Geography of Orissa
The state of Orissa covers an area of 1,55,707 sq.km.
having a coastline of about 480 km on the Bay of Bengal.
It lies between 17° 31' and 22° 31' The Western Rolling
Uplands are lower in elevation, 153-305 m and have a
bedrock of hard soil and a lot of flora and fauna. 31' N
latitude and 81° 31' and 87° 3°' E longitude. Bounded by
West Bengal in the northeast, Jharkhand in the North,
Andhra Pradesh in the South, Chattisgarh in the West,
the State is open to the Bay of Bengal on the East.
Morphologically it can be broadly divided into five
major regions. The coastal plains in the East, the
middle mountainous and highlands region of north and
northwest, the central plateaus, the Western rolling
uplands and the major flood plains.
Accounting for about ten percent of total surface
area, the coastal plains belong to the post tertiary
period and are formed by the alluvial deposits of the
six major rivers-the Subarnarekha, the Budhabalanga, the
Baitarani, the Brahmani, the Mahanadi, and the
Rushikulya. The region stretches from the West Bengal
border i.e. from the river Subarnarekha in the north to
the river Rushikulya in the South. This region slopes
eastwards, maximum width in the middle (the Mahanadi
delta), narrow in the North (Balasore plain comprising
deltas of the Subarnarekha and the Budhabalanga) and
narrowest in the South (Ganjam plain comprising smaller
delta of the Rushikulya). The South coastal plain also
comprises the laccustrine plains of Chilika Lake. The
long stretch of land covers the districts of Balasore,
Cuttack, Puri and a part of Ganjam with miles and miles
of paddy fields constituting the 'rice bowl' of the
State.
The area inland is made of the ancient
landmass of peninsular India and covers about
three-fourth of the entire state. The Middle Mountainous
and Highlands Region mostly comprises the hills and
mountains of the Eastern ghats rising steeply in the
East and slope gently to a dissected plateau in the west
running from northeast (Mayurbhanj) to northwest (Malkangiri).
These appear like scattered series of steep ridges
interrupted by a number of river valleys and flood
plains. The elevation varies between 300-1200m. The
entire area very rich in mineral resources in mainly
inhabited by tribes.
The plateaus are mostly flat forming the western
slopes of the Eastern ghats with elevation varying
between 305-310 m. There are two broad plateaus in
Orissa: the Panposh-Keonjhar-Pallahara plateau
comprising the upper Baitarani catchment's basin and the
Nabrangpur-Jeypore plateau comprises the Sabari basin.
The Western Rolling Uplands are lower in elevation,
153-305 m and have a bedrock of hard soil and a lot of
flora and fauna.
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