Three Himalayan Ranges- Longitudinal Divide

There are three parallel ranges that exist in the Himalayan ranges which are based on longitudinal division:

1. Himadri or Greater Himalayas
2. Himachal or Lesser Himalayas
3. Shivalik

Himadri or Greater Himalayas

Himadri or also known as the greater Himalayas is the northernmost range of the Himalayas. The stretch is 2400 km from West to East and wide 120 to 190 km. The height of the mountains is at a rising of 6000 meters in height.

They are one of the longest and also most continuous mountain ranges in the world and granite makes up its core. Many glaciers flow from this range and are often covered in snow. Some noteworthy ranges of the Greater Himalayas include Mount Everest, Mt Dhaulagiri, Mt. Makalu, and Mt Kanchenjunga. The Himalayas is also a source of the Yamuna and Ganga rivers.

Himachal or Lesser Himalayas

The middle segment of the Himalaya mountain range is known as Himachal, Middle Himalayas, or Lesser Himalayas. It stretches between Great Himalayas in the northeast and the Shivalik range in the Southeast. The mountain ranges from 3700 to 4500 m in height and the width is 50 km.

It covers the northern edges of the Indian subcontinent. from northeast to southeast, which includes places like UTs of Kashmir, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Bhutan, and so forth. Some of its noteworthy ranges include Nag Tibba, Pirpangal, and Dhauladhar. Some valleys of the range include Kashmir, Kulu, and Kangra. The most well-known hill towns are Shimla, Nainital, and Darjeeling.

Outer Himalayas or Shivalik

The Shivalik is the furthest southern hills. The flat-bottomed valleys divide it from the lesser Himalayas. From the Indus in the Northwest to the Brahmaputra in Assam, the Shivalik is a continuous chain for more than 2400 km. The width of Shivalik is 10-50 km, and the height rarely exceeds 1300 m. The southern part of the Shivalik range slopes in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are unfrosted. Between the Himachal and Shivalik mountains, referred to as “Duns” are longitudinal valleys, like Dehradun and Kotli Dun.

The Himalayan Ranges refers to those mountain ranges in Asia that are split up in the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan plateau. There are three main Himalayan Ranges: Outer Himalayas, Middle Himalayas, and Inner Himalayas. The northernmost range of the Himalayas is known as Himadri or the Greater Himalayas.

The Himalayan Ranges are young in terms of geology and folded in terms of structure, stretching over the northern part of India. These ranges run in the west to east directions from the Indus River to the Brahmaputra River. They represent the most rugged and loftiest mountain barriers in the world. They form an arc at a distance of 2,400 km and their width varies from 400km in Kashmir to 150 km in Arunachal Pradesh.