Download Document

Geography of Punjab
Introduction
• Punjab is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India,
forming part of the larger Punjab region.
• The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal
Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast
and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani
province of Punjab to the west. It is also bounded to the
north by Jammu and Kashmir. The state capital is located in
Chandigarh, which is a Union Territory and also the capital
of the neighbouring state of Haryana.
• Major
cities
of
Punjab
include Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Tarn Taran
Sahib,
Nawanshahr,
Firozpur,
Bathinda,
Hoshiarpur and Mohali.
• After the partition of India in 1947, the Punjab province of
British India was divided between India and Pakistan.
• The Indian Punjab was divided in 1966 with the formation
of the new states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, as well
as the current state of Punjab. Punjab is the only state in
India with a majority Sikh population.
• The Greeks referred to Punjab as Pentapotamia, an inland
delta of five converging rivers.
• In Avesta, the sacred text of Zoroastrians, the Punjab region is
associated with the ancient hapta həndu or Sapta Sindhu, the
Land of Seven Rivers.
• Historically, the Punjab region has been the gateway to
the Indian Subcontinent for people from Greece, Central
Asia, Iran, and Afghanistan and vice versa.
• The
word
Punjab
is
from Sanskrit and Persian words panj (Sanskrit: पंच) and Āb
(Persian: ‫آب‬, (which itself derives from "āp" Sanskrit: अा प ्)
that
means
"five"
and
"water",
respectively,
thus PanjĀb means "Five Rivers", which roughly means "Land
of Five Rivers”.
• The
five
rivers
are
the Beas, Sutlej, Ravi, Chenab and Jehlum (also spelled
Jhelum). Traditionally, in English, there used to be a definite
article before the name, i.e. "The Punjab”. The name is also
sometimes spelled as "Panjab".
Location
• Punjab is located in northwestern India, and
has an area of 50,362 km2. It extends from the
latitudes 29.30° North to 32.32° North and
longitudes 73.55° East to 76.50° East. It is
bounded on the west by Pakistan, on the
north by Jammu and Kashmir, on the
northeast by Himachal Pradesh and on the
south by Haryana and Rajasthan.
• Most of the Punjab lies in a fertile plain, alluvial plain with many
rivers and an extensive irrigation canal system.
• A belt of undulating hills extends along the northeastern part of the
state at the foot of the Himalayas.
• Its average elevation is 300 meters above sea level, with a range
from 180 meters in the southwest to more than 500 meters around
the northeast border.
• The southwest of the state is semiarid, eventually merging into
the Thar Desert. The Shiwalik Hills extend along the northeastern
part of the state at the foot of the Himalayas.
• The soil characteristics are influenced to a limited extent by the
topography, vegetation and parent rock. The variation in soil profile
characteristics are much more pronounced because of the regional
climatic differences.
• Punjab is divided into three distinct regions on the basis of soil
types: southwestern, central, and eastern.
• Punjab falls under seismic zones II, III, and IV. Zone II is considered a
low-damage risk zone; zone III is considered a moderate-damage
risk zone; and zone IV is considered a high-damage risk zone.
The area of Punjab can be divided into:
• Malwa is a region of Punjab south to river satluj. The Malwa area makes
up majority of the Punjab region consisting 11 districts. Cities such
as Ludhiana,Patiala, Sangrur, Bhatinda and Mohali located in the Malwa
region. Malwa is also famous for cotton farming.
• Majha is a historical region of the Indian Punjab comprising the modern
districts of Amritsar, Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran. It lies between
rivers Ravi, Beas and the Sutlej. This region is called heartland of punjab, it
is also celebrated as being the 'Cradle of Sikhism'.
• Doaba is the region of Indian Punjab between the rivers Beas and Sutlej.
The name "Doaba" literally translates to "land between two rivers" ("Do"
two, "Ab" river; Punjabi). It is one of the most fertile regions of the world,
and was the centre of the Green Revolution in India. To this day, it remains
one of the largest per capita producers of wheat in the world.The biggest
cities in Doaba areJalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Kapurthala.
Administrative divisions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The state of Punjab has 22 districts which comprise of sub-divisions, tehsils and blocks. The 22 districts:
Districts:
Amritsar
Barnala
Bathinda
Firozpur
Fazilka
Fatehgarh Sahib
Faridkot
Gurdaspur
Hoshiarpur
Jalandhar
Kapurthala
Ludhiana
Mansa
Moga
Mohali
Muktsar
Patiala
Pathankot
Rupnagar
Sangrur
Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar
Tarn Taran
• The state capital of Punjab is Chandigarh.
• There are 14 cities and 157 towns in Punjab.
• Punjab has some very valuable historical, colorful
great cities.
• The
major
cities
in
Punjab
are Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Patiala, Mohali,
Bathinda, Phagwara.
• The State of Punjab in western India is one of the
most fertile regions of the earth.
• The cities have rich culture of self dependence,
self reliance and hard work
• According to the India State Hunger
Index 2008, Punjab has the lowest level of
hunger in India.
• According to India Today, Leading magazine in
India, Punjab has been awarded best overall
state since 2003, and has been able to retain
the top position every year. It also affords best
quality of life to its residents.
• Punjab has the best infrastructure in all
of India.
• Although it has a huge shortage of electricity
due to high demand, all major cities in Punjab
benefit from this and have some of the lowest
tariffs in India.
• All of Punjab's villages have been provided
electricity and connected to the state
electrical power grid since 1974.
• Punjab (Land of the five rivers) is one of the most fertile regions
on earth.
• The region is ideal for wheat-growing.
• Rice, sugar cane, fruits and vegetables are also grown. Indian
Punjab is called the "Granary of India" or "India's bread-basket“.
• It produces 14% of India's cotton, 20% of India's wheat, and 9% of
India's rice.
• The Fazilka and Ferozpur Districts are the largest producer of wheat
and rice in the state.
• In worldwide terms, Indian Punjab produces 2% of the world's
cotton, 2% of its wheat and 1% of the world's rice.
• The largest grown crop is wheat.
• Other important crops are rice, cotton, sugarcane, pearl
millet, maize, barley and fruit.
•
•
•
•
•
•
In Punjab per hectare consumption of fertilizer is 177 kg as
compared to 90 kg at national level.
Also Punjab State has been awarded National Productivity Award
for agriculture extension services for consecutively ten years from
1991-92 to 1998-99 and 2001 to 2003-04.
In recent years a drop in productivity has been observed mainly due
to falling fertility of the soil.
This is believed to be due to excessive use of fertilizers and
pesticides over the years.
Also a big worry is the rapidly falling water table on which almost
90% of the agriculture depends, which has witnessed alarming
drops in recent years.
By some estimates, groundwater is falling by a meter or more per
year.
Ancient History
• Punjab during Mahabharata times was known as
Panchanada.
• Indus Valley Civilization spanned much of the Punjab
region with cities such as Harrapa (modern-day Punjab,
Pakistan).
• The arrival of the Indo-Aryans led to the flourishing of
the Vedic Civilization along the length of the Indus River to
cover most of Northern India.
• This civilization shaped subsequent cultures in the Indian
Subcontinent and Afghanistan.
• Punjab was part of the great ancient empires including
the Gandhara Mahajanapadas, Nandas, Mauryas, Sungas,
Kushans, Guptas, Palas,Gurjara-Pratiharas and Hindu
Shahis.
• Agriculture flourished and trading cities (such
as Jalandhar and Ludhiana) grew in wealth.