question_answer

Describe how location and relief are important factors in determining the climate of India.

Answer:

Location and relief are important rainfall in determining the climate of India:

(a) Location: India is located between \[8{}^\circ N\]  to \[37{}^\circ N\] latitudes. Tropic of Cancer divides it into two equal parts - the Tropical zone and Sub-tropical zone.

It is surrounded by three water bodies in the south and girdled by a high and continuous mountain wall in the north. Such a compact physical setting gives India a common climatic framework.

The Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea exert moderating influence on the Indian sub-continent. The three water bodies also act as a storehouse of moisture to this water thirsty land.

(b) Relief: The mighty Himalayas along with its extensions act as an effective climatic divide.

The mountains protect the sub-continent from the cold dry Arctic winds. The mountain wall is responsible for giving the whole of northern India, a tropical climate. Relatively high temperatures almost throughout the year and dry winters are the two characteristic features of a tropical climate. The Himalayas also force the south-west monsoons to shed all their moisture in the sub-continent.