The Himalayas are on the mainland. The Himalayas are the most extensive mountain range in the world. Where are the Himalayas: geographic location, description, height. Himalayan cuisine and restaurants

The majestic Himalayas ... A harsh land of primeval beauty, where a person can be alone with the whole world. Thousands of square kilometers of mountains and amazing wildlife that evokes thoughts of the eternal secrets of life - all this can be found by a wanderer in the Himalayas. The pinnacle of the world is here, and we invite you to learn more about it.

Where are the Himalayas

About 70 million years ago, two giant tectonic plates collided - Indo-American and Eurasian. A powerful push marked the beginning of the largest mountain system on our planet. Just imagine: it occupies 0.4% of the total area of ​​the planet, which is incredibly large in relation to other geographic features.

The Himalayas are located on the mainland Eurasia, in the Asian part. They are bordered in the north by the Tibetan plateau, in the south by the Indo-Gangetic plain. The length of the system is more than 2,400 km, the width reaches 350 km. The southern part of the Himalayas is adjoined by the so-called Pre-Himalayas - the smaller Sivalik mountains. This mountain system contains many of the highest peaks in the world. The average height of the mountain ridges of the Himalayas is 6,000 meters. The highest is the famous Mount Everest (otherwise - Chomolungma, 8848 meters). And this, as we probably remember, is the highest point of our planet.

The Himalayan ridges give rise to the most big rivers in the south of Asia: Indu, Ganges and Brahmaputra.

We already have the first data, namely, where the Himalayan mountains are. More specifically about the countries that have a mountainous landscape, further.

Countries whose territories cover the Himalayas

Since the borders of the countries are divided practically regardless of the relief features, the mountain ranges of the Himalayas are located in several. These countries are India, Nepal, China (the area known as Tibet), Bhutan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Tajikistan. Each of them got a site of a beautiful natural formation.

The area of ​​the entire mountain system is about 650 thousand square kilometers. Far from one another, many peoples live here. Natural conditions here are extremely harsh: cold at high altitudes, dangerous terrain. but locals happy with their magnificent home.

The first secrets have already been revealed to us by the Himalayas: where they are, the country (even several), which has mountainous areas on its territory. Further on the climatic conditions in the territories of the Himalayas.

Climate features

The Himalayan mountains are a particularly large form of relief. The mountains themselves on their southern side are swampy jungles, lush rainforests, conifers and deciduous trees, as well as a variety of shrubs and meadows. The northern slopes are not so rich and varied. Their surfaces are semi-deserts and mountain steppes. The ridges of the Himalayan ridges are of the Alpine type - sharp, steep. On them lie huge glaciers in immeasurable quantities.

It is noteworthy that the coordinates of the Himalayas are such that the mountain system serves as a natural climatic boundary between the tropics of the south and the desert lands north of the Himalayas. The colossal areas and great heights of the mountains greatly influenced the climate of the neighboring countries. So, south of the Himalayas, at their very foot, there is a city with the largest number precipitation on the planet. This is because the mountains delay the precipitation moving with air masses from the Indian Ocean, and they fall at their foot. At an altitude of 4500 meters above sea level in the Himalayas lies a zone of eternal snow.

The Himalayas, home to huge glaciers, impressed us. What about the inhabitants of the mountain range?

Inhabitants of the mountain system

Surprisingly, many people live in such harsh conditions as in the Himalayas. According to scientists, memorials about the first settlements of the territory of the mountain system date back to 8000 BC. NS. People came from the south (peoples from the Indian subcontinent), and from north-east direction(Tibetans), and from the west (Turkic peoples).
People settled their settlements in the valleys. Their remoteness from one another contributed to the separate development of these ethnic groups.

Readers probably wondered: how can you survive in such inhospitable places? Those communities that led a sedentary lifestyle were engaged in subsistence farming where there were all the conditions for this: a horizontal surface, water, more or less fertile soil, suitable climate... The modern inhabitants of the Himalayan valleys also provide themselves with their own labor. Here is another phenomenon that struck us with the Himalayas, where some of the oldest natural farms are located.

In the higher territories, the key occupation of the local population is distant pasture cattle breeding. The opportunity to do it is almost everywhere up to the edge of the snow.

And we will consider a few more facts that will be interesting to know about the Himalayas.

Apart from knowing where the Himalayas are, several other features of this corner of the planet will also be interesting. We know about the Himalayas that this is the most inaccessible, highest (in terms of average) mountain system in the world. But what does their name mean?

The word "Himalayas" means "Abode of Snow". Indeed, already at an altitude of 4.5 kilometers the snow never melts here. In terms of the amount of snow, this natural form is in third place on the planet. Only the Arctic and Antarctic have overtaken the Himalayas.
It is also interesting to know that with such a cold climate in most mountain areas, the Hindus are sure that they are the refuge of their god Shiva.

Mount Everest (Chomolungma) is the highest in the world (above sea level). She is associated with triumph. Extreme climbers from all over the world are literally trying to climb Everest. This first happened in 1953, when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summits. Mountaineering in the Himalayas is very popular. The mountain system contains ten of the fourteen eight-thousanders (in fact, their height is even slightly higher). Conquering them all is the dream of professional climbers.

This concludes our article on where the Himalayas are and what this mountain system is about.

Conclusion

"The abode of the snows", the Himalayas - mountains to which the prefix "most" is firmly attached. The tallest, the most inaccessible ... And people strive to get here in order to experience the power of nature, which created such a miracle. But the Himalayas do not invite guests. They are unwavering and tough. However, courageous travelers should try to become friends with the "celestial". Yes, indeed "heavenly", because the sky is so close here!

The views of landscapes and the possibility of conquering the mountains of eight-thousanders attract climbers from all over the world. Myths and legends envelop this piece of land, marked by the brightest spot (on the scale of heights) on the physical map of Eurasia. Moreover, the Himalayan system of hills is the youngest on the planet.

The highest mountain range of the Himalayas is located in South Asia, it stretches from west to east, its length is over 2400 km, its width is in the range of 180-350 km, and an area of ​​about 650 km 2.

With regard to geographic features, the ridge is bordered by:

• north - the Tibetan plateau;
• south - Indo-Gangetic lowland;
• east - the valley of the Brahmaputra river;
• west - the Indus gorge.

Territory Himalayan mountains shared several Asian countries, information is given in table 1.

Table 1.

The origin of the Himalayas and geology

The Himalayan mountains on the map of geologists are marked as the youngest on Earth.

The age of the mountains is determined by their relief: the sharpness, the amplitude of the heights, the steepness of the slopes confirms their youth - the Himalayas belong to this type. The beginning of the formation of the system - about 38 million years ago. And in our time, tectonic movements do not stop, they just became less intense.

There is a historical and geological theory according to which 200 million years ago there was one single continent on the globe. Under the influence of changes within the earth, it split into several continents.

Over time, they mutated and collided with each other. This is how the Hindustan and Asian lithospheric plates collided, from this edge of both continents they were deformed with the formation of high mountain ranges.

