The Topography of Pakistan

Topography: It is the natural and artificial physical features of an area which are differentiated
on the basis of their formation and altitude, e.g. mountains, glaciers, valleys, plains, drainages,
etc.
Topographical division of Pakistan
There are five categories into which Pakistan is divided i.e.
1- Mountains i.e., Northern and Western Mountains
2- Plateau1 i.e., Potwar plateau and Balochistan Plateau
3- Plains i.e., Upper Indus plains and Lower Indus plains
4- Deserts
5- Coastal Areas and Delta region2
1- Mountains
• Northern Mountains
• Western Mountains
1.1- Northern Mountains
It is the most beautiful part of the Pakistan which attracts a lot of tourists from within
the country and abroad. These mountains are divided into further three categories i.e.
• Karakoram (6000 meters)3
• Hindukush (5000 meters)4
• The Himalayas (4000 meters)5
Characteristics of these regions
• Sharp edge ridges
• Steep slopes
• Pyramidal peaks
• Flat lands i.e., fairy meadows
• Bare rocks
Drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial flow of water from an area by means of
streams, lakes, rivers, canals etc. It includes the main rivers of Indus and Jhelum,
the fast-flowing streams of Gilgit, Hunza, Swat and Kandhar, water from
melting glaciers into the rivers and the waterfalls. There are also seasonal lakes
i.e., Saif-ul-malook, Lulu-sar lake, Ansoo lake, Ata-abad lake, etc.
Important Passes
• Khanjarab Pass
• Karakorum Pass

1
Plateaus are the flat areas of the land which are high above sea level.
2
Delta regions are the lands from where the river flows into an ocean, sea, lake or any reservoir.
3
The region comprised of Karakorum is Gilgit Baltistan.
4
The regions comprised of Hindukush ranges are Chitral and Sawat.
5
The great Himalayas comprises of Muree, and Galiyat region.

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 • Babusar Pass
Important Peaks
• Karakoram (K-2/Godwin Austen)
• Hindukush (Tirich Mir)
• The Himalayas (Nanga Parbat)
Glaciers
These are mass of snow on mountains and many of the world’s glaciers lie in
Pakistan, Important of which are;
• Baltoro- 58 KM Long (Karakorum Range)
• Batura- 58 KM Long (Karakorum Range)
• Siachen- 78 KM Long (Karakorum Range)

Economy of the area

• Cottage Industry: Where the product is sold out in the local market and
very limited amount of which is exported to other provinces and countries.
Exports include carpets, embroidered material, rugs, and other handicrafts.
• Tourism: The scenic beauty of these mountains is very catchy so the
tourists from within the country and from all over the world come here.
• Livestock Farming: The local people-villagers earn through livestock
farming of cattle, goat, and sheep.
• Limited agriculture: Wheat, pulses, tobacco, vegetables, and fruits.
• Processing of food grains: Making vegetable oil, refining sugar, and fruit
processing.
Q: Describe the method of farming called “Transhumance” which is used in areas such
as Hunza? [4]
Transhumance is the movement of people along with their herds to higher altitude in
summer and coming back at foothills in winter. They may also take the animals of other
families. Animals are kept in sheds in winter and are fed through stored hay or fodder
crop. They take advantage through grazing in summer pastures. The animals they keep
are normally goats, sheep, cattle, and yak.
The Valleys
1- Hindukush: Swat, Chitral, Dir.
2- Karakorum: Gilgit, Hunza, Baltistan
3- Himalayas: Murree & Galiyat, Naran & Kaghan

1.2- Western Mountains

These are the mountain ranges where the population density is very low because living
condition here are very harsh. For example, there is no system of safe drinking water,
no secure houses which are vulnerable to land sliding. Scarcity of food as it lacks
necessity items i.e., meat, milk, and vegetables. So, overall life is difficult in western

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 mountains. These comprise of four mountain ranges which covers the areas of FATA,
WANA, Dadu, D.I. Khan, etc. The details of these are as under;
Mountain Height Location Direction
1- Koh-e-Sufaid 4500m Near Peshawar East to west
2- Waziristan Hills 3700m WANNA North to South
3- Sulaiman Range 2500m Border of Punjab & BTN North to South
4- Kirther Range 1700m Border of Sindh & BTN North to South

Characteristics
• Bare Rocks
• Steep Slopes
• Rugged landscape
• Snow-capped peaks
• Highly rich in minerals and shaly rocks
• Composed of limestone, sandstone Bare of vegetation due to less rain fall
Drainage
• Fast Flowing rivers i.e., Kabul, Tochi, Kohat, Kurrum
• Streams
• Melting of snow from peaks, mainly from Koh-e-Sufaid
• Waterfalls from Koh-e-Sufaid
Important Passes
• Khyber Pass

