This article is the current India Collaboration of the week. Please help improve it to featured article standard.

Perspective view of the Himalaya and Mount Everest as seen from space looking south-south-east from over the Tibetan Plateau. (annotated version)

The Himalaya (the Himalayan Range) is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent on the south from the Tibetan Plateau on the north. The proper name for the range is Himalaya, though the name Himalayas is commonly used.

The world's highest peaks, including the tallest peak Mount Everest, are located in the Himalaya range.

The word Himalaya means "abode of snow" in Sanskrit (him "snow", and aalaya "home, abode"). It is pronounced with a long first a and a short second a, as /himaalayaa/, and rhymes with "him ah lye ah". In Hindi, the final a may be dropped, making it "him ah lye".

Origin and growth of the Himalaya

According to plate tectonics, the Himalaya is the result of a continental collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. The collision began in the early Cenozoic Era (40 to 50 million years ago), when the north-moving Indian plate collided with the Eurasian plate. This collision also formed the Arakan Yoma highlands in Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

Geologists predict that the Himalaya would rise at the rate of about 8 to 10 centimeters per year if plate tectonics were the only factor. There are also, however, the processes of weathering and erosion which are wearing the mountains down. The approximate net growth of the Himalaya amounts to 2.5 to 5 centimeters per century.

River systems

Since the Himalayas are snow-clad throughout the year, they are the source for several large perennial rivers. The Indus flows southwest through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. The Ganges flows southeast through northern India and Bangladesh to the Bay of Bengal. The Brahmaputra flows southeast through Tibet and turns sharply to flow west through eastern India before meeting the Ganges in Bangladesh, after which both rivers drain into the Bay of Bengal. The Irrawaddy and the Salween both flow south through Myanmar.

The Mekong, the Chang Jiang and the Huang He all originate from other parts of the Tibetan plateau, and are not considered true Himalayan rivers.

Impact on climate

The Himalayas have a profound effect on the climate of the Indian subcontinent and that of the Tibetan plateau. It prevents frigid Arctic winds from blowing south, which ensures that South Asia never gets as cold as Siberia. It also prevents the monsoon winds from carrying their humidity northwards, causing heavy rainfall in the Terai region and contributing to the formation of Central Asian deserts such as the Taklamakan, and the Gobi.

Impact on politics and culture

The Himalayas have been a natural barrier to the movement of people both during peace and during war. This has ensured that India and China have never had strong overland trade routes, and it has also ensured that the two countries have never been involved in military conflict until the mid 20th century.

An estimated 750 million people live in the watershed area of the Himalayan rivers.

Himal

Himal is Nepalese for "range" and is used to name the various regions of the Himalaya. In Nepal, these are as follows:

• Annapurna Himal
• Ganesh Himal
• Khumbu Himal
• Langtang Himal
• Manang Himal
• Rolwaling Himal

Need to insert descriptions of these himals, preferably with an annotated map. Are these geographic concepts or are they Nepalese (traditional) concepts?

Notable individual peaks

• Everest 8,850 m (29,035 ft)
• K2 8,611 m (28,251 ft)
• Kanchenjunga 8,586 m (28,169 ft)
• Lhotse 8,501 m (27,939 ft)
• Makalu 8,462 m (27,765 ft)
• Cho Oyu 8,201 m (26,906 ft)
• Dhaulagiri 8,167 m (26,764 ft)
• Manaslu 8,163 m (26,758 ft)
• Nanga Parbat 8,126 m (26,658 ft)
• Annapurna 8,091 m (26,545 ft)
• Gasherbrum I 8,068 m (26,470 ft)
• Broad Peak 8,047 m (26,400 ft)
• Gasherbrum II 8,035 m (26,360 ft)
• Shishapangma 8,027 m (26,289 ft)
• Gyachung Kang7,922 m (26,089 ft)
• Nanda Devi 7,817 m (25,645 ft)
• Kabru 7,338 m (24,258 ft) - south of Kangchenjunga
• Pumori 7,161 m (23,494 ft) - a popular climbing peak

See also

• Eight-thousander - a list of Himalayan peaks over 8000 metres
• Geography of China
• List of mountains in Pakistan
• Trekking peak

External links

• Geology of the Himalayan Mountains (http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~wittke/Tibet/Himalaya.html)
• Birth of the Himalayas (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/earth/birth.html)
• Some notes on Himalayas formation (http://snobear.colorado.edu/Markw/Mountains/03/week11.html)

ca:Himàlaia bg:Хималаи da:Himalaya de:Himalaya es:Himalaya fr:Himalaya it:Himalaya ms:Himalaya nl:Himalaya ja:ヒマラヤ山脈 pl:Himalaje pt:Himalaia fi:Himalaja sv:Himalaya uk:Гімалаї zh-cn:喜马拉雅山脉