During the formation, the array was divided into 3 conditional stages, starting from the south:

1. The southern step of the Pre-Himalayas is the Sivalik mountains. Its height does not exceed 1 km, its width is 10-50 km. The mountain structure has several ridges and the Potvarskoe plateau.
2. Small Himalayas... The width of the vast highlands is 80-100 km, the average height is 3.5-4 km, there are peaks, the highest is 6.5 km. The picturesque valleys of Kashmir and Kathmandu stretch between the Dauladar border ridge and the main Himalayan ridge.
3. Greater Himalayas. The chain of ridges is split into separate structures. The width reaches 90 km, the average height of the peaks is 5.5-6 km, it has 10 mountain ranges with peaks over 8 km.

Mastering and Interesting Facts

The development of the mountains is associated with the desire to conquer the highest peaks of the earth.

In total, there are 14 massifs on Earth with peaks higher than 8 km, the main share is in the Himalayas.

There are 10 mountain structures in which the heights of the peaks exceed this line. Each of them has been conquered by climbers more than once. But the most desirable goal of a climber is to conquer the highest peak of the planet - Chomolungma.

Some facts of conquering the peaks:

• The first summit of Annapurna was conquered in 1950 by the French M. Erzog and L. Lashenal. This was the first world conquest of the eight-thousander peak.
• The first ascent of Chomolungma in 1953 was made by the New Zealander E. Hillary with the Sherpa T. Norgay. Sherpas are the people of Nepal, the best guides in the mountains.
• The Japanese woman Junko Tabei was the first woman to conquer Chomolungma in 1976. The first European in 1978 was the Polka V. Rutkevich.
• The oldest person who conquered Chomolungma is 76-year-old Nepalese M.B. Shirchan in 2008.The youngest - 13-year-old Californian D. Romero in 2010
• A group of 11 Russians conquered Chomolungma for the first time in 1982.The first Russian woman, E. Ivanova, conquered the height in 1990.
• The highest peak was conquered 3,700 times; 570 climbers died during the ascents.

Tops

Detached mountain structures can have several peaks over 8 km. Short description presented in table 2.

Table 2.

Weather

The Himalayan mountains on the map are indicative and are the barrier that separates the southern Indian lowlands from the northern Tibetan highlands.

On the slopes on the north side, the climate is continental and cold with rare annual precipitation barely reaching 100 mm. In the south, monsoon winds blow, bringing heavy rainfall. During the summer period, precipitation falls up to 4 m in the eastern part, less in the west - more than 1 m.

At the tops of the system, the temperature in winter is up to -40 ° С, and in summer it is not higher than -25 ° С. Due to constant winds, weather conditions can change dramatically. Hurricane winds often blow, sometimes reaching speeds of up to 150 km / h.

On the southern slope, the weather has 4 seasons:

• April-June is a cool spring with lush growth of herbs and flowers.
• July-August is a summer rainy season with fogs, the flora develops especially rapidly.
• September-October - warm autumn, comfortable warm days come.
• November-March is a frosty winter with snowfalls and clear days.

Himalayan water system

The water system of the Himalayas is connected with the ice and snow caps of the mountain peaks. The snow border of the south starts from the east at an altitude of 4.5 km and from the west - 5.1-5.3 km.

On the northern side, the border is higher - up to 1 km. Glaciers have formed on all high-mountain peaks, in the west they have a valley character (the tongue of the glacier is located in the valley), in the east - dendritic (valley, formed from several tongues).

Glaciers give rise to numerous rivers and full-flowing rivers that pass through the next 2 steps of the Himalayas and flow down to the lowlands. Information about the most famous rivers is given in Table 3.

Table 3.

The reservoirs for the lakes are pits created during the movement of ice masses. Another condition for the creation of lakes is the dams of mud masses during the movement of ice avalanches on the rivers. The famous lakes of the system are usually sacred and are symbols of religious worship. Table 4 provides a summary of some of the lakes.

Table 4.

Flora and fauna

On the mountain ranges of the Himalayas, the altitudinal zonation of climatic conditions, the world of flora and fauna is formed. The tiers of the eastern and western zones are different, the information is presented in Table 5.

Table 5.

The northern slopes are distinguished by a harsh climate, where even in summer the above zero temperature rarely occurs at noon, at night it falls into the minus zone. Therefore, vegetation and animals are very scarce.

Parks and valleys

The Himalayan mountains (on the map you can see the presence of numerous national parks, reserves) have protection zones, which are created to protect the unique wildlife.

They can be used for the purposes of scientific geographic and biological research. Some parks have become the property of the UNESCO lists. Visit them better in spring or in autumn, the rest of the time there is heavy rainfall.

The most famous parks and valleys:

• India. "Valley of Flowers" located at an altitude of 4 km, in the north-west of the country. A picturesque alpine meadow with flora inherent only in this area. Accommodation is prohibited here, you can only move on foot. It is adjacent to the Nanda Devi alpine park (the highest peak is 7816 m). In India, there are 2 more parks with the status of UNESCO heritage: "Great Himalayas" and "Kanchenjunga".

• Nepal. "Kathmandu Valley" located in the north of the central part of the country. There are many historical and cultural international monuments on it. This is a sacred land with several centers of pilgrimage. In the valley, 7 sites are on the UNESCO list. Another park "Sagarmatha" was created to protect the Chomolungma peak.

• Butane. " Kings park Manas " located in the south of the country, united with the "biological corridors" of several reserves and national parks. The height of the park reaches the ice fields. Therefore, all climatic zones of the Himalayas with many different types plants, animals, birds, insects. 2 more reserves under the protection of UNESCO: "Bumdeling" and "Sakten".

Pakistan, the Tibet Autonomous Region of the PRC, Bangladesh also have many national parks that do not have UNESCO heritage status.

Buddhist temples

Buddhism is an ancient world religion. From ancient times were built Buddhist temples and monasteries, the oldest temple complexes, time has not been kind. Mostly medieval temples have survived. Numerous adherents of esotericism, Buddhism and Hinduism come to these holy places.

Temples:

• Pakistan. Takht-i-Bahi- the complex was built in the 1st century. BC. near the city of Mardan in the north of the country. It was built in 4 stages, between stages it took up to several centuries, the last extension was undertaken in the 6th-7th centuries. AD It was destroyed during the Hunnic invasion. It is on the UNESCO heritage lists.
• India. Tabo Gompa monastery in the north of India it is located at an altitude of 3.2 km. Founded in 996 AD Rinchen Jyepo. The monastery has 8 temples and 24 stupas (a cult monolithic structure with a hemispherical outline).

• Tibetan AR. The oldest monastery in Tibet - Tolin located in the western part, built in 996. There are several halls on the territory, a group of 108 pagodas along the Sainchuan River. The halls have preserved excellent frescoes, a statue of Sakyamuni, paintings of King Atish.
• Nepal. Swayambhunath stupa located in the suburbs of Kathmandu, erected in 460, by the XIII century. became largest center Buddhism. Throughout its history, it was destroyed, rebuilt, re-equipped, in 2015 it was partially collapsed due to an earthquake. The stupa is located on a mountain; in order to climb it, you need to overcome 365 steps, there are several monasteries around it.

• Butane. Tamshing lhang- a temple complex near the city of Jakar in the Bumthang valley. The complex has a main temple and monastic dormitories. Here once a year festivals are held in honor of Pema Lingl, the founder of the monastery, he erected it in 1501. The culture of temple dances, reflecting the era of the founder of the monastery, has been preserved. UNESCO heritage.