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 • Kurram Pass
• Tochi Pass
• Gomal Pass
• Bolan Pass
Economy
• These mountains are rich in minerals i.e., Natural Gas, Coal, Iron, Ore,
Copper, etc.
• Cottage Industry: Carpet making and hand knitting articles.
• Animal Rearing is the main profession.
• Canal irrigation is not possible because of the terrain.
• Less infrastructure except Peshawar & Kohat the region is not connected
through air and railways.
• The cost of transportation is very high that’s why mining activities,
industries and educational facilities have not been established.
• The population density is as low as 100 persons per square meter.
4- Plateau
Plateaus are the flat areas of the land which are high above sea level. The variation of
these lands is lesser than mountains and higher than plains. Pakistan has two plateaus
which are as under;
• Potwar Plateau
• Baluchistan Plateau

1- Potwar plateau
Topography: Both salt range and Potwar
Plateau are in the south of Islamabad between
the river Indus and river Jhelum. Its height
varies from 300 to 600 meters. This region is
dominated by limestone ridges, salt, coal, oil
mines and ravines. Kalar Kahar and Khabaki
lake are the two salt lakes. The main sources
of this region’s drainage are Jhelum and Soan
rivers. Mangla Dam is the

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 main source of irrigation, drainage, and Power generation. It is also called badland
topography6.
Lifestyle and Economy
The land of Potwar Plateau is rich in minerals i.e., Coal, Rock salt, and limestone.
Agriculture is practiced in very small scale due to difficult landscape or badland
topography. The oil refinery of Attock is also located here. Population density is very
high which contains three types of industries i.e., mining, fishing, and farming.
Rawalpindi, Jhelum, and Chakwal are the important towns of this plateau. It is a
developed place which has a better infrastructure and linkage to other parts of country
through roads, railways, and airways.
Drainage:
Rivers: Soan, Jhelum, Sil, Haro, etc.
Lakes: Kalar Kahar, Khabeki, and Uchali.
2- Baluchistan Plateau
Topography:
• Height ranges from 600-3000 meters
• Covered area is 347,190 sq. km
• Deep narrow valley e.g., Quetta
• Bare rock due to lack of rain
• Mountains have steep slopes
Mountain Ranges:
Parallel ranges running East to West: Chagai hills, Raskoh range & Makran coastal
range.
Parallel ranges running North to South: Central Brahvi and the Hala range.
Lifestyle
• Rugged land in several parts e.g., Western Baluchistan
• Too hot summers in Kharan desert.
• Shortage of water due to arid climate.
• Little water for drinking and irrigation.
• Poor transport and telecommunication system: Few railway lines, Absence of
link roads, rails and railways are not in good condition.
• Less prioritized province by the govt.
• Very low population density.
Economy
• Minerals: Copper, Chromite, Coal, Oil, gas, gold, and silver.

6
A terrain in which water erosion has cut a very large number of deep drainage channels, separated by short,
steep ridges.

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 • Agriculture: Fruit farming i.e., Plums, Peaches, apples, apricots,
pomegranates, grapes, and almonds.
• Livestock farming
• Fishing: Marine fishing on Makran coast at commercial scale. Gwadar, Pasni,
and Omara are three major deep seaports.
Drainage:
Southern Baluchistan: River Dasht and River Porali flows and drains into Arabian
Sea. They flow during the rainy season.
Central Baluchistan: Water either drains into inland lakes named Hamuns, absorbed
in the ground or evaporates. These basins7 are also known as inland drainage basins.
Northern Baluchistan: River Zhob flows here which eventually meet river Gomal
which is a western tributary of the river Indus.
The Salt Range
Topography
• Covers most of Jhelum, Chakwal, Kalabagh and Mianwali district.
• The name is due to Salt mines at Khewra which is 160 km away from Islamabad.
• The Sakesar peak is the highest point having height of 1527 meters.
• The ranges are badly faulted and eroded by the rivers.
• Rich in minerals i.e., rock salt, gypsum, and limestone.
Economic activity
• As the salt ranges are rich in minerals i.e., limestone, marble, rock salt, clays, etc,
it provides raw material to the cement, ceramic, and chemical industries.
• There are no. of oil and gas fields i.e., Attock Oil refinery.
• Farming depends on the rainfall.
• Rugged landscape does not allow canal irrigation.

3- The Indus Plain

Topography
• It is located throughout most of the Punjab and central Sindh.
• Northern part is the upper Indus plain.
• At Panjnad, 5 main tributaries join.
• The average gradient of slope is 5 meters.
• The southern part located in Sindh below Mithankot is called the Lower Indus
Plain.

7
A drainage basin is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as
into a river, bay, or other body of water

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 Panjnad

Rivers in Pakistan
Pakistan has five Main Rivers in which
Trick to remember the rivers
Indus is the longest river having length of i.e., Indus, Jhelum, Chenab,
3200 kms which starts from Tibet and Ravi, Beas, Sutlej in
ends in Arabian sea. The other four rivers symmetry.
are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and
I Just Crossed River Bit Slow.
Sutlej which originates from India
Himachel Pradesh. OR

In Junction Cars Run Bit Slow.

