The Indian Desert (a) The Indian desert lies towards the Western margin of the Aravali hills. (b) It is an undulating sandy plain covered with sand dunes. (c) This region receives very low rainfall, below 150 mm per year. (d) It has arid climate with low vegetation cover. (e) Streams appear during the rainy season. Soon they disappear into the sand as they do not have enough water to reach the sea. (f) Luni is the only large river in this region. (g) Barchan (Crescent shaped duners) cover the larger areas but longitudinal dunes become more prominent near the Indo-Pakistan border. (h) The Indian desert is popularly known as the Thar desert.The Island Groups of India India has two groups of islands namely the Lakshadweep group and the Andaman and Nicobar group. (a) The Lakshadweep Islands Group lie close to the Malabar coast of Kerala. •These islands are composed of small coral islands. •Earlier, they were known as Laccadlve, Minicoy and Amindive. In 1973, these were renamed as the Lakshadweep. •They cover a small area of 32 sq km. •Kavaratti Island is the administrative headquarters of Lakshadweep. •This island group has a great diversity of flora and fauna. •The Pitti Island, which is uninhabited, has a bird sanctuary.(b) Andaman and Nicobar Islands •The elongated chain of islands located in the Bay of Bengal extending from north to south are the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. •They are bigger in size and more numerous and scattered than the Lakshadweep Islands. •The entire group of islands is divided into two broad categories, the Andaman in the north and Nicobar in the south. •It is believed that these islands are an elevated portion of the submarine mountains. •These islands are of great – strategic importance for the country. •They have great diversity of flora and fauna. •These islands lie close to the equator experience equatorial climate and have thick forest cover.