Himalayas Resorts

The Himalayan Uplands are a natural treasure of all the countries in which they are located. The highest peaks of the planet Earth are concentrated here, therefore this mountain system is a Mecca for climbers and hunters of extreme tourism.

Most popular places:

• In the Indian Himalayas the most popular resort considered Gulmarg located on the slopes of the Pir-Panjal mountains in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The resort from December to March developed winter fun: luge, skiing, snowboards, freeride (skiing outside the equipped area). The ski area is 4-2 km above sea level. V summer time mountain bikes and golf. Nearby there are 40 hotels with different living conditions.

• Tibetan AR, Purang city in the Ngari region. It is an ancient center of commerce and a staging post for pilgrims on their way to sacred grief Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. For tourists, the city is open only in summer from July to October; in winter, the paths are blocked by snow. Tourists can admire the local attractions. You can stay at the hotel, but there are not many of them.
• In Nepal, tourists have only recently appeared at the resort - Mount Annapurna using the heli-skiing method (landing at the base by helicopter). Skiing is carried out from different heights from 3.4 to 5.5 km, descending to heights of 3.2-3.5 km. Accommodation or overnight stays are organized in nearby villages, where guesthouses (private households) are arranged.

• In Bhutan, tourism has the character of excursion and pilgrimage.... Hiking expeditions to religious complexes, or long mountain hikes up to 1 month are made. In temples, you can heal your body and soul using unconventional methods, peace and tranquility that reign in the country also help to achieve harmony. You can stay not only in the capital, but also in the city of Paro in hotels of 2-5 stars.

Historical and cultural attractions

Himalayan sights in all countries are associated mainly with the religious traditions of the countries. The religion of the heavenly countries has imposed certain rules, and they are closely associated with mountain peaks. There are many holy places in the territories of the countries, there are fortifications and cultural buildings worthy of tourist research.

It is enough to look at the map with historical values ​​and see that there are a lot of interesting places:

• In Pakistan, one of the ancient monuments is Altit Fort in the Hunza Valley. The fortress was built on a rock, from where the valley is visible. The old tower of Shikari Fort is 1100 years old. The fortress has small rooms with exquisitely carved wooden portals.

• In India, it is the summer residence of the Viceroy of England in the city of Shimla, Himchal Pradesh state, northeast of the country. The residence was built in 1888 with British chic with local influences. There are many exhibits in the museum.

• In the Tibetan Autonomous Republic of China, they can offer a tour to the city of Burang. Above the city on the ridge, the Simbiling monastery and the large Tegla Kar fort were built - at present, the fort remains in ruins, the monastery has been restored. Below them is a 9-storey ruined monastery of the Bon religion - Tsegu Gompa. The path to the sacred lake Manasarovar and Mount Kailash runs through Burang.

• In Nepal it is worth staying in Kathmandu, he himself ancient city, which has preserved many ancient buildings, there are palaces, museums and religious temples. There are about 50 monuments of history and culture of the country on Durbar square, the Hanuman-Dhoka complex is especially interesting.

• Butane. Among the sights of the country, the national library stands out, created in 1967 to preserve the historical heritage of the people. She is in beautiful building octagonal shape. In addition to books, old letters and historical documentation are kept there. There are other historic buildings around.

Tourists visiting the Himalayas

Tourists visit the Himalayan mountain system for different purposes:

• mountaineering;
• skiing;
• pilgrimage;
• bodily and spiritual recovery.

Tourists flock here in thousands, every year the flow is growing. The most suitable period is May-July and September-October. Summer and winter are rainy and snowy seasons. The Himalayas are located on the territories of 5 states, so how to get here, get a visa, what fees will be charged on the trip, you need to find out in advance from your operator, or find information on the Internet.

The scale of the Himalayan system of peaks attracts not only tourists, but also scientists. Due to the long political isolation of mountainous countries and the inaccessibility of their territories, this area of ​​the Earth has not yet been sufficiently studied by biologists, geographers, geologists, historians.

Although the study is gaining momentum, there is still an abundance of blank spots on all the thematic maps of the hills.

Article design: Svetlana Ovsyanikova

Video on the topic: mysteries of the Himalayan mountains

Himalayas - the most mysterious place on the ground:

Himalayas: the most high mountains in the world

The Himalayas are made up of approximately 30 mountains, nine of which are the highest peaks on the planet, including Mount Everest. Fans of extreme sports from all over the planet consider this place as a mountaineering center. We will tell you the most Interesting Facts about the Himalayas.

Geographic location

The Himalayas are located on the territory of five states:

• India;
• Nepal;
• Bhutan;
• China;
• Pakistan

The mountains have a total area of ​​153,295,000 square meters. km, occupy 0.4% of the entire surface of the earth.

The Himalayan mountain range is the most inaccessible region of the Earth.

If you do not take into account Antarctica and the Arctic, the Himalayas are leading in terms of ice and snow deposits. A great many glaciers contain enough water for rivers and lakes, which are found here in considerable numbers.

Huge rivers originate in the Himalayas and the highlands of Tibet:

• Ganges;
• Yamuna.

The mountain peaks are unsuitable for human life due to the harsh climate: cold, lack of oxygen, and strong winds... In the valleys between the mountains there are a small number of settlements, with few inhabitants.

The local population lives off tourism and escorting climbers who want to see or conquer mountain peaks.

Local religions and beliefs

The main religions of the Himalayan inhabitants are:

• Islam;
• Buddhism;
• Hinduism.

The story of a Bigfoot living somewhere in the mountains has become the most popular myth in the Himalayas.

According to Hindu mythology, this place is considered the refuge of God Shiva.

Highest mountains of the Himalayas:

1. Chomolungma, height 8,848 km.
2. Kanchenjunga, height 8 586 km.
3. Lhotse, height 8,516 km.
4. Makalu, height 8 463 km.
5. Cho-Oyu, height 8 201 km.
6. Dhaulagiri, height 8 167 km.
7. Manaslu, height 8 156 km.
8. Nanga Parbat, height 8 126 km.
9. Annapurna, height 8,091 km.
10. Shishabangma, height 8,027 km.

Many people die every year trying to conquer the peaks of the Himalayas. But the danger does not stop real extremists and travelers who cannot live without risk.

The mountains are fraught with many dangerous surprises, for example - rapidly changing weather conditions with gusty winds, or lack of oxygen.

Vegetation

Vegetation in the Himalayas varies with altitude:

• swampy forest thickets predominate in the valleys;
• green tropical jungle, coniferous and deciduous forests grow slightly higher;
• further there are alpine meadows;
• only shrubs grow at the level of 3,500 m.

The purest plants for medicine grow exclusively in the foothills.

There are quite a few Hindu temples and Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayas.

The Valley of Flowers is a national park. It is located in the west of the Himalayas and is included in the UNESCO heritage list.

Himalayas

There are no higher mountains on Earth than the Himalayas and Karakorum, and no other mountains have such stark contrasts of nature as in the Himalayas.

It should be noted that the Himalayas are still very little explored and even in our time they keep a lot of unknown and unexplored. This is due not so much to the huge territory occupied by this mountain system, as to the difficulty of penetrating it due to the complexity of the relief and the lack of roads.

The inaccessibility of the territory played a favorable role in preserving the unique mountain landscapes of the Himalayas. Despite the significant agricultural development of lowlands and depressions, intensive grazing on mountain slopes and an ever-increasing influx of climbers from different countries world, the Himalayas remain a refuge for valuable plant and animal species.

