(Source: 6th NCERT Geography Chapter 8)
1.Broadly,
the major seasons recognised in India are:
•
Cold Weather Season (Winter) December to February
•
Hot Weather Season (Summer) March to May
•
Southwest Monsoon Season (Rainy) June to September
•
Season of Retreating Monsoon (Autumn) October and November
2.Hot
and dry winds called loo, blow during the summer days.
3.The
climate is about the average weather condition,which have been measured over
many years.
4.The
climate of India has broadly been described as Monsoon type.
5.Monsoon
is taken from the Arabic word ‘mausim’, which means seasons.
6.Due
to India’s location in the tropical region, most of the rain is brought by monsoon
winds.
7.The
climate of a place is affected by its location, altitude, distance from the
sea, and relief.
8.Vegetation
of India can be divided into five types –
a.Tropical
evergreen forest,
b.Tropical
deciduous forest,
c.Thorny
bushes,
d.Mountain
vegetation and
e.Mangrove
forests.
9.Tropical
Evergreen Forest:
Tropical
Rain Forests occur in the areas which receive heavy rainfall. Important trees
found in these forests are mahogany, ebony and rosewood. Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, parts of North-Eastern states and a narrow strip of the Western slope
of the Western Ghats are home of these forests.
10. Tropical
deciduous forest:
These forests are also called
monsoon forests.
They are less dense.
They shed their leaves at a particular
time of the year.
Important trees of these forests are
sal, teak, peepal, neem and shisham. They are found in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and in parts of Maharashtra.
11.Thorny
Bushes:
The leaves are in the form of
spines to reduce the loss of water.
Cactus, khair, babool, keekar are important
and are found in the states of Rajasthan,
Punjab, Haryana, Eastern slopes of Western Ghats and Gujarat.
12.Mountain
Vegetation:
At
a height between 1500 metres and 2500 metres most of the trees are conical in
shape. These trees are called coniferous trees. Chir, Pine and Deodar are
important trees of these forests.
13.Mangrove
Forests
These
forests can survive in saline water.
They
are found mainly in Sunderbans in West Bengal and in the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands.
Sundari
is
a well-known species of trees in mangrove forests after which Sunderbans have
been named.
14.The
tiger is our national animal.
15.Gir
forest
in Gujarat is the home of Asiatic lions.
16.Elephants
and one-horned rhinoceroses roam in the forests of Assam.
17.Elephants
are also found in Kerala and Karnataka.
18.Camels
and wild asses are found in the Great Indian desert and the Rann of Kuchchh
respectively.
19.Wild
goats, snow leopards, bears, etc. are found in the Himalayan region.
20.The
peacock is our national bird.
21.The
Government has also started Project Tiger and Project Elephant to
protect these animals.
22.Every
year we observe wildlife week in the first week of October, to create awareness
of conserving the habitats of the animal kingdom.
23.Some
birds such as the Pelican, Siberian Crane, Stork, Flamingo, Pintail Duck and
Curlew migrate to our country in the winter season every year.
24.Siberian
Cranes migrate from Siberia. They arrive in December and stay till early March.