus, the Sutlej, the Brahmaputra - were laid down before the start of the general grandiose uplift of the mountains. The uplift was accompanied by the incision of rivers and the formation of epigenetic valleys of the Himalayas.

In its form, the Himalayas resemble a grandiose petrified wave, which to the south, towards the Indo-Gangetic lowland, falls in three successively decreasing steep ledges, and to the north, towards Tibet, only one more gentle one. The foothills of the Himalayas are composed of young deposits, collected in folds in the middle of the Quaternary. They are collectively known as the Sivalik Mountains; their height in Nepal is about 1000 m. In some places they are pressed close to the ridges of the Himalayas proper, in others they are separated by a strip of wide tectonic valleys - duns. The Sivalik Mountains drop steeply to the north and south. The width of this step varies along its length and varies from 10 to 50 km. The Sivalik Mountains consist of parallel folds, transformed in separate areas due to the erosive activity of mountain rivers into a chain of hills. This applies especially to the interfluve of the Ganges and the Beas. The Sivalik mountains make up the Dundva, Chouriagati and Solya-Singi ranges, as well as the highlands - the Potvar plateau, Kala Chitta and Margala. Their average height does not exceed 600 m. Only Chouriagati reaches an average height of 900 m.

The next highest step in the Himalayas is the Lesser Himalayas; they are composed of crystalline Precambrian rocks, as well as highly metamorphosed sedimentary deposits of the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Paleogene. This band is characterized by intense folding, faults and volcanism. The height of the ridges reaches an average of 3500-4500 m, and individual peaks rise to 6000 m. In the northwest, the Pir-Panjal ridge stretches over 6000 m high, further to the southeast it is replaced by the Small Himalayas proper, which merge with the Big Himalayas (Main Himalayan range) high-mountainous powerful massif Dhaulagiri (8221 m). Further to the east, the entire system of the Himalayas narrows, the zone of the Lesser Himalayas presses against the Main Range, forming the medium-altitude Mahabharat Mountains, and even to the east, the high and heavily dissected Duara Mountains.

Between the Lesser and Greater Himalayas stretches a strip of tectonic basins, which in the recent past were occupied by lakes and processed by glaciers. The most famous in the west is the Kashmir Basin at an altitude of 1600 m, with the main city of Kashmir, Srinagar. The existence of a lake, which used to fill the basin, is evidenced by terraces well expressed on the slopes. Several residual lakes have been preserved on the surface of the flat bottom. The second large basin of the central part of the Himalayas - Kathmandu in Nepal - is located at an altitude of about 1400 m; most of the population of this mountainous country is concentrated in it. Snow-capped mountain peaks, deep rocky gorges, turbulent waterfall rivers and blue lakes surrounded by picturesque forests make these valleys the most beautiful corners of the globe.

To the north of the basins rise the Great Himalayas, reaching an average height of 6000 m. The Great Himalayas are the basis of the entire system. They reach their maximum height in Nepal. There, in a small space, there are 9 of the 14 highest peaks. This is a well-defined alpine ridge. At the western end of the Main Range, this is the grandiose Nanga Parbat massif (8126 m), then there is a series of peaks exceeding 6000 and 7000 m, then eight thousandth giants covered with snow and ice rise: Dhaulagiri (8167), Kutang (8126 m), Annapurna (8078 m ), Gosaintan (8013 m), and others. Among them, the highest peak in the world, Everest, with a height of 8848 m7, does not even stand out. Nepal is called Sagarmatha - "Lord of the sky", and in Tibet they call Chomolungma - "Goddess - mother of the world"). Gorgeous and majestic, only slightly inferior to her Kanchenjunga (8598 m). Four more "eight-thousanders" are located in the north-western continuation of the Himalayas - the Karakorum ridge.

The northern slope of the Greater Himalayas is flatter and more accessible than the southern one. Along it stretches the Ladakh Range up to 7728 m high. Many rivers originate on its slopes, then crossing the Main Range. To the north of Ladakh, behind the wide longitudinal valleys of the Indus and the Brahmaputra, the outlying ranges of the Tibetan Plateau (Trans-Himalayas) rise.

The Himalayas are rich in minerals. In the axial crystalline zone there are deposits of copper ore, alluvial gold, arsenic and chromium ores. Oil, combustible gases, brown coal, potash and rock salts occur in the foothills and intermountain basins.

Now in the Himalayas there are 75 peaks more than seven kilometers "growth". Dozens of peaks reach 7000 m, 11 peaks exceed 8000 m, the passes are on average at an altitude of 5000 m, which exceeds the maximum height of the Alps.

