Himalaya
The Himalaya (the Himalayan Range) is a mountain range in Asia, separating India and the Northern Areas of Pakistan on the south and southwest from the vast Tibetan plateau (now part of China) on the north. Nepal and Bhutan are sovereign nations in the southern foothills. The Himalaya connects with the Hindu Kush mountain range in Afghanistan. The word Himalaya is of Sanskrit origin and means abode of snow (Sanskrit 'him'-snow, and 'aalaya'-home or abode). In its Hindi/Sanskrit pronunciation, Himalaya is pronounced with a long first 'a' and a short last 'a', i.e. as 'himaal-ya', rather than as 'him-u-l-yu' or 'him-u-layaa'.
The world's highest mountains, including Everest (8850 m), K2 (8611 m) and Kanchenjunga (8598 m), are situated in the Himalaya.
According to plate tectonics, the Himalaya is the result of a convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian and Eurasian Plates. The continued movement of these plates means the Himalaya are still growing in size. Geologists believe that the Himalaya would rise at the rate of about 8 to 10 centimeters per year if plate tectonics were the only factor. There are also, however, forces of erosion which are wearing the mountains down. The approximate net growth of the Himalaya amounts to 2.5 to 5 centimeters per century.
Himal
Himal is Nepalese for "range" and is used to name the various regions of the Himalaya. In Nepal, these are as follows:
- Annapurna Himal
- Ganesh Himal
- Khumbu Himal
- Langtang Himal
- Manang Himal
- Rolwaling Himal
Notable individual peaks
- Everest 8,850 m - the highest mountain on Earth
- K2 8,611 m
- Kangchenjunga 8,586 m
- Lhotse 8,501 m
- Makalu 8,462 m
- Cho Oyu 8,201 m
- Dhaulagiri 8,167 m
- Manaslu 8,163 m
- Nanga Parbat 8,126 m
- Annapurna 8,091 m
- Gasherbrum I 8,068 m
- Broad Peak 8,047 m
- Gasherbrum II 8,035 m
- Shishapangma 8,027 m
- Gyachung Kang7,922 m
- Nanda Devi 7,817 m
- Kabru 7,338 m - south of Kangchenjunga
- Pumori 7,161 m - a popular climbing peak
See also
External Links
- The Changing Northern Areas
