Geographical divisions of Jammu and Kashmir :

Jammu and Kashmir is one of the most beautiful and incredible state of india, the state is a mix bag of features, ranging from scorching heat of  outer plains to chilling coldness of Ladakh, making it one of the most diverse climatic state of India. Physical division of state are :

•  Sub-Himalayan  jammu
• Himalayan Kashmir
• Trans-Himalayan Ladakh

Sub Himalayan Jammu :

It can be further bifurcated into more divisions, that are :

1-     Outer plains :

These plains are part of great plain of india, thses plains are formed by the mighty river Chenab, Ravi, Tawi, Ujh, Basantar, Beein, these plains range from ravi to Chenab, about 110km, the depth of alluvium at its northern limit is about 46,00 m. thses plains are also known as “Andarwah” and “Bajwat” also, the width of plains vary from 7km to 30 km, making it a narrow corridor. The outer plains are subtropics in nature and this assist two crops in a year. The district of jammu, samba, kathua are mainly outer plain of jammu and Kashmir.

Kandi :- These are plains range from 300 m to 350m, these are most backward region of jammu and Kashmir, but with advent of NH1A, and more vehicular movement along that, this region is turning into new hotspot of development., these plains are transvered with numerous torrents, locally known as “khad”, most of the year these kahds are dry, and during rainy season, these torrent turn into huge gushing rivers, here we find weed growth, locally called “khar” or elephantine grass.

2- Siwaliks or outer hills :

Low hills, with elevation of 600m to 1220m, a continous chain of hills from Jhelum till Brahmaputra. Thse are young mountains, 200km length from Ravi to Jhelum. Initially it have gentel slope, but suddenly attain steep slope, making them void of vegetation. Full of longitudinal valleys, making floors for numerous rivulets and indirectly for big rivers, locally known as “duns”, the jhajjar dun, udhampur dun and jammu dun are its prime examples. The two lakes Mansar and Suruinsar are located in between these range, situated at about 600mt, these lakes are now in samba district, well connected with Udhampur from north and NH1A from south, making them popular among travel mongers.

3-  Middle Himalaya :

Stretches from Ravi in the east and Poonch in the west, average elevation of about 3600-4600 meters. Full of vegetation, have east-west extention but Trikuta mountain is a offshoot of it, running to north west, on which holy Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine is situated, which attract crore of devotees.
Several rivers like Tawi, Basantar, Ujh, Manawar Tawi, track their origin over here The rock strata of these mountains are dominated by sandstone, shale and limestone. These mountains are full of vegetation, and due to it forestry services are flourishing, lumbering and cattle grazing are important occupation of locales.

Himalayan Kashmir :

Valley of Kashmir is its integral part, and also known as “Paradise on the earth” due to incredible beauty and landforms, which make it very tempting. The valley of Kashmir  is oval in shape, the valley is surrounded by Mighty Pir-Panjal to south, the Zanskar range to its east, the mighty Kashmir Range to its north, and west is drained by kishanganga  valley to its west. The valley is surrounded by ring of mountains, the    valley have thick deposit of Sediments, forming table like landform, laocaly konown as “karewas”, these karewas are table like in form, and we can notice them easily, because during paddy cultivation we can find them uncultivated due to there elevation, but world famous Jafaran or saffron are cultivated over them.
Here in Kashmir, some sub-valleys too, namely
1-     Lolab valley~  north of Kashmir.
2-     Lidder valley~ south and south east of Kashmir.
3-     Sind valley~ west of Kashmir valley.

Kishanganga valley-  formed by river kishanganga, valley is formed at north west region of Kashmir, it is a tributary of river jhelum, join it at Muzzafarbad in POJK or azad Kashmir, the areas of Tilel, Gurez and karnah are situated along it, this region is very natural, due to less presence of humans.

Trans-Himalaya Ladakh :

Also known as Greater Himalaya or Himadri range, this range enjoy perpetual cover of snow, and rise towards west, till K2 (2nd highest peak in the world).
This can be further divided into other part,
1. Zanskar range : Average altitude 5940m, there are two valleys in these range,  Suru valley and janskar valley, long winter and short summers.
2. Indus valley : It originates from near mansarovar lake in Tibet and enter Ladakh from south-east, and cover 700km distance in india, it form a narrow valley, river terraces and alluivial fans, the Leh town is situated on a such alluvial fan. It is joined by Shyok to its right bank, Shigar from right and Gilgit also from right bank. The river form a well alluvium type plain, of 30 km area, inhabitated by numerous villages.
3. Karakoram range : This range comprise of northern area of Ladakh. Have lofty peaks, K2 or godwin austen, height of 8610 m. also endowed with largest glacier in the world namely, siachen, Baltoro, Rimo, Baifa and Batuna.
4. Plateue of Chang-Thang : It is situated at eastern part of Ladakh, the lofty peaks of Ladakh and zanskar enclose it, face continues chilling nights and very short summer. Edible salt is extracted from salt or saline lakes, like Rupshu and Tsomori.
5. Plains of Aksai Chin : It is north eastern part of laadakh, consist of vast palins, the plains are not suitable for cultivation, Pongong lake lies in its south, here is a village named Chushul. In 1962, during indo-sino war, Chinese PLA had illegally occupied these area, and till date it is under Chinese occupation, it an barren plains.