The Himalayas are not only one of beautiful places created by nature. This is a sacred land, a place where, according to legend, Buddhist and Hindu deities live. Once these mountains were an insurmountable barrier between the states located to the south of them, and the fabulously rich cities lying to the north, on the Great Silk Road - Samarkand, Bukhara, Kashgar and Kotan.

Geographical position of the Himalayan mountains

From the French Alps to South Vietnam, the longest mountain belt of the Earth stretches across Eurasia. There are no more mountains on Earth like the Central Asian ones. Six mountain ranges meet here. The largest and highest mountain range of the six is ​​the Himalayas. Translated from Sanskrit, this word means "Abode of the Snows".

In the northwest, the Himalayas are bordered by the Hindu Kush, in the southeast - by the Sino-Tibetan mountains. The total length of the mountain system is more than 2,400 km, the width is 200-350 km, and the area is about 650 thousand km2. The Himalayas are part of China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan. The Himalayas are the most important geomorphological, climatic and floristic boundary. The physico-geographical and geomorphological boundaries of the mountain system itself are clearly expressed. In the north, these are the longitudinal intermountain valleys of the Indus and Brahmaputra, in the south - the edge of the Indo-Gangetic plain, in the northwest and southeast - the transverse valleys of the Indus and Brahmaputra.

Himalayan education mountainous country geologists associate it with the split of a single southern continent - Gondwana into several plates. One of them, the Indian one, began to move northward and collided with the Eurasian plate. At the point of collision, the earth's crust compressed and formed a giant fold - the Himalayas.

Fossilized skeletons of fish and other marine animals found in the Himalayas indicate that these giant mountains were once marine sediments. Between 570 and 65 million years ago, they were the bottom of the ancient Tephian ocean. When the Indian tectonic plate, drifting northward, collided with the Asian mainland, the Himalayan mountain range shot up. The growth process of the Himalayas took many millions of years, and not a single mountain system in the world can compare with them in terms of the number of peaks - "seven-thousanders" and "eight-thousanders".

Geologists have established that the rise of the Himalayan mountains took place in at least three stages. The first, about 38 million years ago, to form the Great Himalayas. Then, between 26 and 7 million years ago, the Lesser Himalayas arose. At the third stage, about 7 million years ago, the Sivalik mountains appeared. Movement at the junction of two tectonic plates is a continuous process. Over the past one and a half million years, the mountains have grown by 1370 m.

The uplift of the Himalayas has not ended at the present time, as evidenced by the frequent earthquakes and the high position of the Early Quaternary deposits above sea level. The Himalayas grow three to ten millimeters taller each year.

Geological structure and relief of the Himalayas

Crystalline, metamorphic, sedimentary and volcanic rocks of various ages, from Archean to Quaternary, crumpled into intense folds, complicated in the central parts by powerful thrusts and splits, are involved in the structure of the mountains.

The features of the geological structure - the predominance of Precambrian rocks similar to the complexes of the Indian platform, the very limited distribution of marine sedimentary strata and the presence of continental sediments close to the Gondwana ones - give reason to consider the Himalayas as a mountain system that arose on the site of the outskirts of the Indian platform, which underwent tectonic activation in the Neogene-Quaternary time in connection with the attachment of the Hindustan plate to the rest of Eurasia and the closure of the Tethys. The Himalayas do not form ridges stretched over long distances, but disintegrate into separate massifs, separated from one another by deep transverse river valleys. This is due to the fact that the valleys of the largest rivers - the Indus, Sutleja, Brahmaputra - were laid before the beginning of the general grandiose uplift of the mountains. The uplift was accompanied by the cutting of rivers and the formation of epigenetic valleys of the Himalayas.

In its shape, the Himalayas resemble a grandiose petrified wave, which falls to the south, towards the Indo-Gangetic lowland, by three successively descending steep ledges, and to the north, towards Tibet, only one, more gentle. The foothills of the Himalayas are composed of young sediments collected in folds in the middle of the Quaternary period. They are collectively known as the Sivalik Mountains; their height on the territory of Nepal is about 1000 m. In some places they are closely pressed against the ridges of the Himalayas proper, in others they are separated by a strip of wide tectonic valleys - dunes. The Sivalik mountains drop abruptly to the north and south. The width of this step is not the same in its length and ranges from 10 to 50 km. The Sivalik mountains consist of parallel folds, transformed in some areas due to the erosional activity of mountain rivers in the chain of hills. This especially applies to the interfluve of the Ganges and Bias. The Sivalik mountains make up the Dundva, Chouriagati and Sola-Singi ranges, as well as the highlands - the Potvarskoe plateau, Kala-Chitta and Margala. Their average height does not exceed 600 m. Only Chouriagati reaches an average height of 900 m.

The next highest step in the Himalayas is the Small Himalayas; they are composed of crystalline Precambrian rocks, as well as strongly metamorphosed sedimentary deposits of the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Paleogene. This strip is characterized by intense folding, faults and volcanism. The height of the ridges reaches an average of 3500-4500 m, and individual peaks rise to 6000 m.In the northwest, the Pir-Panjal ridge stretches with a height of more than 6000 m, then to the southeast it is replaced by the Small Himalayas proper, which merge with the Big Himalayas (the Main Himalayan ridge) high-mountainous massive Dhaulagiri massif (8221 m). Further to the east, the entire system of the Himalayas narrows, the zone of the Lesser Himalayas is pressed against the Main ridge, forming the medium-altitude mountains of the Mahabharat, and even to the east - the high and highly dissected mountains of Duara.

Between the Lesser and Greater Himalayas, a strip of tectonic depressions stretches, which in the recent past were occupied by lakes and processed by glaciers. The most famous in the west is the Kashmir Basin at an altitude of 1600 m, with the main city of Kashmir, Srinagar. The existence of the lake, which previously filled the basin, is evidenced by the well-defined terraces on the slopes. Several residual lakes have survived on the surface of the flat bottom. The second large basin in the central part of the Himalayas - Kathmandu in Nepal - is located at an altitude of about 1400 m; most of the population of this high-mountainous country is concentrated in it. Snow-capped mountain peaks, deep rocky gorges, turbulent waterfall rivers and blue lakes surrounded by picturesque forests make these valleys the most beautiful corners of the globe.

To the north of the hollows, the Greater Himalayas rise, reaching an average height of 6000 m. The Greater Himalayas are the basis of the entire system. They reach their maximum height in Nepal. There, in a small space, there are 9 of the 14 highest peaks. It is a well-defined alpine ridge. At the western end of the Main Ridge, there is the grandiose Nangaparbat massif (8126 m), then there are a number of peaks exceeding 6000 and 7000 m, then the eight-thousandth giants covered with snow and ice rise: Dhaulagiri (8167), Kutang (8126 m), Annapurna (8078 m ), Gosayntan (8013 m), etc. Among them, the highest peak in the world, Everest, 8848 m high, is not even particularly distinguished7). Nepal is called Sagarmatha - "Lord of the sky", and in Tibet they call Chomolungma - "Goddess - mother of the world"). Magnificent and majestic only slightly inferior to her Kanchenjunga (8598 m). Four more "eight-thousanders" are located in the north-western continuation of the Himalayas - the Karakorum ridge.