Climate, glaciation and water resources of the Himalayan mountains

The Himalayas are the largest climate divide in Asia. To the north of them, continental air of temperate latitudes prevails, to the south - tropical air masses. Up to the southern slope of the Himalayas, the summer equatorial monsoon penetrates. The winds there are so strong that it is difficult to climb the highest peaks. Therefore, you can climb Chomolungma only in spring, during a short period of calm before the start of the summer monsoon. On the northern slope throughout the year, the winds of the northern or western rhumbs blow, coming from the continent supercooled in winter or very warm in summer, but always dry. From the northwest to the southeast, the Himalayas stretch approximately between 35 and 28 ° N. sh., and the summer monsoon almost does not penetrate into the northwestern sector of the mountain system. All this creates great climatic differences within the Himalayas. Most precipitation falls in the eastern part of the southern slope (from 2000 to 3000 mm). In the west, their annual amounts do not exceed 1000 mm. Less than 1000 mm falls in the band of internal tectonic basins and in internal river valleys. On the northern slope, especially in the valleys, the amount of precipitation decreases sharply. In some places, annual amounts are less than 100 mm. Above 1800 m, winter precipitation falls in the form of snow, and above 4500 m, snow occurs throughout the year.

On the southern slopes up to a height of 2000 m, the average temperature in January is 6-7 °С, in July 18-19 °С; up to a height of 3000 m, the average temperature of the winter months does not fall below 0 ° C, and only above 4500 m does the average July temperature become negative. The snow limit in the eastern part of the Himalayas passes at an altitude of 4500 m, in the western, less humid, - 5100-5300 m. On the northern slopes, the height of the nival belt is 700-1000 m higher than on the southern ones. There is little precipitation on the northern slopes (about 100 mm), and temperature differences during one day can be 45 degrees.

High altitude and abundant rainfall contribute to the formation of powerful glaciers and a dense river network. Glaciers and snow cover all the high peaks of the Himalayas, but the ends of the glacial tongues have a significant absolute height. Most of the Himalayan glaciers belong to the valley type and reach no more than 5 km in length. But the farther to the east and more precipitation, the longer and lower the glaciers go down the slopes. On Chomolungma and Kanchenjunga, the most powerful glaciation, the largest glaciers of the Himalayas are formed.

These are dendritic type glaciers with several feeding areas and one main shaft. The Zemu glacier on Kangchenjunga reaches 25 km in length and ends at an altitude of about 4000 m. from it originates one of the sources of the Ganges. The total area of glaciers here is 33 thousand km².

The Himalayan glaciers differ from the glaciers of other mountain systems in terms of surface structure and ice properties. At high altitudes the snow is very dry. Sharp temperature changes often contribute to the formation of the thinnest crust of ice on the surface of the snow cover. Under it, active sublimation of snow occurs (transition of a substance from a solid state to a gaseous state without prior transformation into a liquid), in which the snow evaporates and water vapor settles on the lower surface of the ice crust, thickening it and forming a crust. And under it the emptiness grows. As a result, the adhesion of the snow layer to the slope is broken and the snow cover is actually held on it only due to the strength of this crust (frost). Any disturbance of this crust (damage by a falling stone, etc.) is enough to create a favorable condition for the formation of snow avalanches, which are very characteristic of the Himalayas.

At lower altitudes, the influence of high daytime temperatures leads to a rapid process of firnization of snow and further transformation of firn into ice. At the same time, another process is also taking place - the rapid evaporation of snow from the surface (especially on the northern slopes) due to the great dryness of the air. This causes the fragility of fresh snow cover in the valleys and on the lower slopes. As a result, glaciers are almost always open; snow or firn cover is rare on them. The movement of people on such a surface is not difficult. Only during periods of heavy snowfalls can mountain slopes and glaciers be covered with a significant layer of fresh dry snow, and then the passage of snow-covered slopes and glaciers requires great care.

The Himalayas are characterized by powerful glaciation, which has not yet been fully determined, despite the large number of scientific and mountaineering expeditions. But there are no huge valley glaciers here, as, for example, in the Karakorum. To some extent, this is due to the greater straightness of the Himalayan ranges and the absence of side spurs that extend over long distances.

Glaciers of the Turkestan type are characterized by a very limited supply basin. They are formed mainly due to snow avalanches from the surrounding steep slopes, ice, avalanches from the higher-lying hanging glaciers, and only partially due to snow masses falling or swept by winds from the surrounding slopes. An example of such glaciers in the Himalayas is the Annapurna South Glacier.

