Rajasthan's Physical Features and Geographic Regions

Rajasthan's four physical regions

Rajasthan is divided into four main physical regions based on differences in relief, climate, soil and vegetation — the Western Desert region, the Aravalli Hill region, the Eastern Plain region, and the South-eastern Plateau (Hadoti) region. These four regions are arranged around the Aravalli range, which cuts diagonally across the state.

The Western Desert region spans more than half the state's land area, and is divided, on the basis of the 25-cm rainfall line, into sandy (dune-covered) and bajri (dune-free) tracts; sub-regions such as the Ghaggar plain, Shekhawati, and the Nagauri upland fall within this region. The Aravalli Hill region divides the state, and is itself divided into the north-eastern Aravalli, the central Aravalli, the southern Aravalli, and the Abu hill block.

The Eastern Plain region includes the Banas basin, the Chambal basin, the Banganga basin and the middle Mahi basin (the Chhappan plain) — this region is comparatively fertile and has the state's highest population density. The South-eastern Plateau region, also called the Hadoti plateau, includes parts of the Vindhyan scarp and the Deccan lava plateau; it lies mainly across the districts of Kota, Bundi, Jhalawar and Baran.

The Aravalli range: important facts

Direction

From the south-west (toward Gujarat) to the north-east (toward Delhi)

Highest peak

Guru Shikhar (Mount Abu, Sirohi district) — 1,722 metres, the highest point in both Rajasthan and the Aravalli range

Distinguishing feature

One of the world's oldest fold mountain ranges

Role

A natural barrier that checks the eastward spread of the Thar Desert

Rajasthan's four geographic regions at a glance

Major geographic sites and institutions

Beneshwar Dham, located in Dungarpur district, sits at the confluence of three rivers — the Mahi, the Som and the Jakham; a huge tribal fair, known as 'the Kumbh of the tribal people', is held here every year on Magh Purnima. Jodhpur is home to important institutions such as the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) and the Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI), both of which research desert ecology.

Rajasthan's physical landscape has a direct bearing on population distribution as well — according to the 2011 census, the state's male literacy rate stood at roughly 79.2%, considerably higher than the female literacy rate (roughly 52.1%). This gap reflects, in particular, the challenges of access to education in the state's desert and remote Aravalli regions.

Climate and major water bodies

Rajasthan's climate shifts from arid and desert-like in the west to semi-arid and sub-humid in the east and south-east. Temperatures rise extremely high in summer in the western desert region — a temperature of 51 degrees Celsius was recorded at Phalodi town, in Jodhpur district, on 19 May 2016, which at the time was considered India's highest-ever recorded temperature. By contrast, the Mount Abu region (around Guru Shikhar), owing to its elevation, has the state's coolest and most pleasant climate.

Sambhar Lake, located on the border of Jaipur, Nagaur and Ajmer districts, is India's largest inland saltwater lake, and it has been known for salt production for centuries. Several other saltwater lakes (such as Pachpadra and Didwana) are found across the western desert region, while the eastern plain and Aravalli regions have more freshwater lakes and rivers (such as the Banas and Chambal).

The state's boundaries and vegetation

By area, Rajasthan is India's largest state, and its western border runs along Pakistan (passing through Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner and Sri Ganganagar districts). Beyond this, the state's boundaries touch five other Indian states — Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Given such a large and varied landmass, the climate and vegetation within the state itself vary enormously.

Thorny shrubs and desert vegetation (such as khejri and babul) dominate the Western Desert region, while comparatively dense deciduous forest is found on the higher Aravalli slopes and in the south-eastern Hadoti plateau. This is exactly why tiger reserves such as Sariska and Ranthambore are located in the state's eastern-Aravalli belt, and not in the western desert region.

This diversity of physical regions also shapes Rajasthan's economic activities — the Western Desert region is known for animal husbandry and limited rainfall-dependent farming, the Aravalli region for minerals (marble, copper) and tourism, the Eastern Plain for intensive agriculture, and the Hadoti plateau for specialty crops such as soyabean and opium poppy. This is why, for REET, a physical region should not be studied as geography alone — it is worth connecting each one to its economy too.

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