(i) The Indian Desert: The Indian desert lies towards the western edges of the Aravali Hills. It is a flowing sandy plain covered with dunes. Rainfall is below 150 mm per year in this region. It has an arid climate with low vegetation cover. Here Jowar and Bajra are cultivated because these crops require lesser water. During the rainy season, streams appear. Soon after they disappear into the sand because they do not have enough water to reach the sea. Luni is the only large river in this region. Barchans (crescent-shaped dunes) cover larger areas but longitudinal dunes become more prominent near the Indo-Pakistan border. If you visit Jaisalmer, you may get to see a group of barchans. This desert region is 644 km long and 161 km broad. Its total area is around 1,04,000 sq km.

(ii) The Central Highlands: The Central Highlands are part of the Peninsular plateau lying to the north of the Narmada river, covering a major area of the Malwa plateau. The Vindhyan range is surrounded by the Satpura range in the south and the Aravalis in the northwest. Its westward extension gradually merges with the sandy and rocky desert of Rajasthan. The rivers coming from this region, namely the Chambal, the Sind, the Betwa and the Ken flow from southwest to northeast, thus indicating the slope. The Central Highlands are wider in the west but narrower in the east. The eastward extensions of this plateau are locally known as the Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand. The further eastward extension is marked by the Chotanagpur plateau, drained by the Damodar river.

(iii) The Island groups of India: There are small figures in the middle of the sea known as the group of islands. They are an integral part of India. Including small and big islands, there are a total 247 islands. The country has two groups of islands. The Islands of the Arabian Sea and Islands of the Bay of Bengal. Lakshadweep Islands group lying close to the Malabar coast of Kerala. Lakshadweep islands are lying in the Arabian Sea. This group of islands is composed of small coral islands. Earlier these islands were known as Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindive. Later in 1973, they were named Lakshadweep. It has a total area of 32 sq. km. Kavaratti island is the administrative headquarters of Lakshadweep. This group of islands has a great diversity of flora and fauna. There is a bird century on Pitti island, which is uninhabited. In the Bay of Bengal we can see an elongated chain of islands extending from north to south, these are Andaman and Nicobar islands. These islands are bigger in size and more in number and scattered. The whole group of islands is divided into two broad categories: The Andaman in the north and the Nicobar in the south. It is said that these islands were formed by an elevated portion of submarine mountains.