Especially many rivers flow down from the southern slope of the mountains. They start in the glaciers of the Greater Himalayas and, crossing the Lesser Himalayas and the foothill zone, come out onto the plain. Some large rivers originate from the northern slope and, heading towards the Indo-Gangetic plain, cut through the Himalayas with deep through valleys. This is the Indus, its tributary Sutlej and Brahmaputra (Tsangpo).

The Himalayan rivers are fed by rain, ice and snow, so the main flow maximum occurs in summer. In the eastern part, the role of monsoon rains in nutrition is great, in the west - snow and ice of the high-mountain zone. The narrow gorges or canyon-shaped valleys of the Himalayas abound with waterfalls and rapids. From May, when the most rapid snowmelt begins, until October, when the action of the summer monsoon ends, rivers rush down from the mountains in violent streams, carrying away masses of detrital material that they deposit when they leave the Himalayan foothills. Often monsoon rains cause severe floods on mountain rivers, during which bridges are washed away, roads are destroyed and landslides occur.

There are many lakes in the Himalayas, but among them there are none that could be compared with the Alpine ones in size and beauty. Some lakes, for example in the Kashmir Basin, occupy only a part of those tectonic depressions that were previously filled entirely. The Pir-Panjal ridge is known for numerous glacial lakes, formed in ancient crater funnels or in river valleys as a result of their damming by moraine. Many of the lakes are located at high altitudes (up to 3500 m). The Srinagar (Kashmir) valley once served as the bottom of a huge lake that existed here. At present, the remains of this lake are scattered over the lowest parts of the valley in the form of small lakes - Vular, Anchar, Dal and others. Of interest on these lakes are floating islands formed from dense thickets of aquatic plants.

In the vast mountain valley of Kathmandu, as well as in Srinagar, there are many lakes and even more residual lake valleys, which the locals call "tal".

Researchers of the Himalayas explain their formation in this way. In former times, there were many dammed lakes on the southern slopes of the Himalayas. Stormy mountain streams and rivers gradually applied to them the products of the destruction of rocks. Gradually accumulating, the water broke through the dam, rushing down in a mighty stream, washing away everything in its path.

So, for example, as a result of the earthquake of 1841, a large collapse blocked the Indus River in the Ramgat region. The height of the blockage reached several hundred meters. Above it, a huge dammed lake was formed.

Soon the Indus broke through the dam. Masses of water, gushing through the gorge, washed away many villages, tore off not only vegetation, but also soil from the slopes. Water destroyed the roads passing through the gorge. The local population suffered huge material damage.

Altitudinal zonality, flora and fauna of the Himalayas

On the abundantly moistened southern slope of the Himalayas, altitudinal belts from tropical forests to high mountain tundra are exceptionally pronounced. At the same time, the southern slope is characterized by significant differences in the vegetation cover of the humid and hot eastern part and the drier and colder western part. Forests approach the foot of the mountains only in the Eastern Himalayas. Along the foot of the mountains from their eastern extremity to the course of the Jamna River stretches a kind of marshy strip with black silty soils, called terai. Terai are characterized by jungles - typical tropical rainforests - dense tree and shrub thickets, in places almost impassable due to vines and consisting of ferns, teak, soapwood, mimosas, bananas, undersized palms, bamboos. Among the Terai, there are cleared and drained areas that are used for the cultivation of various tropical crops. This is the kingdom of tigers and wild elephants, snakes and monkeys. Zoologists believe that it is here that the highest density of the elephant population in the world. Animals feel completely safe in the jungle, even more so than in African reserves. After all, according to Buddhist laws, killing any living being is a mortal sin.

Above the terai, on the damp slopes of the mountains and along the river valleys, up to a height of 1000-1200 m, evergreen tropical forests grow from tall palms, laurels, tree ferns and gigantic bamboos, with many lianas (including rattan palm) and epiphytes. The drier areas are dominated by less dense forests of sal tree, which lose their leaves during the dry period, with rich undergrowth and grass cover.

At altitudes of more than 1000 m, subtropical species of evergreen and deciduous trees begin to mix with the heat-loving forms of the tropical forest: pines, evergreen oaks, magnolias, maples, chestnuts, birches. At an altitude of 2000 m, subtropical forests give way to temperate forests of deciduous and coniferous trees, among which only occasionally representatives of subtropical flora, such as magnificently flowering magnolias, come across. At the upper border of the forest, conifers dominate, including silver fir, larch, and juniper. The undergrowth is formed by dense thickets of tree-like rhododendrons. Lots of mosses and lichens covering the soil and tree trunks. The subalpine belt that replaces forests consists of tall grass meadows and thickets of shrubs, the vegetation of which gradually becomes lower and more sparse when moving to the alpine zone. The alpine meadow vegetation of the Himalayas is unusually rich in species, including primroses, edelweiss, anemones, poppies and other brightly flowering perennial herbs. The upper limit of the Alpine belt in the east reaches a height of about 5000 m, but individual plants are found much higher. When climbing Chomolungma, plants were found at an altitude of 6218 m. And, finally, from a height of five and a half kilometers, the realm of snow begins.

