The Natural Topography, including drainage

ENVIRONMENT OF PAKISTAN
western mountains
Western Mountains

Central Brahui Range

Toba Kakar Range

Pab Range
Hala Range
 Location
of
Western
Mountains
 Location
Khyber
pass
of
Kurram
pass
Western
Tochi Passes
pass

Gomal
pass

Bolan
pass
Safed Koh Range
Western tributaries of
River Indus
 Mountain
Height Location Physical Features Importance
Range
Safed Koh Up to South of the • Snow-capped peaks. Kurram Pass is a route to
4712 Kabul River • Forms barrier between Afghanistan.
meters Pakistan and Afghanistan
Khyber Pass connects
Kohat Valley Kabul, Afghanistan to the
• Located at the end of fertile Vale of Peshawar via
Kurram Pass. Landi Kotal town.
• Dotted with springs and It is wide enough to
limestone ridges. facilitate passage of troops.
Used to be part of Silk
Vale of Peshawar (Gandhara) Route. A railway line also
It is drained by Rivers Kabul escorts the entire length of
and Swat. this mountain pass in
• Warsak dam canals on Pakistan.
River Kabul irrigate the
fertile alluvial plain.
• The five most populous
cities in the valley are
Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi,
Charsadda, and Nowshera.
Waziristan Range
Western tributaries of
River Indus
 Mountain
Height Location Physical Features Importance
Range
Waziristan Hills 3513 Between • Highly mineralized. The Hills forms a wall
meters the Kurram • Devoid of vegetation. between Pakistan and
and Gomal • Clay deposits brought Afghanistan.
Rivers. down by streams
Tochi Pass connects Ghazni
Bannu Valley to Bannu.
• East of Waziristan Hills
• It is a low-lying basin Gomal Pass connects
bordered by hills and Afghanistan to Derajats.
mountains and drained by
the River Kurram, Tochi, Bannu near Tochi Pass and
Gomal and streams with Dera Ismail Khan near
braided channels. Gomal Pass are important
• Kurram dam on River town and military center.
Kurram is the main source
of irrigation.
Sulaiman Range
Sulaiman Range
 Mountain
Height Location Physical Features Importance
Range
Sulaiman Range 3383 West of the Composed of limestone, Separates the Baluchistan
meters River Indus sandstone and shaly rocks. plateau from The Indus
of Southern Plain. Blocks Western
Punjab. Takht-e- Sulaiman is the Depressions from reaching
highest peak at 3383 m. Central Pakistan.

Dera Ghazi Khan is located Takht-e-Sulaiman is

south of Sulaiman Range. enclosed by olive groves
Famous tourist destinations is and pine-nut (chilghoza)
Fort Munro. forests, and hosts wild
animals like markhors,
Juniper forest on northern eagles and partridges.
side while southern side is Precious birds are hunted
barren. by royals from Gulf.

Drained by seasonal rivers of

Bolan and Mula that form
inland lakes
Kirthar Range
 Kirthar Range

Kirthar Range
 Mountain
Height Location Physical Features Importance
Range
Kirthar Range 2174 West of the Drained by Hub & Lyari river Forms a border between
meters River Indus that falls into Arabian sea. Sindh Plain and Baluchistan
in Sindh. Plateau.
Bare of vegetation due to little
rainfall. Wildlife in the Kirthar
National Park comprises of
Most of the range is part of leopard, striped hyena,
Kirthar National Park. Indian wolves etc.

Gorakh Hill is a highest The Gorakh hill station is

plateau of Sindh, Pakistan. It is situated 423 km from
situated in the Kirthar Karachi and nearly 8 hours'
Mountains, northwest of driving distance.
Dadu city.
comparison
Northern Mountains vs Western Mountains
 RELIEF FEATURES OF MOUNTAIN RANGES
Northern Mountains Western Mountains
 Divided into three main ranges,
namely, Hindu Kush, Karakoram and
Himalayas

 Parallel ranges run from East to West

 Height increases from South to

North - ranging from 600 m low
altitude hills of Siwaliks to 8611 m
high-altitude mountains
 RELIEF FEATURES OF MOUNTAIN RANGES
Northern Mountains Western Mountains
 Divided into three main ranges,  Divided into four main ranges,
namely, Hindu Kush, Karakoram and namely, Safed Koh, Waziristan Hills,
Himalayas Sulaiman Range (offshoots – Toba
Kakar and Central Brahui Range) and
Kirthar Range.

