This Plateau is Called the Roof of India! Do You Know Its Name?

India has many landforms such as mountains, plains, deserts, islands as well as plateaus. The geography of the nation has been quite fascinating. One such important landform is plateau which covers almost 27.7% of India. 

If we talk about what plateaus are then NCERT mentions: “A plateau is a landform that rises up from the surrounding land and has a more or less flat surface; some of its sides are often steep slopes. Like mountains, plateaus can be young or old in terms of the Earth’s history.”

India has a lot of major plateaus and the majority of them lie in the Peninsular part of India and were formed millions of years ago from very old rocks. 

One plateau stands out for being the highest in India and is also called the Roof of India. Let’s find out. 

Which Plateau is the Highest in India and Called the Roof of India? 

The plateau which is known as the roof of India is the Ladakh Plateau. This is the highest plateau in the country. The majority of Ladakh’s land lies above 3,000 metres and some portions even reach about 5,000 meters. 

Ladakh also has the highest settlement in India and this name basically comes from the idea of the Tibetan Plateau which is called the ‘roof of the world.’ 

Where is the Ladakh Plateau Located? 

The Ladakh Plateau is in the northernmost part of India, in the Union Territory of Ladakh. It is enclosed by the Karakoram range in the North direction and Zanskar mountains in the South direction. 

The Indus river flows through this plateau and two of the main towns are Leh and Kargil. The total area of Ladakh is about 59,146 square kilometers and population of about 274,289 in an altitude of about 2550m to 7742m. 

Which is the Largest Plateau in India by Area?

If we talk in terms of area then the largest plateau in India is the Deccan Plateau and it covers an area of approximately 500,000 square kilometres. It is spread across eight states of southern India, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. 

This plateau is in triangular shape and it is not very high with an average elevation of only 600 to 1,000 metres, but it is much bigger in size. 

Why is Ladakh Called A Cold Desert? 

Ladakh is a plateau but it is also called a cold desert. The reason behind is quite simple as it is a place which receives very less rainfall. Ladakh only gets around 10 centimetres of rainfall every year because it lies in the rain shadow area of the Himalayas. The tall mountains block the monsoon winds and that is why low moisture reaches the region.