In the western part of the southern slope of the Himalayas, due to less humidity, there is no such richness and diversity of vegetation, the flora is much poorer than in the east. There is absolutely no strip of terai there, the lower parts of the slopes of the mountains are covered with sparse xerophytic forests and thickets of shrubs. Only on the slopes of the foothills do rare groups of dry-loving plants appear, such as oleander or tree-like milkweed, very similar to a cactus from a distance. And only from a height of a thousand meters do luxurious pine forests begin with an undergrowth of prickly jasmine. Higher, in the zone from 1800 to 2500 meters, there are some subtropical Mediterranean species such as evergreen holm oak and golden olive, even higher dominated by coniferous forests of pines and the magnificent Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodara), a brother of the Lebanese cedar known since biblical times. The shrub undergrowth in these forests is poorer than in the east, but the alpine meadow vegetation is more diverse. And having risen to a height of two and a half kilometers, you find yourself in the zone of spruce forests. Only these shrubs, and ivy entwining tree trunks, together with climbing roses, remind us of the subtropics. Spruce forests are replaced with height by a real mountain desert, where even stunted grass comes across only in places. And all this is crowned, as always in the Himalayas, by snow and glaciers.

The landscapes of the northern ranges of the Himalayas, facing towards Tibet, are approaching the desert mountain landscapes of Central Asia. The change in vegetation with height is less pronounced than on the southern slopes. From the bottoms of the large river valleys up to the snow-covered peaks, sparse thickets of dry grasses and xerophytic shrubs spread. Woody vegetation is found only in some river valleys in the form of thickets of low-growing poplars.

The landscape differences of the Himalayas are also reflected in the composition of the wild fauna. The diverse and rich fauna of the southern slopes has a pronounced tropical character. In the forests of the lower parts of the slopes and in the Terai, many large mammals, reptiles, and insects are common. There are still elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, wild boars, antelopes. The jungle is literally teeming with various monkeys. Macaques and thin-bodied are especially characteristic. Of the predators, the most dangerous for the population are tigers and leopards - spotted and black (black panthers). Among birds, peacocks, pheasants, parrots, wild chickens stand out for their beauty and brightness of plumage.

In the upper belt of mountains and on the northern slopes, the fauna is close in composition to the Tibetan. The black Himalayan bear, wild goats and rams, yaks live there. Especially a lot of rodents.

Most of the population is concentrated in the middle belt of the southern slope and in intramountain tectonic basins. There is a lot of cultivated land there. Rice is sown on the irrigated flat bottoms of the basins, and tea bushes, citrus fruits, and vines are grown on terraced slopes. Alpine pastures are used for grazing sheep, yaks and other livestock.

Due to the high height of the passes in the Himalayas, communication between the countries of the northern and southern slopes is significantly complicated. Dirt roads or caravan trails pass through some passes, there are very few highways in the Himalayas. The passes are only accessible during the summer. In winter, they are covered with snow and completely impassable.

Himalayas as a center of cultural and natural heritage and a center of pilgrimage

The parks were created to help the rare animals of the Himalayas survive in the face of an ever-increasing influx of tourists, including many poachers. Deforestation by the local population harms the animals even more. Already, only twenty-five wild elephants have survived in all of Nepal. Just a few dozen left here tigers and rhinos. Live on protected lands and such rare animals as the snow leopard and the Himalayan black bear, the musk deer and the inhabitant of bamboo forests - the red panda.

This beast (also called a cat bear) is probably the most charming inhabitant of the Himalayan forests. During the day, he sleeps, wrapping his round, eared head with a fluffy tail, and at night he grazes in bamboo thickets, eating young shoots, as well as berries and acorns that have fallen to the ground.

To truly appreciate the beauty of the nature of the Himalayas, one must overcome the temptation to get by air directly to Kathmandu or another city in the depths of the mountains. It is better to climb to the snowy ridges by car along winding mountain roads through Sivalik and Mahabharat. Only then can one appreciate all the diversity of the Himalayas, all the charm of its forests and meadows, rocky gorges and mountain lakes, the blinding whiteness of the snowy slopes and the jade transparency of glacial cliffs.

