Consider the following pairs:
| Peak | Mountains | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Namcha Barwa | Garhwal Himalaya |
| 2. | Nanda Devi | Kumaon Himalaya |
| 3. | Nokrek | Sikkim Himalaya |
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 only
Why not the tempting option · The tempting objection is that Nanda Devi stands in Chamoli, in the Garhwal division of Uttarakhand; but 'Kumaon Himalaya' in the regional divisions of the range means the whole stretch between the Satluj and the Kali, which takes in Garhwal, and Nanda Devi is its highest peak.
Only pair 2 is right. In the regional divisions of the Himalaya, the Kumaon Himalaya is the stretch between the Satluj and the Kali, the whole of Uttarakhand including Garhwal, and Nanda Devi (7,816 m) is its highest peak. Namcha Barwa stands at the eastern end of the range, where the Brahmaputra bends round it into Arunachal Pradesh, nowhere near Garhwal; Nokrek is in Meghalaya, not in the Himalaya at all.
- ✗ 1. Namcha Barwa (7,755 m) is in the eastern Himalaya, at the great bend where the river emerges from the foothills as the Siang or Dihang and enters Arunachal Pradesh. Garhwal is at the other end of the range.
- ✓ 2. Nanda Devi (7,816 m) is the highest peak of the Kumaon Himalaya. The peak itself stands in Chamoli, in Uttarakhand's Garhwal division, but 'Kumaon Himalaya' in the regional divisions of the range means the whole stretch between the Satluj and the Kali, which takes in Garhwal; NCERT uses this very division.
- ✗ 3. NCERT lists Nokrek as a biosphere reserve in Meghalaya (1988), in the Garo Hills of the north-east, not in the Sikkim Himalaya.
Remember · Regional divisions of the Himalaya by rivers: Punjab (Indus to Satluj), Kumaon (Satluj to Kali), Nepal (Kali to Teesta), Assam (Teesta to Dihang). Nanda Devi: highest peak of the Kumaon Himalaya, Uttarakhand. Namcha Barwa: eastern end, at the Brahmaputra's bend. Nokrek: Meghalaya.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 9 Contemporary India I, Ch 2 Physical Features of India (Internet Archive copy of the ncert.nic.in PDF, which refuses scripted fetches) ↗ “The part of the Himalayas lying between Satluj and Kali rivers is known as Kumaon Himalayas.”
- NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 3 “Himalayas near Namcha Barwa (7,755 m). The river emerges from the foothills under the name of Siang or Dihang. It enters India west of Sadiya town in Arunachal Pradesh.”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Kumaun Himalayas ↗ · reference work “It rises to 25,646 feet (7,817 metres) at Nanda Devi , the range’s highest peak, and to 25,446 feet (7,756 metres) at Kamet, near the Chinese border.”
- NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 5 “2. Nanda Devi 1988 Uttarakhand. 3. Nokrek 1988 Meghalaya. 4. Manas 1989 Assam”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·