1. Bio- and Geo-diversity in India

2. The Dal Lake is a huge reservoir of crystal-clear water situated in Kashmir, famous as tourist attraction. Kashmiri people live in the lake in their “house-boats” and also give a tour of the lake to the interested in smaller boats called “Shikara”.

3. The Thar Desert , also known as the Great Indian Desert, lies mostly in Rajasthan. About 10% of it consists of shifting sand dunes with remaining 90% being fixed dunes, inter-dunal areas, rock outcrops, and salt pans generally devoid of vegetation, with grasslands and shrublands in some places.

4. Millets, wheat, pulses, maize, sugarcane and cotton are the main crops of northern India .

5. The Sahyaadri mountain range (1600 km) borders the western edge of India and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. Running through five coastal states, from Gujarat to Kerala, it has average elevation of 900 meters. It serves as important wildlife corridor, also intercepting the rain-bearing westerly monsoon winds.

6. The main crops of central and western India are sugarcane, oilseeds, millets, coconuts and tapioca.

7. Seven major rivers, Sindhu, Ganga, Brahmaputra, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Mahanadi, along with their numerous tributaries make up the river system of India . Most rivers pour their waters into the Bay of Bengal to the east, some empty into the Arabian Sea. All major rivers originate from one of the three main watersheds, Himaalaya and Karakoram ranges in north India, Vindhya and Satpuda ranges in central India and Sahyadri range in western India.

8. The Rain forests of India are concentrated mainly in the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura, known as the “Seven Sisters”. This region receives heavy rainfall and hence is covered with thick, lush green forests.

9. Goa, a state on the western coast, is internationally renowned for its beaches and visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. Some of the better known beaches are Calangute, Candolim, Mapusa.

10. The main crops cultivated in south India include paddy, sorghum, millet, pulses, cotton, chilli, and ragi.

11. The backwaters of Kerala are a chain of brackish lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the coast. The network includes five large lakes linked by 1500 km of canals, both manmade and natural, fed by 38 rivers. The backwaters were formed by the action of waves and shore currents creating low barrier island across the mouths of the many rivers.

12. The rice, jute and tea plantations are the main cultivations in eastern India .

13. The Himaalaya is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The name is a Sanskrit word meaning "the abode of snow". It is the home to quite a few of the world's highest peaks including the Mt. Everest.

15. India Night 2006