The Himalayas are one of the centers of pilgrimage in the world, especially for adherents of Buddhism and Hinduism. In most cases, in the holy Himalayan places there are temples to the glory of the deities, with whose deeds this or that place is associated. So, the temple of Sri Kedarnath Mandir is dedicated to the god Shiva, and in the south of the Himalayas, at the source of the Jamuna River, in the 19th century. A temple was built in honor of the goddess Yamuna (Jamuna). Many are attracted to the Himalayas by the diversity and uniqueness of their natural features. One of the most important and at the same time the most difficult to pass is the Sagarmatha National Park. Everest is located on its territory. In the western region of the Himalayas, the possessions of the Nanda Devi reserve stretch, which since 2005 has included the Valley of Flowers, which enchants with a natural palette of colors and shades. It is kept by vast meadows full of delicate alpine flowers. Among this magnificence, far from human eyes, rare species of predators live, including snow leopards (no more than 7,500 individuals of these animals remain in the wild), Himalayan and brown bears.

High impregnable mountains have long evoked two feelings in people: fear and reverence. The Hindus called this area Deviabhuni - "the land of the gods." Here, in their opinion, was the center of the Earth, marked by the sacred mountain Meru, around which the Sun, Moon and stars revolve. Meru in India was identified with Mount Kailash in the Tibetan Trans-Himalayas. Next to it, at the sacred lake Manasarovar, as the locals believe, lives the main of the three supreme gods of the Hindu pantheon - Indra, the thunderer, who gives rain and fertility to the fields. At the top of Gaurishankar lived the great god Shiva with his wife Devi, the daughter of Himavat, who himself is the personification of the Himalayas. Shiva is one of the supreme gods included in the divine triad, the "master of animals." Therefore, it is quite logical that from his dwelling, located among the eternal snows of the Himalayas, the life-giving waters of the three great rivers of Asia - the Indus, the Brahmaputra and the Ganges - flow. And only Rama settled closer to the people, in the valley.

The founder of another powerful religion - Buddhism, Prince Gautama himself (the future Buddha) was also born here, in Nepal, 2500 years ago. Therefore, many pilgrims come every year here, to the shrine of Buddhism, the Muktinath temple, where an eternal flame burns in memory of the birth of a deity.

Thus, the Himalayas are not only one of the most beautiful places created by nature. This is a sacred land, a place where, according to legend, Buddhist and Hindu deities live. Once upon a time, these mountains were an insurmountable barrier between the states located to the south of them, and the fabulously rich cities lying to the north, on the Great Silk Road - Samarkand, Bukhara, Kashgar and Kotan.

The history of the exploration and assault of the Himalayan mountains

The first Himalayan traveler mentioned in the chronicles, the Chinese monk Fa Xian, came here in 400 AD. e. in search of religious truth. The oldest accurate map of these places was compiled in the 30s of the 18th century by the French geographer Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Arville, who, however, could not correctly determine the height of many mountain peaks. At the beginning of the 19th century, the British, hunters of large animals, went here from India in search of tigers and bears.Returning from the Himalayas, they recounted local legends about strange footprints in the snow.This was the first hint of the existence of the Bigfoot.

Already in the 7th century, the first trade routes appeared in the rugged Himalayas, connecting China and India. Some of these routes still play an important role in the trade of these two countries (of course, these days we are not talking about multi-day foot crossings, but about road transport). In the 30s. 20th century there was a plan to make transport links more convenient, for which it is necessary to lay a railway through the Himalayas, but the project was never implemented.

However, serious exploration of the Himalayan mountains began only in the period of the 18th-19th centuries. The work was extremely difficult, and the results left much to be desired: for a long time, topographers could not determine the height of the main peaks, nor make accurate topographic maps. But the ordeal only fueled the interest and enthusiasm of European scientists and researchers. In the middle of the 19th century, attempts began to conquer the highest peak in the world - Everest (Chomolungma). But the great mountain, towering 8848 meters above the earth, could give victory only to the strongest.

In the 1950s, the highest peak in the world was known in the West simply as Peak XV. It was not until 1852 that English topographers established the exact height of Peak XV. The Indians called it Sagarmatha - "heavenly peak", and for the Tibetans it was Chomolungma - "mother-goddess of the earth." It was named Everest by the British in 1862 in honor of Major Sir George Everest, Governor General of India, who had led an expedition to map the Himalayan Mountains six years earlier. So the highest mountain in the world lives now under three names.

It is clear that the climbers of the late XIX - early XX century, who have already managed to conquer the Matterhorn in the Alps (in 1865), Chimborazo and Aconcagua in the Andes (in 1880 and 1897), McKinley in Alaska (in 1913) and Kilimanjaro in Africa (in 1889), were eager to climb Chomolungma. But the Tibetan and Nepalese authorities until 1921 did not allow foreigners to disturb the peace of the sacred mountains.

