Jammu and Kashmir - Geography
Jammu and Kashmir has a geographic area of 101387 Sq. Kms. It lies between Latitude 32°17’ and 37°05’ North and longitude 72°31’ and 80°20’ East. The State is divided into three geographic regions viz. Ladakh, Kashmir Valley and Jammu. The higher regions are covered by Pir Panjal, Karakoram and inner Himalayan ranges of mountains. The important river systems of the State are the Chenab, the Tawi and the Jhelum.
The Jammu and Kashmir state is a border State which shares international border with Pakistan & China. The Line of Control on Pakistan side divides the state which turns one part as =J&K‘ and the other part as =POK‘. The state is located mostly in the Himalayan mountain range. It shares border with states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. The State has mostly a rugged terrain due to which several parts of it remain partly connected.
The state has three distinct parts namely 1) Jammu 2) Kashmir and 3) Ladakh. The temperature in the three parts differ drastically. Kashmir is connected by road with Jammu which passes through Pir panchal mountainous range. The road remains closed during rainy season and snowfall during winter. Lack of all weather permanent connectivity has put the valley to a disadvantageous position as remoteness from railhead in Jammu, makes cost of road and air transportation dearer which is the main bottleneck in the spread of industrialization in most of the districts of the state. The drastic drop in the temperature during winter in the areas of Ladakh and Kashmir valley almost halts economic activities in these parts. Jammu has a sub-tropical climate zone and its climate coincides with the climate of Delhi. The state has a cultivable area of 8.58 lacs hectares. The economy of the state is predominantly agricultural. The state of J&K offers a challenge to planners as well as administrators in tackling the manifold problems associated with the economic backwardness of the state.
The winter capital of Jammu & Kashmir is bluffed on the Shivalik Range, overlooking the northern plains. Jammu district derives its name from the city of Jammu which besides being the winter capital of the state, is known as the city of temples. It is believed that the city was originally founded by Raja Jamboo Lochan who lived in fourteenth century B.C. The Raja had gone out one day for hunting when he happened to witness a tiger and a goat drinking water from one and the same pond. This extraordinary phenomenon set him thinking and he decided to build a city at this site so that the strong and weak could live together in peace and mutual tolerance. Eventually, he founded the city which came to be known as “Jamboo” after his own name. With the passage of time and due to its frequent use the pronunciation of the name got slightly distorted and the city, came to be known as ‘Jammu’ as it is called now.
Jammu is situated on a hillock, on the bank of river Tawi and is bound by Udhampur district in the north and northeast , Kathua district in the east and southeast, Pakistan (Sialkote) in west and Rajauri district and POK (Bhimber) in the northwest. Its skyline was once dotted with glittering spires of temples. These spikes are no longer visible as most of these are hidden behind multi storyed buildings. The city has numerous shrines for Muslims, Sikhs & Christians also. Jammu also serves as base camp for the holy shrine of Vaishno Devi. Jammu is also the Railhead of the state.
Jammu is located 74 degree 24' and 75 degree 18', East longitude and 32 degree 50' and 33 degree 30' North latitude. It is approximately 600 Kms away from National Capital, New Delhi and is linked with a National Highway.
The temperature varies from cold in winter with minimum temperature touching even 0.9 degree Centigrade to heat wave in summers when the temperature shoots upto 46 degree centigrade. Jammu District is spread over an area of 3097 Sq Kms and has a population of about 15.88 lakhs as per the estimates of 2001. It is largest populated District of the state and second largest in terms of population density and falls under the category ‘B’. The literacy percentage of the District is 77% in as per 2001 census which was highest in the state.
This District is having a National Airport situated at Satwari. This District serves as the Winter Capital of J & K state from November to April when all the offices move from Srinagar to Jammu.
Forests of the state are spread over three broad geo-climatic zones covering Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions of the State. Vegetation and climate can broadly be categorized into sub-tropical, temperate and alpine zones with wide diversity of fauna and flora. More than 50% of the plant species used in British pharmacopoeia are reported to grow in Jammu and Kashmir. Literature indicates that 572 plant species belonging to 109 different families have medicinal value.
The recorded Forest area is 20230 Sq. Kms. which constitutes 19.95 % of geographical area of the State. Forests are largely distributed in Kashmir Valley and Jammu regions. Leh and Kargil are devoid of Forest Vegetation as the region is cold desert. There are five forest types occurring in the State Viz. Subtropical Dry Evergreen, Himalayan Moist Temperate, Himalayan Dry Temperate, Subtropical Pine and Sub-alpine and alpine Forests.
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