East Rajasthan Uplands

▪ highlands, India

      highlands in southeastern Rajasthan (Rājasthān) state, northwestern India. Located east of the Aravalli Range, they have an area of about 23,200 square miles (60,000 square km). The uplands range in elevation from 820 feet (250 metres) in the northeast to 1,620 feet (495 metres) in the southwest and constitute the northern part of the Central Highlands. The East Rajasthan Uplands, formed by past fluvial erosion and by geologically recent desert erosion, are bounded by the Indo-Gangetic Plain to the north, the Madhya Bharat Plateau to the east, the Malwa region to the south, and the Aravalli Range to the west. The uplands are wide and stony, with a sandy central region. The valleys between the hill ranges are wide and stretch for many miles; flattened hilltops form small plateaus. Teak, sal (Shorea robusta), and acacia trees and bamboo grow on the lower slopes of hills, and grasslands and pastures are found on the hilltops. The Banas River, rising in the eastern flank of the Aravalli, is the main waterway in the highlands; the Kari, Kathari, and Banganga rivers flow eastward.

      Agriculture provides the main occupation of the uplands population; cereals, pulses (legumes), oilseeds, cotton, peanuts (groundnuts), sugarcane, and tobacco are grown. Most manufacturing in the region is in the form of cottage industries.

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