By the end of the 19th century, Tibet and Nepal closed their borders to Europeans. And although in 1921 the Dalai Lama allowed one expedition to visit the country, she had only enough time to get to the foot of Everest and map its lower slopes. The famous English climber George Mallory was a member of this expedition.

In 1921-1924, Mallory made three expeditions to the transcendental peak, hoping to become its winner. In his last attempt, in 1924, he and his companion Andrew Irwin apparently reached the highest point on the planet. The members of their expedition who remained below noticed the brave deuce through binoculars just two hundred meters from the top, after which they were hidden by fog. No one else saw the pioneers of Chomolungma alive. They did not return back. And only seventy-five years later, in 1999, Mallory's body was found in the snow not far from the summit. In all likelihood, on the descent, the climbers got into a snowstorm and froze. The first reliable conquest of Everest was carried out by a British expedition led by John Hunt 30 years later. After countless unsuccessful expeditions, on May 29, 1953, man finally managed to reach the summit of Everest.

The last assault was made by the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and the Nepalese Sherpa Norgay Tenzing. Hillary later wrote of what he thought as he stood where no one was known to have stood before him: for success. I looked at Tenzing... and he couldn't hide his infectious, enthusiastic smile."

Thus, the "high-altitude pole" of our planet turned out to be the toughest nut to crack from all the cherished and hard-to-reach points of the earth's land, taken by storm in the 20th century. Recall that the North and South Poles were conquered by man more than forty years earlier, and the Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility five years before Chomolungma.

The attraction of Everest for climbers is undeniable, and the climbing season is short; unless, of course, they want to avoid low temperatures, gale-force winds and deep snow. Many attempts to reach the summit ended in failure, and sometimes the death of expedition members, but nothing stops climbers. In recent years, climbers from all over the world have managed to make successful ascents.

Climbers continue to storm the highest peak, but so far only about four hundred of them have managed to stand on the "roof of the world." The Himalayas in general, and Everest in particular, carefully guard their secrets. Even today they remain the only snow kingdom of its kind - the abode of the gods.

In general, the history of the assault on the Himalayan "eight-thousanders" is a whole epic that lasted fifteen years, starting in 1950, when the brave Frenchmen Erzog and Lachenal climbed the first of them - Annapurna, and ending with a successful ascent to the most difficult of these peaks - Mount Shisha Pangma - Chinese expedition in 1964. Many tragic pages are inscribed in the history of Himalayan ascents. Dozens of climbers remained forever on the slopes of the Abode of Snows. And yet every year new high-altitude expeditions go to the Himalayas. And to the question of what drives them to this most difficult and dangerous business, Mallory answered wonderfully. When asked why he was so eager to climb Everest, he simply said: “Because he is!”

There are peaks in the Himalayas that are more difficult than Chomolungma. Such, for example, is impregnable Kanchenjunga, the easternmost and second highest of the Himalayan "eight-thousanders", which rises to 8585 meters at the very border of Nepal and India. This most difficult peak for climbers gave up only by the fifth expedition, which stormed it in 1955. In the same year, the fifth highest peak in the world, Makalu (8470 meters), was also conquered. Its name translates as "Black Giant". Indeed, Makalu is so steep that ice and snow practically do not linger on the black slopes of this giant rock pyramid. Therefore, its black and gray silhouette stands out sharply against the background of the rest of the Himalayan peaks, wrapped in snow-white cloaks and covered with glacier caps.

And twenty-five kilometers northwest of Makalu there are four eight-kilometer peaks at once, like a guard of honor surrounding their ruler - Chomolungma. This gigantic mountain range resembles a frozen foamy surf of grandiose stone shafts rushing towards the sky. Moreover, the “smaller” mountains in this massif sometimes pose the most difficult tasks for climbers. So, at Mount Rapakosi, 7788 meters high, the steepest slope in the world. It rises six thousand meters above the Hunza valley, and the length of its slope is about ten kilometers. It is easy to calculate that the angle of elevation in this case is thirty-one degrees.

In the very north of Nepal, between the eight-kilometer massifs of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, there is the high-altitude Mustang Valley - the most important ancient caravan route from India and Nepal to transcendental Tibet. Through a giant gap between the mountains, as if into a wind tunnel, a strong wind rushes in from the north, from the Brahmaputra valley. The “draft” begins like clockwork every day at noon and ends after sunset, when the air temperature from the south and north sides of Mustang is equal. Living in a constant wind, of course, creates terrible discomfort for the inhabitants of the valley. They have to build houses with very narrow windows, and even these are covered with oiled paper from the inside for warmth. And on the north side of the houses there are no windows at all, otherwise it is impossible to keep the heat in the rooms.

