Himalayas - geography.

« Nepal but has eluded discovery by several expeditions. VI PEOPLE AND ECONOMY The population, settlement, and economic patterns within the Himalayas have been greatly influenced by the variations in topography and climate, which impose harshliving conditions and tend to restrict movement and communication.

People living in remote, isolated valleys have generally preserved their cultural identities.

However,improvements in transportation and communication, particularly satellite television programs from Europe and the United States, are bringing access from the outside worldto remote valleys.

These outside influences are affecting traditional social and cultural structure. Nearly 40 million people inhabit the Himalayas.

Generally, Hindus of Indian heritage are dominant in the Sub-Himalayas and the Middle Himalayan valleys from easternKashmīr to Nepal.

To the north Tibetan Buddhists inhabit the Great Himalayas from Ladakh to northeast India.

In central Nepal, in an area between about 1,830 and 2,440m (between about 6,000 and 8,000 ft), the Indian and Tibetan cultures have intermingled, producing a combination of Indian and Tibetan traits.

The eastern Himalayas inIndia and nearby areas of eastern Bhutan are inhabited by animistic people whose culture is similar to those living in northern Myanmar and Yunnan province in China.People of western Kashm īr are Muslims and have a culture similar to the inhabitants of Afghanistan and Iran. The economy of the Himalayas as a whole is poor with low per capita income.

Much of the Himalayas area is characterized by a very low economic growth rate combinedwith a high rate of population growth, which contributes to stagnation in the already low level of per capita gross national product.

Most of the population is dependent onagriculture, primarily subsistence agriculture; modern industries are lacking.

Mineral resources are limited.

The Himalayas has major hydroelectric potential, but thedevelopment of hydroelectric resources requires outside capital investment.

The skilled labor needed to organize and manage development of natural resources is alsolimited due to low literacy rates.

Most of the Himalayan communities face malnutrition, a shortage of safe drinking water, and poor health services and education systems. Agricultural land is concentrated in the Tar āi plain and in the valleys of the Middle Himalayas.

Patches of agricultural land have also been carved out in the mountainousforested areas.

Rice is the principal crop in eastern Tar āi and the well-watered valleys.

Corn is also an important rain-fed crop on the hillsides.

Other cereal crops are wheat,millet, barley, and buckwheat.

Sugarcane, tea, oilseeds, and potatoes are other major crops.

Food production in the Himalayas has not kept up with the population growth. The major industries include processing food grains, making vegetable oil, refining sugar, and brewing beer.

Fruit processing is also important.

A wide variety of fruits aregrown in each of the major zones of the Himalayas, and making fruit juices is a major industry in Nepal, Bhutan, and in the Indian Himalayas. Since 1950 tourism has emerged as a major growth industry in the Himalayas.

Nearly 1 million visitors come to the Himalayas each year for mountain trekking, wildlifeviewing, and pilgrimages to major Hindu and Buddhist sacred places.

The number of foreign visitors has increased in recent years, as organized treks to the icy summits ofthe Great Himalayas have become popular.

While tourism is important to the local economy, it has had an adverse impact on regions where tourist numbers exceed thecapacity of recreational areas. Historically, all transport in the Himalayas has been by porters and pack animals.

Porters and pack animals are still important, but the construction of major roads and thedevelopment of air routes have changed the traditional transportation pattern.

Major urban centers such as Kathmandu, Simla, and Sr īnagar, as well as important touristdestinations, are served by airlines.

Railways link Simla and D ārjiling, but in most of the Himalayas there are no railroads.

The bulk of goods from the Himalayas, as well asgoods destined for places within the Himalayas, generally come to Indian railheads, located in the Tar āi, by road.

The pack animals and porters transport goods from roadheads to the interior and back. VII ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Economic changes and population increases are threatening the ecology of the Himalayas.

In recent years deforestation in the foothills and the Middle Himalayas andovergrazing on the high pastures have led to soil erosion and other environmental problems.

Deforestation is a particular concern in the western Himalayas, whereincreased demand for firewood, extensive tree trimming in order to feed livestock, and construction of roads in the border regions have increased the destruction rate offorests and the number of landslides.

Rapid population growth has accelerated pollution, and Himalayan streams that were once clear are now polluted with refuse andsewage.

Hill people who use the water for drinking suffer from dysentery; cholera and typhoid epidemics are also common.

Large lakes like Dal in Kashm īr and Naini Lake(Nainital) have also become polluted. Regional variations in environmental degradation exist in the Himalayas.

Conditions range from a critical situation in the Himalayas of Nepal, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, andKashm īr to a moderately serious situation in Bhutan and the eastern Himalayas.

If rapid development continues in Bhutan and the eastern Himalayas without due regard forconservation, the problems there may assume critical proportions in the near future.

The governments of India, Nepal, and Bhutan are aware of the dangers ofenvironmental degradation in the Himalayas, and environmental management concerns are being integrated in development projects in this region. Contributed By:Pradyumna P.

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