Dr. Charles Metelka - University of Wisconsin-Stout

Northern Plateau
The Northern Plateau contains the undulating lowlands at the foothills of the
mountain. This area includes fertile Peshawar valley (ancient Gandhara) lying westwards
of Indus and the sandy eroded Potwar Plateau situated between Northern Punjab and the
capital, Islamabad. At the southern tip of Potwar is the dry salt range while the northeast
region of Punjab is the most fertile and catches bit of monsoon. (King, 1993, p.25)
Western Mountains
This region runs from Hindukush down through the tribal lands of NWFP and
Eastern Balochistan in arange of dry scrub mountains ranging from 1500 m to 2500 m
and called Suleiman Mountains in NWFP and Kirthar in Balochistan. However, the most
striking and famous feature of this region is Khyber Pass, the gateway to Afghanistan.
(King, 1993, p.25)
Balochistan Plateau
This hilly, parched and inhospitable plateau across Western Balochistan averages
about 300 m in elevation and is the least populous part of the country. Some of the
Pakistan's earliest known Inhabitants reared livestock in this region in the 4 th Millennium
BC. (king, 1993, p.25)
Southeast Desert
The barren Southeast desert region spreads from east of Indus and Sutlej rivers in
Sindh and southern Punjab across to Rajasthan in India. In Punjab, this dry arid desert is
called Cholistan and in Sindh it is known as "Thar" or "Tharparkar". (King, 1993, p.25)
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