Madhya Pradesh Geography :

Location :

With its geographical location at 22.42° N and 72.54° E, Madhya Pradesh is a state of central India. The state shares its borders with the other Indian states of Uttar Pradesh in the north eastern side, Rajasthan in the north western side, Gujarat in the western side, Chhattisgarh in the south eastern side and Maharashtra in the southern side.

Area :

This state, often called as the "Heart of India" stretches over an area of 3, 08, 252 sq. km. in the central part of the country. It accounts for 9.38 % of the land area of the nation.

 Divisions :

Area-wise, the state is divided into 10 broad divisions of Bhopal, Gwalior, Chambal, Hoshangabad, Indore, Rewa, Jabalpur, Sagar, Ujjain and Shahdol. However, in total, Madhya Pradesh comprises of 50 districts, which are Anuppur, Balaghat, Alirajpur, Ashoknagar, Betul, Barwani, Bhopal, Burhanpur, Bhind, Chhatarpur, Chhindwara, Damoh, Datia, Dindori, Dewas, Dhar, Gwalior, Guna, Harda, Hoshangabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Katni, Jhabua, Khargone, Mandla, Khandwa, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Morena, Narsinghpur, Raisen, Panna, Ratlam, Rewa, Rajgarh, Sagar, Seoni, Satna, Sehore, Shajapur, Shahdol, Shivpuri, Sidhi, Sheopur, Singrauli, Umaria, Tikamgarh, Vidisha and Ujjain.

The vast area of Madhya Pradesh makes it one of the largest states in India. It is located at the heart of the country. The area of Madhya Pradesh has been estimated to be 443,446 square kilometers. The entire area of Madhya Pradesh has been politically divided into 45 districts with Bhopal as its capital. The total strength of the population inhabiting the area is around 66.1 million out of which around 34 millions are males and the rest are females.
The people occupying the vast area of Madhya Pradesh have a literacy rate of 43.45% and the most widely spoken language is Hindi.Apart from the valleys of the Narmada and the Tapti, the area of Madhya Pradesh has a plateau region in between the mountains of the Vindhya and the Satpura ranges.The principal river systems which traverse the enormously big area of this part of India are the:mChambal, Betwa, Sindh, Narmada, Tapti, Mahanadi, Indravati.

Around one third of the state's area is occupied with tropical forests lying with the rivers Chambal in the north and Godavari in the south.
If go towards the east of Chambal,  will find the areahaving rocky surface and thick forest.The plateau area of Malwa reveals a view of waving fields of grain amongst the trees of mango and tamarinds. The area is a predominantly agricultural field. The lowlands in the north of Malwa is different. The hilly areas include the Vindhya and Satpura ranges inhabited by the Bhils, Gonds, Korkus.

Rivers :

The state is noted for the river Narmada which begins from Amarkantak, runs through Jabalpur and Mandla. and emerges near Mandhata.The state has got some of the known catchments, watersheds and river basins of the country. Two most significant among them are the Narmada River, which originates from Amarkantak and the Tapti River, which originates from Betul district. The basins of these rivers divide this central Indian state into two parts. The northern part drains into the Ganges while the southern part drains into the river systems of the Mahanadi and the Godavari rivers. Rivers like Betwa, Chambal, Dhasan, Kali Sindh, Kuno, Parbati, Shipra and Sind being river Yamuna's main tributaries, flow towards the river Ganges. Rivers, which lie on the eastern side of the Ganges, are the Rihand, the Tons and the Son. The Mahanadi with its tributaries of the Mand, the Kharun and the Hasdeo flows towards southeast whereas, the Narmada with its tributaries of the Banjar, the Denwa, the Machna, the Sonbhardra and the Tawa flows towards west. The state even gets the water of the Tapi River. Some of the other rivers flowing through the state of Madhya Pradesh are as follows:Kanhan, Ken, Pench, Penganga.

Soil and Vegetation :

Soil and vegetation of Madhya Pradesh is an important arena of its natural wealth. The dense forests stretching over one-third of the state is the producer of India's best teak wood. Special mention should be made of the soil and vegetation of Gwalior, Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand in the Malwa region of the state. The region is rich in rich black soil. If you go to Chattisgarh, you will find a lighter sandy soil. The composition of soil and vegetation is absolutely different when one moves to the Narmada valley. Here there is rich alluvial deposits.
Madhya Pradesh has a distinctly diverse topography and hence a wide range of variation in the soil and vegetation.The forest forms include:

• Dry thorn forests
• Tropical moist deciduous forests
• Tropical evergreen forests

The vegetation at the Bandhavgarh national Park in Madhya Pradesh, is quite luxuriant. The dominant vegetation in this region consists mostly of moist deciduous forests along with the bamboo thickets as well as the mixed forests. The most common tree in the the dry deciduous forests of this area is the Sal.The soil and vegetation lying on the riverbanks of the Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh, is extremely fertile.If you make a tour to the the Kanha National Park you will find it covered with bamboo thickets, Sal forests, grasslands and streams.The diversity in vegetation at the Kanha National Park enables a large variety of mammals, reptiles and birds to select the right natural abode.

Topographical conditions :

Geographically, the state has got varied geo-structural divisions. Being located towards the northern part of the Deccan Plateau, this state is mainly a land of plateaus and mountain ranges. Towards the northern side of the river Chambal and Son, lie the medium highland that got created by the Vindhya rocks, Granite Gneiss and Deccan Trap. This is a triangular shaped plateau between the Aravalli range and the valleys of the Son and the Narmada rivers. River Yamuna forms its northern boundary. The southern and southeastern part is covered by steep escarpments, which are famously known as the Bhander, Kaimur and Vindhyachal ranges. The mountain range of Vindhyachal has got an elevation of 881 and 150 metres whereas, that of Kaimur and Bhander ranges are 686 metres and 752 metres respectively. Apart from these, this highland in the central part of the state even includes Vindhyan Escarpment, Middle Indian Plateau, Bundelkhand Plateau and Malwa Plateau. Based on the climatic conditions and physical features, the topography of Madhya Pradesh includes the following agro-climatic zones: Northern Plain, Narmada Valley, Wainganga Valley, Malwa Plateau, Kaimur Plateau, Nimar Plateau, Vindhyan Plateau, Jhabua Hills, Satpura Hills, Gird Region, Bundelkhand Region.