Indus River
It is divided into two plains i.e., Upper
Indus plain and Lower Indus plain
Upper Indus Plain starts from Jhelum and
ends at Mithankot.
Lower Indus Plain crosses Mithankot and
ends at Arabian Sea.

UPPER INDUS PLAIN LOWER INDUS PLAIN

Located in the northern part of the Punjab. Located in the southern part of the Punjab.
River Indus with its major tributaries flow. Only River Indus flows here.
River Jhelum, Ravi, and Sutlej have joined River Indus flows into Arabian sea crossing
Chenab at Panjnad to form the river Panjnad its Delta.
which joins the Indus near Mithankot.
Nearly flat, very gentle slope towards the south- Nearly flat slope towards the sea.
west.
River Indus is in middle course in Northern It is in lower course here.
Punjab.

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 Alluvial terraces or Bar is formed between the Alluvial terraces or Bar cannot be formed as it
rivers. flows alone.
Piedmont plain and alluvial fans to the north and Piedmont plain and alluvial fans to the west.
west.
The Landforms of the Indus Plain

i. Active Flood Plains

ii. Old Flood Plains
iii. Alluvial Terraces
iv. Piedmont Plains
v. Tidal Delta
vi. Rolling sand plains
i- Active Flood plain
• It is a narrow strip of a land on both sides of the river.
• It gets flooded almost every year in the rainy season.
• It is a good farming area because of the alluvial soil.
• These are formed in almost all the rivers except southern Ravi, where there is less
water.
ii- Old Flood Plain
• The area between alluvial terraces and active flood plain is Old Flood Plain.
• Only flooded when there is heavy rain fall.
• These are present both in Upper Indus Plain and Lower Indus Plain.
• 3 to 5 meter high and 25 to 40 km in distance from river.
• Main features are Meanders and Ox-bow lakes.

Meanders: These are bends in

the Indus River as visible in the
figure.
Ox-bow Lake: A crescent
shape lake which is at some
distance of the Indus River.

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 iii- Alluvial Terraces / Bars
• These are the areas of the higher ground between rivers formed by erosion of old
alluvial having height of 5 to 15 meters and has an average length of 25 to 35 km.
• It is ideal for agriculture because of presence of silt and clay.
• It is 45 to 75 km away from the river.
iv- Piedmont Plains
• These are located at the foothills of Sulayman, Kirthar and Himalayan mountains.
• Suitable for agriculture because it does not get covered with snow.
• Rivers coming from these ranges have slow water flow and thus form alluvial
fan8.

v- Tidal Delta / Indus Delta

• Located at the south of the Thatha.
• Main distributaries branch out to form Main River.
• The area has mangrove swamps.
• Population density is low because of the constant danger of sea tides.
• Agriculture is limited due to swampy lands.
vi- Rolling Sand Plains
• Occurs in the lowest Indus plain.
• Limestone ridges eroded by weathering.
Life and economy of the Indus Plain
• Overall life is easy and comfortable.
• All type of the diet is available and used.
• People have concrete houses and flat roofs.
• All major cities i.e., Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, etc are located here.
• Infrastructure is very good.
• Main educational institutes and advanced health centres are located here.
• Population density is very high.
4- Deserts
• There are three deserts in total
i- Thar: Umarkot, Sanghar
ii- Thal: Khushab, Bhakkar and Layyah
are the areas here
iii- Kharan: Kharan desert.

8
Alluvial Fans are deposits made by a river at the base of the hill.

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 Topography/Relief
• Composed of Sand dunes (ridges of sand)
• These are average 10 meter in height.
• These are rolling sandy plains.
Drainage
• Nara river
• Thar Canal
• Oasis (Fertile spot in deserts)
Economy
• Cottage industry because people are poor and have their traditional skills.
• Limited livestock farming because of less water and grazing grounds.
• Mining of oil and coal in these areas.
• Limited agriculture because of less water for irrigation. Still wheat, sugarcane and
cotton which requires less water is grown in some parts here.
• Less employment opportunity for the people her.
Lifestyle
• Difficult lifestyle because of extreme hot weather.
• Thick clothes.
• People use diet i.e., meat and milk.
• There is shortage of drinking water; people are used to drink water from ponds at
some places.
• Population density is very low because of extreme weather.
• People used to live in Mud houses.

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 Understanding the Pakistan’s map (IMPORTANT PLACES)

Memorize these important places in order

HINDU KARAKORUM
KUSH

HIMLAYAS

PLATEAU
POTWAR
SUFAID KOH

PESHAWAR
WAZIRISTAN HILLS

SALT
RANGE

ISB/RWP
THAL

LAHORE
SULAIMAN RANGE

CHOLISTAN DESERT

QUETTA
THAR DESERT
KHARAN
DESERT

KIRTHAR
RANGE

JIWANI GAWADAR PASNI OMARA KARACHI

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