Natural Home Cures Crystal Salt Population, Habitation, and the Economy

T he population, habitation and the economy in the Himalayas have been greatly influenced by variations in climate and topography which both impose harsh living environments and tend to hinder movement and communication. The literal translation of Himalayas is ‘Abode of Snow’, which was coined by joining two Sanskrit words — ‘hima’ (snow) and ‘alaya’ (abode). They are one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and are the result of tectonic plate motions that collided India into Tibet. The Himalayas cover approximately 1500 miles and passes through the nations of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Bhutan, and Nepal.⁽¹⁾

Mount Everest, located in the Mahalangur mountain range within Nepal and Tibet is the highest mountain peak on the entire planet at an altitude of 29,029 feet.⁽²⁾ The Himalayas are the third largest deposit of ice and snow in the world with 15,000 glaciers located throughout the range.  However, it is not all snow and ice, the Himalayas are rich in biodiversity! The geographic variation is stunning and among the snowcapped mountains, you can find jungles and green vegetation landscapes.⁽³⁾ Climates range from tropical at the base of the mountains to perennial snow and ice at the highest elevations. and the range affects air and water circulation systems as well as impacting the weather conditions.⁽⁴⁾ The weather changes very quickly and the region is prone to prone to monsoons, floods, snowstorms, landslides, earthquakes, tremors and high winds.

Approximately 40 million people live in the Himalayas. In general, the Sub-Himalayas and the Middle Himalayan valleys from eastern Kashmir to Nepal are dominated by Hindus of Indian heritage. To the north, Tibetan Buddhists inhabit the Himalayas from Ladakh to northeast India. In central Nepal, the Indian and Tibetan cultures have inter-fused, producing a combination of Indian and Tibetan traits. The eastern Himalayas in India and adjacent areas of eastern Bhutan are home to people whose culture is much like those living in northern Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China. People of western Kashmir are Muslims and have a culture quite similar to the people of Iran and
Afghanistan.⁽⁵⁾

Economic conditions in the Himalayas depend partly on the limited resources available in different areas of the vast region of varied ecological zones. The primary activity is animal husbandry, but trade, forestry, and tourism are equally important.⁽⁶⁾ The Himalayas are rich in economic resources. These include extensive grasslands and forests, pockets of rich tillable land, mineral deposits, hydro-power, and an exquisite natural beauty.

The most productive lands in the western Himalayas are in the Vale of Kashmir, the Sutlej River basin, the Kangra valley, and the terraces flanking the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in Uttarakhand; these areas produce rice, wheat, maize, and millet.⁽⁷⁾ In the central Himalayas in Nepal, two-thirds of the arable land is situated in the foothills and on nearby plains. This land yields the majority of the total rice production of the nation.The region also produces crops of corn, potatoes, wheat, and sugarcane. Most of the fruit orchards of the Himalayas lie in the Kullu valley of Himachal Pradesh and the Vale of Kashmir. Fruits that are in great demand in the cities of India such as apples, peaches, pears, and cherries are grown extensively.⁽⁸⁾ On the shores of Dal Lake in Kashmir, there are rich vineyards that produce grapes used to make brandy and wine.⁽⁹⁾ On the hills surrounding the Vale of Kashmir grow almond and walnut trees.

The Himalayas are rich in minerals, although mining is restricted to the more accessible areas. The Kashmir region has the largest concentration of minerals. Sapphires are found in the Zaskar Mountains, and alluvial gold is recovered in the bed of the Indus River. There are huge deposits of copper ore in Baltistan, and iron ores are mined in the Vale of Kashmir. Ladakh possesses borax and sulfur deposits.  Coal seams are found in the Jammu Hills.Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim have extensive deposits of coal, gypsum, mica, and graphite and ores of copper, iron, lead, and zinc.⁽¹⁰⁾

The Himalayan rivers have a tremendous potential for hydroelectric generation. This potential has been harnessed extensively in India since the 1950s. A huge multipurpose project is located at Bhakra-Nangal on the Sutlej River in the Outer Himalayas; its reservoir was completed in 1963 and has a storage capacity of about 348 billion cubic feet of water and a total installed generating capacity of 1,050 megawatts.Three other Himalayan rivers, the Gandak, the Kosi, and the Jaldhaka have been harnessed by India, who also supplies power to Nepal and Bhutan.⁽¹¹⁾

Tourism is increasingly becoming an important source of income and employment in parts of the Himalayas, particularly in Nepal. ⁽¹²⁾

      Source References
(1) Wikipedia - Himalayas

(2) Britannica - Mt. Everest

(3) Encyclopedia of Earth - Himalayas Biodiversity

(4) Himalayan Wonders - Climate

(5) Himalaya2000 - Population

(6) YourArticleLibrary - Economic Significance of the Himalayas

(7) U. of Heildelberg - Western Himalayan Economics

(8) Wikipedia - Central Himalayan Agriculture

(9) Wine Searcher - Nepalese Wine

(10) University of Arizona - Himalayas Minerals

(11) World Bank - Himalayan Hydropower

(12) Himalayan Tourism - Himalayan Tourism