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Module - III Geo-Strategy

Security and Geo-Strategy
monsoon in character throughout India below a height of 900 meters. Owing to
unequal amount of rainfall in various regions and varied conditions, India is rich
in a number of species of plants which range from drought resisting thorny scrub
to tropical wet evergreen forests.

The lofty Himalayas grow a large variety of vegetation, the zonal distribution of
which varies from tropical to alpine types. India also has a variety of climatic
Note
regions. It has tropical rain forests found in the coastal plains and western Ghats
and parts of North East India, tropical Savanna, Semi-arid, Tropical desert,
humid sub-tropical climate with dry winters and mountainous climate in mountains
above the range of 6,000 m such as the Himalayas and the Karakoram range of
mountains.
• Forests are important resource of a country and play an important role in the
country's economy. India has a very valuable asset in this varied wealth. It is
considered that in a tropical climate, one third of the total area should be under
forests for maintaining suitable climate conditions. The distribution of forests in
our country is very uneven. This is largely because of irregular distribution of
precipitation or rainfall. India's forest covers about 19% of the total geographical
area. The distribution of forests in India is as follows:

(a) Tropical Moist forest - 23.30%
(b) Dry deciduous forest - 29.15%

(c) Tropical Thorn forest - 5.25%
(d) Tropical Wet Evergreen - 4.50%
(e) Sub Tropical (Pune) - 3.75%

(f) Moist Temp (Himalayan) - 2.70%
(g) Wet Temperate - 1.60%

(h) Others - 29.75%

7.2.3 Mineral Resources
Minerals form the basis of the industrial development of a country. India is fortunate to
have rich deposits of some essential minerals. There are large reserves of coal, iron
ore, mica, manganese ore, magnesite, bauxite and thorium. Coal is found in West
Bengal, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. While these minerals
are adequate and distributed throughout the country, some are inadequate.

Petroleum, phosphates, sulphur and potash fall considerably short of the requirement
of the country. Hence, India is forced to depend on other countries for the supply of
these minerals. The distribution of important mineral resources in India is as under:

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MILITARY STUDIES