The northern slope of the Greater Himalayas is flatter and more accessible than the southern one. The Ladakh ridge stretches along it with a height of up to 7728 m. Many rivers originate on its slopes, which then cross the Main ridge. To the north of Ladakh, behind the wide longitudinal valleys of the Indus and Brahmaputra, the marginal ridges of the Tibetan Plateau (Trans-Himalayas) rise.

The Himalayas are rich in minerals. The axial crystalline zone contains deposits of copper ore, placer gold, arsenic and chromium ores. The foothills and intermontane basins contain oil, combustible gases, brown coal, potash and rock salts.

Now in the Himalayas there are 75 peaks more than seven kilometers "tall". Dozens of peaks reach 7000 m, 11 peaks exceed 8000 m, the passes are on average at an altitude of 5000 m, which exceeds the maximum height of the Alps.

Climate, glaciation and water resources of the Himalayan mountains

The Himalayas are the largest climatic division in Asia. To the north of them, continental air of temperate latitudes prevails, to the south - tropical air masses. Up to the southern slope of the Himalayas, the summer equatorial monsoon penetrates. The winds there are so strong that they make it difficult to climb the highest peaks. Therefore, one can climb Chomolungma only in spring, during a short period of calm before the beginning of the summer monsoon. On the northern slope, the winds of northern or western points blow throughout the year, coming from a continent that is supercooled in winter or strongly warmed up in summer, but always dry. From the northwest to the southeast, the Himalayas extend approximately between 35 and 28 ° N. sh., and the summer monsoon almost does not penetrate into the northwestern sector of the mountain system. All this creates great climatic differences within the Himalayas. Most precipitation falls in the eastern part of the southern slope (from 2000 to 3000 mm). In the west, their annual amounts do not exceed 1000 mm. Less than 1000 mm falls in the strip of inner tectonic depressions and in the inner river valleys. On the northern slope, especially in the valleys, the amount of precipitation drops sharply. In some places, annual amounts are less than 100 mm. Above 1800 m, winter precipitation falls in the form of snow, and above 4500 m, it snows throughout the year.

On the southern slopes up to an altitude of 2000 m, the average January temperature is 6-7 ° С, in July 18-19 ° С; up to an altitude of 3000 m, the average temperature of the winter months does not drop below 0 ° С, and only above 4500 m the average temperature in July becomes negative. The snow boundary in the eastern part of the Himalayas runs at an altitude of 4500 m, in the western, less humid, - 5100-5300 m. On the northern slopes, the height of the nival belt is 700-1000 m higher than on the southern ones. There is little precipitation on the northern slopes (about 100 mm), and temperature drops during one day can be 45 degrees.

High altitude and abundant precipitation contribute to the formation of powerful glaciers and a dense river network. Glaciers and snow cover all the high peaks of the Himalayas, but the ends of the glacial tongues have significant absolute heights. Most of Himalayan glaciers belong to the valley type and reach no more than 5 km in length. But the further east and more precipitation, the longer and lower the glaciers descend along the slopes. On Chomolungma and Kanchenjunga the most powerful glaciation, the largest glaciers of the Himalayas are formed.

These are glaciers of the dendritic type with several feeding areas and one main trunk. The Zemu glacier on Kanchenjung reaches 25 km in length and ends at an altitude of about 4000 m. The 19 km long Rongbuk glacier slides from Chomolungma, which ends at an altitude of 5000 m. The Gangotri glacier in the Kumaon Himalayas reaches 26 km; one of the sources of the Ganges originates from it. The total area of ​​glaciers here is 33 thousand km?.

The Himalayan glaciers differ from the glaciers of other mountain systems in their surface structure and ice properties. At high altitudes, the snow is very dry. Sharp temperature changes often contribute to the formation of the thinnest crust of ice on the surface of the snow cover. Under it there is an active sublimation of snow (the transition of a substance from a solid to a gaseous state without prior transformation into a liquid), in which the snow evaporates and water vapor settles on the lower surface of the ice crust, thickening it and forming a crust. And under it the emptiness increases. As a result, the adhesion of the snow layer to the slope is broken and the snow cover is actually held on it only due to the strength of this crust (crust). Any violation of this crust (damage by a falling stone, etc.) is enough, as a favorable condition is created for the formation of avalanches, which are very characteristic of the Himalayas.

At lower altitudes, the effect of high daytime temperatures leads to a rapid process of snow firnization and further transformation of firn into ice. At the same time, another process takes place - rapid evaporation of snow from the surface (especially on the northern slopes) due to the great dryness of the air. This leads to the fragility of fresh snow cover in the valleys and on the lower slopes. As a result, glaciers are almost always open; snow or firn cover on them is rare. The movement of people on such a surface is not difficult. Only during periods of heavy snowfall can mountain slopes and glaciers be covered with a significant layer of fresh dry snow, and then the passage of snow-covered slopes and glaciers requires great care.

The Himalayas are characterized by powerful glaciation, which is not yet fully defined, despite the large number of scientific and mountaineering expeditions. But there are no huge valley glaciers like, for example, in the Karakorum. To some extent, this is due to the greater straightness of the Himalayan ridges and the absence of lateral spurs extending over long distances.

Glaciers of the Turkestan type are characterized by a very limited supply basin. They are formed mainly due to avalanches from the surrounding steep slopes, ice, avalanches from overhead hanging glaciers and only partially due to snow masses falling or swept by winds from the surrounding slopes. An example of such glaciers in the Himalayas is the Annapurna South Glacier.

Especially many rivers flow down from the southern slope of the mountains. They begin in the glaciers of the Greater Himalayas and, crossing the Lesser Himalayas and the foothill zone, go out onto the plain. Some large rivers originate from the northern slope and, heading towards the Indo-Gangetic plain, cut through the Himalayas with deep through valleys. This is the Indus, its tributary Sutlej and Brahmaputra (Tsangpo).

The Himalayan rivers are fed by rain, glaciers and snow, so the main maximum discharge occurs in summer. In the eastern part, the role of monsoon rains is great in nutrition, in the west - snow and ice of the alpine zone. The narrow gorges or canyon-shaped valleys of the Himalayas abound with waterfalls and rapids. From May, when the most violent melting of snow begins, and until October, when the summer monsoon ends, rivers rush down from the mountains in stormy streams, carrying away masses of debris that they deposit when they leave the Himalayan foothills. Monsoon rains are often the cause of severe flooding on mountain rivers, during which bridges are washed away, roads are destroyed and landslides occur.

There are many lakes in the Himalayas, but there are no such lakes among them that in size and beauty could be compared with the Alpine ones. Some lakes, for example in the Kashmir Basin, occupy only a part of those tectonic depressions that were previously filled entirely. The Pir-Panjal ridge is known for numerous glacial lakes formed in ancient crust sinkholes or in river valleys as a result of moraine damming them. Many of the lakes are located at high altitudes (up to 3500 m). The Srinagar (Kashmir) valley once served as the bottom of a huge lake that existed here. At present, the remains of this lake are scattered in the lowest parts of the valley in the form of small lakes - Vular, Anchar, Dal and others. Floating islands formed from dense thickets of aquatic plants are interesting on these lakes.