 Parallel ranges run from East to West  Parallel ranges run from North to
South

 Height increases from South to  Height increases from South to

North - ranging from 600 m low North
altitude hills of Siwaliks to 8611 m ranging from 2174 m to 4712 m
high-altitude mountains
 RELIEF FEATURES OF MOUNTAIN RANGES
Northern Mountains Western Mountains
 snowcapped mountains
 snowfield and glaciers in high
altitude areas instead of streams and
rivers
 bare/ barren rocks
 sharp pyramidal peaks
 rugged/ rocky/ serrated relief
 scree is collected at foothills due to
glacial erosion
 Formation of arete/ steep slopes,
cirque/ corrie due to glacial erosion
 RELIEF FEATURES OF MOUNTAIN RANGES
Northern Mountains Western Mountains
 snowcapped mountains  Only Safed Koh is covered with snow
 snowfield and glaciers in high  Rugged dry relief
altitude areas instead of streams and  Mostly barren mountains devoid of
vegetation
rivers
 bare/ barren rocks
 No high peaks
 sharp pyramidal peaks
 rugged/ rocky/ serrated relief
 Deposits of clay and boulders
 scree is collected at foothills due to brought down by streams form
glacial erosion alluvial fans
 Formation of arete/ steep slopes,  Highly mineralized: Limestone and
sandstone deposits
cirque/ corrie due to glacial erosion
 RELIEF FEATURES OF MOUNTAIN RANGES
Northern Mountains Western Mountains
 Rich natural vegetation in lower and
middle altitude region

 Deep V-shaped and U-shaped valleys

of Chitral, Hunza, Kaghan and Swat.

 Rice cultivation on terraced fields of

Swat, Chitral and Dir

 High mountain passes (Khunjerab /

Shandur / Babusar/ Lawarai)
 RELIEF FEATURES OF MOUNTAIN RANGES
Northern Mountains Western Mountains
 Rich natural vegetation in lower and  Juniper forests in Central Brahui
middle altitude region Range and Sulaiman Range

 Deep V-shaped and U-shaped valleys  Low lying basins and deep valleys, for
of Chitral, Hunza, Kaghan and Swat. e.g. Bannu, Kohat and Vale of
Peshawar

 Rice cultivation on terraced fields of  Fruits orchids in Quetta, Wheat, rice

and sugar-cane cultivated in valleys
Swat, Chitral and Dir

 Historic passes (Khyber / Kurram /

 High mountain passes (Khunjerab /
Tochi/ Gomal/ Bolan) with railway
Shandur / Babusar/ Lawarai) lines passing from some of these
Tributaries of
River Indus

Attock
Lake Manasarovar
in Tibet fed by
glaciers of
Mt. Kailash

1a. Northern tributaries

1b. North-Western tributaries
Mithankot 1c. Eastern tributaries
Panjnad
2. Western tributaries
 DRAINAGE FEATURES OF MOUNTAIN RANGES
Northern Mountains Western Mountains
A. Northern tributaries:
River Indus originates at Lake Manasarovar A. North-Western tributaries:
The Shyok, Gilgit and Hunza river carry ( can also be a part of Western Mountains )
glacial waters into the Indus. River Kabul joins it near Attock, which is
already joined by River Swat and River Dir.
B. North-Western tributaries:
River Kabul joins it near Attock, which is
already joined by River Swat and River Dir. B. Western tributaries:
The Indus dissects deep gorges and valleys Small seasonal Rivers Kurram, Tochi and
in Himalayas and Hindu Kush. Gomal with less volume join Indus.
River Gomal is merged with River Kandhar
C. Eastern tributaries: and Zhob.
Turns south at Kalabagh.
Panjnad River is formed by union of River
Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej,
that fall in Indus at Mithankot
 DRAINAGE FEATURES OF MOUNTAIN RANGES
Northern Mountains Western Mountains
 Gorges/ streams / rapids / waterfalls  Dry river beds due to seasonal rivers
formed when snow melts and fast that have high volume during
flowing rivers carve features due to summers due to melting of snow or
erosion rainfall and few dotted springs