Life in the Deserts - iSTUDYNCERT.com

Here is the class notes from Class 7 NCERT Geography- Chapter 10: Life in the Deserts

It is an arid region characterised by extremely high or low temperatures and has scarce vegetation.
These are characterised by low rainfall, scanty vegetation and extreme temperatures.
Depending on the temperatures there can be hot deserts or cold deserts.

Sahara desert covering a large part of North Africa.
It has an area of around 8.54 million sq. km.
The Sahara desert touches eleven countries.
- Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara.
It is the vast stretches of sands.
There are also gravel plains and elevated plateaus with bare rocky surface.
These rocky surfaces may be more than 2500m high at some places.

Vegetation in the Sahara desert includes cactus, date palms and acacia.
In some places there are oasis – green islands with date palms surrounding them.
Animals- Camels, hyenas, jackals, foxes, scorpions, many varieties of snakes and lizards.

The Sahara desert despite its harsh climate has been inhabited by various groups of people.
- Example- Bedouins and Tuaregs
These groups are nomadic tribes rearing livestock such as goats, sheep, camels and horses.
The oasis in the Sahara and the Nile Valley in Egypt supports settled population.
- Grows date palm, rice, wheat, barley and beans
The discovery of oil in Algeria, Libya and Egypt is constantly transforming the Sahara desert.
Important minerals are found in the area include iron, phosphorus, manganese and uranium.

Ladakh is made up of two words – “La” meaning ‘mountain pass’ and “Dak” meaning ‘country’.
Ladakh is a cold desert lying in the Great Himalayas, on the eastern side of Jammu and Kashmir .
Lies between Karakoram Range in the north and Zanskar range in the south.
Several rivers flow through Ladakh, Indus being the most important among them.
The rivers form deep valleys and gorges.
Several glaciers are found in Ladakh, for example the Gangri glacier.

Due to its high altitude, the climate is extremely cold and dry.
The air at this altitude is so thin that the heat of the sun can be felt intensely.
The day temperatures in summer are just above zero degree and the night temperatures well below –30°C.
It is freezing cold in the winters when the temperatures may remain below –40°C for most of the time.
Ladakh lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas, there is little rainfall, as low as 10 cm every year.
The area experiences freezing winds and burning hot sunlight.
Ladakh is also known as Khapa-chan which means snow land.

The vegetation is sparse.
There are scanty patches of grasses and shrubs for animals to graze.
Groves of willows and poplars are seen in the valleys.
During the summers, fruit trees such as apples, apricots and walnuts bloom.
Several species of birds are sighted in Ladakh. Robins, redstarts, Tibetan snowcock, raven and hoopoe are common. Some of these are migratory birds.
The animals of Ladakh are wild goats, wild sheep, yak and special kinds of dogs.

The people here are either Muslims or Buddhists.
Some famous monasteries are Hemis, Thiksey, Shey and Lamayuru are located here.
In the summer season the people are busy cultivating barley, potatoes, peas, beans and turnip.
The climate in winter months is so harsh that people keep themselves engaged in festivities and ceremonies.
The women are very hard working. They work not only in the house and fields, but also manage small business and shops.
Leh, the capital of Ladakh is well connected both by road and air.
- The National Highway 1A connects Leh to Kashmir Valley through the Zoji la Pass.
Manali – Leh highway crosses four passes, Rohtang la, Baralacha la Lungalacha la and Tanglang la.
- The highway opens only between July and September when snow is cleared from the road.
Tourism is a major activity