In the vast mountain valley of Kathmandu, as well as in Srinagar, there are many lakes and even more residual lake valleys, which the locals call “tal”.

The researchers of the Himalayas explain their education in this way. In earlier times, there were many dammed lakes on the southern slopes of the Himalayas. Stormy mountain streams and rivers gradually brought in the products of destruction rocks... Gradually accumulating, the water broke through the dam, rushing downward in a mighty stream, washing away everything in its path.

For example, as a result of the earthquake of 1841, a large landslide dammed the Indus River in the Ramgat area. The height of the dam reached several hundred meters. Above it, a huge dammed lake was formed.

Soon, Indus broke through the dam. The masses of water, rushing down the gorge, washed away many villages, tore off not only vegetation from the slopes, but also the soil. The water destroyed the roads that ran through the gorge. The local population suffered huge material damage.

Altitudinal zonation, vegetation and animal world Himalayas

On the abundantly moistened southern slope of the Himalayas, high-altitude zones from tropical forests to alpine tundras are exceptionally pronounced. At the same time, the southern slope is characterized by significant differences in the vegetation cover of the humid and hot eastern and drier and cold western parts. Forests come to the foot of the mountains only in the Eastern Himalayas. Along the foothills of the mountains, from their eastern end to the course of the Jamna River, there is a kind of swampy strip with black muddy soils, called terai. The terai are characterized by jungles - typical tropical rainforests - dense tree and shrub thickets, in places almost impenetrable due to lianas and consisting of ferns, teak, soap tree, mimosas, bananas, low-growing palms, bamboos. Among the Terai, there are cleared and drained areas that are used for the cultivation of various tropical crops. This is the kingdom of tigers and wild elephants, snakes and monkeys. Zoologists believe that this is where the highest density of elephant population in the world. Animals feel completely safe in the jungle, even more so than in African reserves. Indeed, according to Buddhist laws, the killing of any living creature is a mortal sin.

Evergreen tropical forests of tall palms, laurels, tree ferns and gigantic bamboos, with many lianas (including rattan palm) and epiphytes grow above the Terai along the humid slopes of the mountains and along river valleys up to an altitude of 1000-1200 m. Drier areas are dominated by less dense fatwood forests that lose their foliage during the dry season, with rich undergrowth and grass cover.

At altitudes of more than 1000 m, subtropical species of evergreen and deciduous trees begin to mix with the thermophilic forms of the tropical forest: pines, evergreen oaks, magnolias, maples, chestnuts, birches. At an altitude of 2000 m, subtropical forests are replaced by temperate forests of deciduous and coniferous trees, among which representatives of the subtropical flora, for example, magnificently blooming magnolias, are only occasionally found. At the upper border of the forest, conifers dominate, including silver fir, larch, and juniper. The undergrowth is formed by dense thickets of treelike rhododendrons. There are many mosses and lichens covering the soil and tree trunks. The subalpine belt replacing forests is represented by tall-grass meadows and thickets of shrubs, the vegetation of which gradually becomes lower and thinner in the transition to the alpine belt. The high-altitude meadow vegetation of the Himalayas is unusually rich in species, including primroses, edelweiss, anemones, poppies and other brightly blooming perennial grasses. The upper border of the alpine belt in the east reaches an altitude of about 5000 m, but individual plants are found much higher. When climbing Chomolungma, plants were found at an altitude of 6218 m. And, finally, from a height of five and a half kilometers, the kingdom of snows already begins.

In the western part of the southern slope of the Himalayas, due to the lower humidity, there is no such richness and diversity of vegetation, the flora is much poorer than in the east. There is absolutely no strip of terai, the lower parts of the mountain slopes are covered with sparse xerophytic forests and thickets of shrubs. Only on the slopes of the foothills do rare groups of dry-loving plants appear, such as oleander or arboreal milkweed, very similar from a distance to a cactus. And only from a height of a thousand meters luxurious pine forests with thorny jasmine undergrowth. Above, in the zone from 1800 to 2500 meters, there are some subtropical Mediterranean species such as evergreen stone oak and golden-leaved olive, even higher are coniferous forests of pines and the magnificent Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodara), the brother of the Lebanese cedar known since biblical times. The shrub undergrowth in these forests is poorer than in the east, but the meadow alpine vegetation is more diverse. And having risen to a height of two and a half kilometers, you find yourself in the zone of spruce forests. Only these shrubs, and ivy braiding tree trunks together with climbing roses remind us of the subtropics. Spruce forests are replaced with height by a real mountain desert, where even stunted grass comes across only in places. And to crown it all, as always in the Himalayas, snow and glaciers.

The landscapes of the northern ranges of the Himalayas, facing towards Tibet, approach the desert mountain landscapes of Central Asia. The change in vegetation with height is less pronounced than on the southern slopes. From the bottoms of large river valleys to the snow-covered peaks, rare thickets of dry grasses and xerophytic shrubs spread. Woody vegetation is found only in some river valleys in the form of thickets of stunted poplars.

The landscape differences in the Himalayas are reflected in the composition of the wild fauna. The diverse and rich fauna of the southern slopes has a distinctly tropical character. In the forests of the lower parts of the slopes and in the terai, many large mammals, reptiles, and insects are widespread. There are still found elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, wild boars, antelopes. The jungle is literally teeming with various monkeys. Macaques and fine beetles are especially characteristic. Of the predators, the most dangerous for the population are tigers and leopards - spotted and black (black panthers). Peacocks, pheasants, parrots, wild chickens stand out among the birds for the beauty and brightness of plumage.

In the upper belt of the mountains and on the northern slopes, the fauna approaches the Tibetan in composition. The black Himalayan bear, wild goats and rams, yaks live there. There are especially many rodents.

Most of the population is concentrated in the middle belt of the southern slope and in intramontane tectonic basins. There is a lot of cultivated land. Rice is sown on the irrigated flat bottoms of the basins; tea bush, citrus fruits, and grapevines are grown on terraced slopes. Alpine pastures are used for grazing sheep, yaks and other livestock.

Because of great height passes in the Himalayas significantly complicated communication between the countries of the northern and southern slopes. There are dirt roads or caravan paths through some of the passes; there are very few highways in the Himalayas. The passes are only accessible during the summer. In winter they are covered with snow and are completely impassable.

The Himalayas as a cultural and natural heritage center and a pilgrimage center

The inaccessibility of the territory played a favorable role in preserving the unique mountain landscapes of the Himalayas. Despite the significant agricultural development of lowlands and depressions, intensive grazing on mountain slopes and an ever-increasing influx of climbers from different countries of the world, the Himalayas remain a refuge for valuable species of plants and animals. The real "treasures" are the national parks of India and Nepal - Nanda Devi, Sagarmatha and Chitwan, included in the List of World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

The parks were created to help the rare animals of the Himalayas survive in the conditions of an increasing influx of tourists, among whom there are many poachers. Deforestation of the local population harms the animals even more. Already, in all of Nepal, only twenty-five wild elephants have survived. Only a few dozen tigers and rhinos remained here. Such rare animals as the snow leopard and the Himalayan black bear, the musk deer and the dweller of bamboo forests, the lesser panda, also live in protected lands.

This animal (also called the cat bear) is probably the most charming inhabitant of the Himalayan forests. During the day he sleeps, wrapping his round eared head with a bushy tail, and at night he grazes in the thickets of bamboo, eating young shoots, as well as berries and acorns that have fallen to the ground.