Conclusion

The study of the physical and geographical characteristics of the Himalayas made it possible to draw the following conclusions:

1. The Himalayas are located between the Tibetan Plateau in the north and the Indo-Gangetic Plain in the south of Eurasia and stretch for 2,400 km.

3. The relief is represented by a system of ridges and intermontane depressions (hollows). The mountains have steep slopes and pointed or ridge-shaped peaks, covered with eternal snow and glaciers. The total area of glaciers here is 33 thousand km². The highest peak of the Himalayas is Mount Everest (8848 m), the highest mountain in the world. It was first conquered in 1953.

4. Most of the Himalayan mountains are located in a subequatorial climate. Climate formation occurs here under the condition of positive temperatures, but with a rather noticeable difference in the height of the sun according to the seasons. Summer and spring are hot here (up to 35°C). At this time of the year, monsoon winds come here, which bring an abundance of precipitation from the Indian Ocean, they fall mainly on the southern slopes of the mountains (more than 3000 mm). The air temperature near the northern slopes of the Himalayas is lower in winter, since precipitation from the Indian Ocean does not penetrate here, which has a softening effect.

5. Most of the rivers flowing from the Himalayan mountains are tributaries of the Indus and the Ganges. Their food is ice-rain. The flood is in the summer.

1). At the foot and in the foothills of the Himalayas are swampy jungles - terai. They are very rich in vegetation: grasses up to 5 m high, fan and coconut palms, bamboo.

2). At an altitude of 400 to 1500 m, there is a belt of subequatorial humid forests. This belt is characterized by magnolias, citrus fruits, camphor laurel.

3). Above, humid subequatorial forests are replaced up to 2000 m by evergreen subtropical forests, represented by mimosa thickets.

4). From altitudes of 2000 to 2500 m, evergreen forests begin to give way to deciduous forests dominated by maple, bird cherry, chestnuts, oaks, and cherries.

5). Above 2500 m, coniferous forests begin to predominate, which are located up to a height of 3500-4000 m.

6). Approximately from a height of 3500 m, woody vegetation begins to disappear, giving way to meadow vegetation with large herbs.

Through the mountains to the sea with a light backpack. Route 30 passes through the famous Fisht - this is one of the most grandiose and significant natural monuments in Russia, the highest mountains closest to Moscow. Tourists travel lightly through all the landscape and climatic zones of the country from the foothills to the subtropics, spending the night in shelters.

There is no such density of tourist facilities as in the Bakhchisarai region anywhere in the world! Mountains and the sea, rare landscapes and cave cities, lakes and waterfalls, secrets of nature and mysteries of history. Discoveries and the spirit of adventure... Mountain tourism here is not complicated at all, but any trail pleases with clean springs and lakes.

Adygea, Crimea. Mountains, waterfalls, herbs of alpine meadows, healing mountain air, absolute silence, snowfields in the middle of summer, the murmur of mountain streams and rivers, stunning landscapes, songs around the fires, the spirit of romance and adventure, the wind of freedom are waiting for you! And at the end of the route, the gentle waves of the Black Sea.

Himalayas - a mountain system, is considered the highest in the world.

"Only mountains can be better than mountains." Ever since school, everyone knows that the highest mountains in the world, as well as the most picturesque and mysterious, are the Himalayas.

The mythical Shambhala, the mysterious and formidable Bigfoot - this is only a small part of the myths and legends, hidden from us by the eternal white ice of the mountain peaks.

Geographical location and characteristics

The highest mountain system on the planet - the Himalayas, which in Sanskrit means "the abode of snows" is spread over the vast territory of Central Asia. They are located in the following countries:

People's Republic of China (Tibet region);
Nepal;
India;
Pakistan;
Bangladesh (a small part of it).

The mountain range, which stretches for almost 2400 km, was formed approximately 50-70 million years ago as a result of the movement and collision of the Eurasian and Indo-American tectonic plates. But, despite such an ancient age in terms of earthly years, these mountains are still young by geological standards. The growth process of the Himalayas continues to this day, for example, the highest point on the planet - Mount Chomolungma (Everest) is growing by about 6 cm per year.

The mountain peaks of the Himalayas, sharp as peaks, rise on the Indo-Gangetic valley and consist of three steps:

The Great Himalayas is the highest part of the mountain range, rising above sea level by 4 km and above. By the way, in the Himalayas there are 10 of the 14 "eight-thousanders" - mountain peaks whose height exceeds 8 km, as well as the highest point in the world - Mount Chomolungma, as the locals call it Everest, by the name of geodesist George Everest, who in the middle of the 19th century determined the exact height of the peak. It amounted to as much as 8848 m.

