Mountains, Plateaus and Plains

Landforms are the large shapes of Earth's surface, and each tells a story of tectonic forces building land up and erosion wearing it down. The Himalaya began rising when the Indian plate collided with Eurasia, around 50 million years ago, and it is still rising today. Older ranges such as the Appalachians were once comparable in height but have been worn down over hundreds of millions of years. Plateaus are high, relatively flat areas, like the Tibetan Plateau, whose average height exceeds 4,500 metres.

Plains, often built from river sediment, are flat lowlands that support farming and dense populations, which is why so many people live on the plains of northern India, eastern China and the American Midwest. Landforms shape human life by steering transport routes, concentrating rainfall on windward slopes and creating barriers that have historically separated languages and states.