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The Himalayas
The Himalayas is the highest mountain range in the
world. The Himalayas means The Land of Snow.
People often call it The Roof of the World.

The Himalayas are in India, Pakistan, Nepal and China.
The mountain range is 2400 kilometres long. It includes
many smaller mountain ranges, including the Krakoram
and the Hindu Kush.

The Himalayas contain 100 mountains which are higher
than 7200 metres. They contain the 15 highest
mountains on earth and the highest unclimbed
mountain, Gangkhar Puensum. It is also the only
mountain range with mountains higher than 8000
metres.

Formation
The Himalayas are one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world. It
is being formed as the Indian Plate moves from the south into the
Eurasian Plate. This creates fold mountains. This started about 70 million
years ago. 70 million years ago, there was a sea between the Indian
plate and Tibet. But slowly the sea disappeared and the bottom of the
sea was lifted up. This means you can find the fossils of sea creatures in
the Himalayas.

The Indian plate is moving north about 67mm per year. This movement
lifts the Himalayas by about 5mm per year. This can also cause
earthquakes. People think that in 10 million years, the Indian Plate will
have travelled another 1500km into Asia.

Rivers and Glaciers
Many of the worlds major rivers start in the Himalayas. These include the
Ganges, the Indus and the Irrawaddy. Together, these rivers supply fresh
water to half the worlds population. The Himalayas contain about 15,000
glaciers, including the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram Range. The
Himalayan glaciers store about 12,000 km
3
of fresh water. During the months of the year, water from these
glaciers are an important source of fresh water for many Asian countries.

Effect on climate and culture
The Himalayas have a big effect on the climate of Asia. They protect India from cold, dry winds from the
north: this means India is warm and wet. They also stop the monsoon winds from reaching Central Asia
and Tibet: this means Central Asia and Tibet are cold and dry.

The Himalayas have stopped people from moving between India and Central Asia. This means languages
and customs in China and India are very different. The mountains have also made trade between countries
very difficult.