A little lower, at an altitude of 2-4 km above sea level, there are fertile valleys, for example, Kathmandu and Kashmir, alternating with mountain ranges. These are the so-called Lesser Himalayas. The Himalayas, the second name is Sivalik. These are the youngest and lowest hills in the mountain system, their height does not exceed 2 km.

The area of the ice sheet, located mainly on the slopes of high mountains, is 33 thousand square kilometers. The largest glacier is Gangotri (has a length of 26 km), it gives rise to the Ganges - the sacred river of the Hindus. There are also many picturesque alpine lakes in the Himalayas, for example, Lake Tilicho is located at an altitude of 4919 meters!

Himalayas on the map

Rivers

From the Himalayas, such largest rivers of the planet as the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra originate and carry their turbulent waters.

Climate

Monsoons, carrying warm air from the Indian Ocean, supply the southern slopes of the mountains with life-giving moisture for most of the year. The same cannot be said about the northern slopes of the Himalayas. Warm southern air is not able to overcome the mountain heights, so there is an arid continental climate.

The air temperature in the mountains reaches -40 degrees Celsius in winter, and the wind speed is sometimes as much as 150 km/h. The Himalayas rank third on the planet in terms of the amount of snow and ice after the Arctic and Antarctic.

Flora and fauna of the Himalayas

The diversity of the flora of the Himalayas is directly proportional to the height. At the southern foothills of the mountains there are real jungles, which here are called "terai", a little higher they are replaced by tropical forests, then mixed, coniferous, and finally - alpine meadows.

meadows in the Himalayas photo

On the drier and desolate northern slopes, semi-deserts, steppes and mixed forests replace each other. Very valuable species of trees sprout in the Himalayas, for example, dhak, sal tree. The boundaries of the ice sheet are approximately at an altitude of 6 km on the north side and 4.5 km on the south. Above 4 km, vegetation of the tundra type is already found - mosses, dwarf shrubs, rhododendrons.

Sigarmatha National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in Nepal. Here is the highest peak in the world, the well-known Mount Everest, and two eight-thousander peaks, as well as such endemics (rare and endangered species of animals and plants) as the irbis (snow leopard), Tibetan fox, black Himalayan bear and others.

Himalayan sheep photo

Rhinos, tigers, leopards live and feel very comfortable on the south side. Bears, antelopes, yaks, wild horses and mountain goats live in the north.

Population

It is worth saying a little about the population of this mountainous region, because it is quite diverse. As early as 8000 BC, these mountains were inhabited by tribes. Ancient Aryans lived in the south, Persian and Turkic peoples in the west, Tibetan tribes in the east. They lived in isolated valleys, where they created their state formations and closed ethnic groups.

In the 19th century, the Himalayas were the possessions of the British Empire, and in 1947 - a zone of military conflict due to the separation of India and Pakistan. The population is still engaged in subsistence farming. Cereal crops are grown on the southern damp slopes, while distant pastures are practiced in drier and less fertile regions.

Development and interesting facts

Among all the eight-thousanders, Chomolungma has always been of particular interest. Local tribes did not climb its peaks for a long time, considering the mountain sacred. Everest was first conquered in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpas (Sherpas are people living in Eastern Nepal) Tenzing Norgay.

The first Soviet expedition took place in 1982. Since 1953, Everest has been conquered more than 3,700 times, however, there is another, more sad statistics - about 570 people died during the ascent. In addition to Everest, the Annapurna mountain range is considered the most dangerous "eight-thousander", the mortality rate among climbers since the first ascent is as much as 41%! True, according to statistics for 1990-2008, Kanchenjunga (8586 meters above sea level) began to be considered the most dangerous peak, the mortality rate over these years was 22%.

flora Himalaya photo

The Himalayas are becoming more and more "inhabited" region of the planet every year. The flow of tourists from season to season increases, which entails the development of infrastructure and the entire tourism system as a whole. Not so long ago, the authorities of China and Nepal agreed to develop transport links between their countries through the construction of a railway tunnel. It is expected that it will pass under the highest peak of the planet - Everest! Preparatory work on this project is already underway.

In 2011, a dinner party was held in the Himalayas at an altitude of 6805 meters! Climbers in the amount of seven people climbed to a record height, taking with them a table, chairs, appliances and food. Dinner still took place, despite the cold and strong wind. Initially, the climbing group wanted to dine at an altitude of 7045 meters, but the hurricane wind did not allow it.