To truly appreciate the beauty of the nature of the Himalayas, one must overcome the temptation to fly directly to Kathmandu or another city deep in the mountains. Better to climb to the snowy ridges by car along the winding mountain roads through Sivalik and Mahabharat. Only then can you appreciate all the diversity of the Himalayas, all the charm of its forests and meadows, rocky gorges and mountain lakes, the blinding whiteness of the snow slopes and the jade transparency of glacial cliffs.

The Himalayas are one of the centers of pilgrimage in the world, especially for adherents of Buddhism and Hinduism. In most cases, in the holy Himalayan places, temples are located to the glory of the deities, with whose deeds this or that place is associated. So, the temple of Sri Kedarnath Mandir is dedicated to the god Shiva, and in the south of the Himalayas, at the source of the Jamuna River, in the 19th century. a temple was built in honor of the goddess Yamuna (Jamuna). Many are attracted to the Himalayas by the diversity and uniqueness of their natural features. One of the most important and at the same time the most difficult to pass is the Sagarmatha National Park. Everest is located on its territory. In the western region of the Himalayas, there are the possessions of the Nanda Devi reserve, which has included the Valley of Flowers since 2005, which enchants with a natural palette of colors and shades. It is preserved by vast meadows full of delicate alpine flowers. Among this splendor, far from human eyes, there are rare species of predators, including snow leopards (in wildlife there are no more than 7,500 individuals of these animals left), Himalayan and brown bears.

High inaccessible mountains have long evoked two feelings in people: fear and reverence. The Hindus called this area Deviabhuni - "the land of the gods." Here, in their opinion, was the center of the Earth, designated sacred mountain The measure around which the Sun, Moon and stars revolve. Meru in India was identified with Mount Kailash in the Tibetan Trans-Himalayas. Next to it, at the sacred lake Manasarovar, as local residents believe, lives the main of the three supreme gods of the Hindu pantheon - Indra, a thunderer who gives rain and fertility to the fields. On the summit of Gaurishankar lived the great god Shiva with his wife Devi, the daughter of Himavat, who himself is the personification of the Himalayas. Shiva is one of the supreme gods included in the divine triad, "the master of animals." Therefore, it is quite logical that from his dwelling, located among the eternal snows of the Himalayas, the life-giving waters of the three great rivers of Asia - the Indus, the Brahmaputra and the Ganges - flow. And only Rama settled closer to the people, in the valley.

The founder of another powerful religion - Buddhism, Prince Gautama himself (the future Buddha) was also born here in Nepal 2500 years ago. Therefore, many pilgrims come here every year, to the shrine of Buddhism, the Muktinath temple, where an eternal flame burns in memory of the birth of a deity.

Thus, the Himalayas are not only one of the most beautiful places created by nature. This is a sacred land, a place where, according to legend, Buddhist and Hindu deities live. Once these mountains were an insurmountable barrier between the states located to the south of them, and the fabulously rich cities lying to the north, on the Great Silk Road - Samarkand, Bukhara, Kashgar and Kotan.

History of exploration and storming of the Himalayan mountains

The first traveler to the Himalayas mentioned in the chronicles, the Chinese monk Fa Xian, came here in 400 AD. NS. in search of religious truth. The oldest accurate map of these places was compiled in the 30s of the 18th century by the French geographer Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d "Arville, who, however, could not correctly determine the height of many mountain peaks. At the beginning of the 19th century, the British, hunters for large animals, went here from India in search of tigers and bears Returning from the Himalayas, they retell local legends about strange footprints in the snow. This was the first hint of the existence of "Bigfoot."

Already in the 7th century, the first trade routes connecting China and India appeared in the rugged Himalayas. Some of these routes still play an important role in the trade of these two countries (of course, these days we are not talking about multi-day pedestrian crossings, but about road transport). In the 30s. XX century. there was an idea to make transport connection more convenient, for which it is necessary to lay a railway through the Himalayas, but the project was never implemented.

However, serious exploration of the Himalayan Mountains did not begin until the 18th-19th centuries. The work was extremely difficult, while the results left much to be desired: for a long time, topographers could neither determine the height of the main peaks, nor make accurate topographic maps... But the ordeal only fueled the interest and enthusiasm of European scientists and researchers. In the middle of the 19th century, attempts were made to conquer the highest peak in the world - Everest (Chomolungma). But great mountain, towering 8848 m above the ground, could give victory only to the strongest.

In the 1850s, the highest peak in the world was known in the West simply as Peak XV. Only in 1852 did English surveyors establish the exact height of the XV peak. The Indians called him Sagarmatha - "heavenly peak", and for the Tibetans it was Chomolungma - "mother-goddess of the earth." Everest was named by the British in 1862 in honor of the chief of the topographic service of India, Major Sir George Everest, Governor-General of India, who six years earlier led an expedition to map the Himalayas. This is how the highest mountain in the world lives now under three names.

It is clear that climbers of the late XIX - early XX centuries, who have already managed to conquer the Matterhorn in the Alps (in 1865), Chimborazo and Aconcagua in the Andes (in 1880 and 1897), McKinley in Alaska (in 1913) and Kilimanjaro in Africa (in 1889), were eager to climb Chomolungma. But the Tibetan and Nepalese authorities until 1921 did not allow foreigners to disturb the peace of the sacred mountains.

TO late XIX centuries Tibet and Nepal closed their borders to Europeans. And although in 1921 the Dalai Lama allowed one expedition to visit the country, she only had time to get to the foot of Everest and map its lower slopes. The famous English climber George Mallory was a member of this expedition.

In 1921-1924, Mallory made three expeditions to the sky-high peak, hoping to become its winner. In his last attempt, in 1924, he and his companion Andrew Irwin apparently reached highest point planets. The members of their expedition who remained below noticed the brave two through binoculars just two hundred meters from the top, after which they were hidden by fog. No one else saw the pioneers of Chomolungma alive. They did not return back. And only seventy-five years later, in 1999, the body of Mallory was found in the snow near the summit. In all likelihood, on the descent, the climbers got into a blizzard and froze. The first reliable conquest of Everest was carried out by a British expedition led by John Hunt 30 years later. After countless unsuccessful expeditions on May 29, 1953, man finally managed to reach the summit of Everest.

The last assault was undertaken by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Norgay Tenzing. Hillary later wrote about what he was thinking, standing where, as it was known, no man had stood before him: “My first feeling was relief - no more need to cross any ridges, no more torment, climbing mountains and hoping for success. I looked at Tenzing ... and he was unable to hide his infectious enthusiastic smile. "

Thus, the "high-altitude pole" of our planet turned out to be the toughest nut to crack of all the cherished and hard-to-reach points of the earth's land, taken by storm in the 20th century. Recall that the North and South Poles were subdued to man more than forty years earlier, and the Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility - five years before Chomolungma.

The attractiveness of Everest for climbers is undeniable, and the climbing season is short; unless, of course, they want to avoid low temperatures, hurricane winds and deep snow. Many attempts to reach the summit ended in failure, and sometimes the death of expedition members, but nothing stops the climbers. In recent years, climbers from all over the world have made successful ascents.

Climbers continue to climb the highest peak, but so far only about four hundred of them have managed to stand on the "roof of the world". The Himalayas in general, and Everest in particular, carefully guard their secrets. Even today they remain a unique snow kingdom - the abode of the gods.

In general, the history of the storming of the Himalayan "eight-thousanders" is a whole epic that lasted fifteen years, starting in 1950, when the brave Frenchmen Erzog and Lachenal ascended the first of them - Annapurna, and ending with a successful ascent to the most difficult of these peaks - Mount Shisha Pangma - Chinese expedition in 1964. Many tragic pages have been written in the history of the Himalayan ascents. Dozens of climbers stayed forever on the slopes of the "Abode of the Snows". Yet every year, new high-altitude expeditions are sent to the Himalayas. And to the question of what prompts them to this most difficult and dangerous business, Mellory also remarkably answered. When asked why he is so eager to climb Everest, he said simply: "Because he is!"

The Himalayas have peaks and are more difficult than Chomolungma. Such is, for example, the impregnable Kanchenjunga, the easternmost and second highest of the Himalayan "eight-thousanders", which ascended 8585 meters near the border of Nepal and India. This most difficult peak for climbers surrendered only the fifth expedition that stormed it in 1955. In the same year, the fifth highest peak in the world was conquered - Makalu (8470 meters). Its name is translated as "Black Giant". Indeed, Makalu is so steep that ice and snow hardly linger on the black slopes of this giant rock pyramid. Therefore, its black and gray silhouette stands out sharply against the background of the rest of the Himalayan peaks, wrapped in snow-white cloaks and covered with glaciers.

And twenty-five kilometers north-west of Makalu there are four eight-kilometer peaks at once, like a guard of honor that surrounded their master - Chomolungma. This gigantic mountain range resembles a frozen foamy surf from grandiose stone ramparts, rushing to the sky. Moreover, mountains "smaller in height" in this massif are sometimes placed in front of the climbers the most difficult tasks... So, at Mount Rapakosi, 7788 meters high, the steepest slope in the world. It rises over the Hunza valley for six thousand meters, and the length of its slope is about ten kilometers. It is not difficult to calculate that the angle of ascent in this case is equal to thirty-one degrees.

In the very north of Nepal, between the eight-kilometer massifs of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, there is the high-mountainous Mustang Valley - the most important ancient caravan route from India and Nepal to transcendental Tibet. Through the gigantic gap between the mountains, like a wind tunnel, a strong wind rushes from the north, from the Brahmaputra valley. "Draft" begins, like clockwork, every day at noon and ends after sunset, when the air temperature from the south and north sides of the Mustang is equal. Life in a constant wind, of course, creates terrible discomfort for the inhabitants of the valley. They have to build houses with very narrow windows, and even seal them with oiled paper from the inside for warmth. And on the north side of the houses there are no windows at all, otherwise it is impossible to keep the heat in the rooms.

Conclusion

The study of the physical and geographical characteristics of the Himalayas made it possible to draw the following conclusions:

1. The Himalayas are located between the Tibetan plateau in the north and the Indo-Gangetic lowland in the south of Eurasia and stretch for 2,400 km.

3. The relief is represented by a system of ridges and intermontane depressions (hollows). The mountains have steep slopes and peaked or ridge-like peaks, covered with eternal snow and glaciers. The total area of ​​glaciers here is 33 thousand km?. The highest peak of the Himalayas is Mount Everest (8848 m), the highest mountain in the world. She was first conquered in 1953.

4. Most of the Himalayan mountains are located in a subequatorial climate. Climate formation takes place here under the condition of positive temperatures, but with a rather noticeable difference in the height of the sun by the seasons. Summer and spring are hot here (up to 35 °). At this time of the year, monsoon winds come here, which bring an abundance of precipitation from the Indian Ocean, they fall mainly on the southern slopes of the mountains (more than 3000 mm). The air temperature near the northern slopes of the Himalayas is lower in winter, since precipitation from the Indian Ocean does not penetrate here, which has a softening effect.

5. Most of the rivers flowing from the Himalayan mountains are tributaries of the Indus and Ganges. Their food is ice-rain. The spill occurs in the summer.

1). At the foot and in the foothills of the Himalayas there is a swampy jungle - terai. They are very rich in vegetation: grasses up to 5 m high, fan and coconut trees, bamboo.

2). At an altitude of 400 to 1500 m, there is a belt of subequatorial humid forests. This belt is characterized by magnolias, citrus fruits, camphor laurel.

3). Above, humid subequatorial forests are replaced up to 2000 m by evergreen subtropical forests, represented by thickets of mimosa.

4). From heights of 2000 to 2500 m, evergreen forests begin to give way to deciduous forests, dominated by maple, bird cherry, chestnuts, oaks, and cherries.

5). Above 2500 m, coniferous forests begin to prevail, which are located up to an altitude of 3500-4000 m.

6). From about 3500 m, the woody vegetation begins to disappear, giving way to meadow vegetation with large forbs.

Across the mountains to the sea with a light backpack. Route 30 passes through the famous Fisht - this is one of the most grandiose and significant natural monuments in Russia, the highest mountains closest to Moscow. Tourists travel lightly through all the landscape and climatic zones of the country, from the foothills to the subtropics, and spend the night in shelters.

There is no other place in the world with such a density of tourist sites as in the Bakhchisarai region! Mountains and sea, rare landscapes and cave cities, lakes and waterfalls, secrets of nature and mysteries of history. Discoveries and the spirit of adventure ... Mountain tourism is not at all difficult here, but any trail pleases with clean springs and lakes.

Adygea, Crimea. Mountains, waterfalls, herbs of alpine meadows, healing mountain air, absolute silence, snowfields in the middle of summer, the murmur of mountain streams and rivers, stunning landscapes, songs by the fires, the spirit of romance and adventure, the wind of freedom are waiting for you! And at the end of the route there are gentle waves of the Black Sea.

Himalayas- This is the highest mountain system of our planet, which stretches in Central and South Asia and is located on the territory of countries such as China, India, Bhutan, Pakistan and Nepal. In this mountain range there are 109 peaks, their average height reaches more than 7 thousand meters above sea level. However, one of them beats them all. So, we will talk about the highest peak of the Himalayan mountain system.

What is it, the highest peak of the Himalayas?

The highest peak of the Himalayas is Mount Chomolungma, or Everest. It rises in the northern part of the Mahalangur-Himal ridge, the highest mountain range on our planet, which can only be reached after arriving in. Its height reaches 8848 m.

Chomolungma- This is the name of the mountain in Tibetan, which means "Divine mother of the Earth." In Nepali, the summit sounds like Sagarmatha, which translates as "Mother of the Gods". It was named Everest in honor of George Everest, a British exploratory scientist who led the geodetic survey in the surrounding territories.

The shape of the highest peak of the Himalayas, Chomolungma, is a triangular pyramid, with a steeper southern slope. As a result, that part of the mountain is practically not covered with snow.

Conquest of the highest peak of the Himalayas

The inaccessible Chomolungma has long attracted the attention of Earth climbers. However, unfortunately, due to unfavorable conditions, the mortality rate here is still high - there were more than 200 official reports of deaths on the mountain. At the same time, almost 3,000 people successfully climbed and descended Everest. The first ascent to the summit took place in 1953 by Nepalese Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary using oxygen devices.