Prelims ask
Himalayan glaciers, Bay of Bengal, largest delta with the Brahmaputra.
Asia · Himalayan world system, not an India drainage note
Ganga
Not the longest Asian river. The combined delta is the world fact.
- Source
- Gangotri glacier (Bhagirathi) and the Alaknanda system. Confluence at Devprayag. Indian Himalaya.
- Countries
- India and Bangladesh. Nepal feeds it through the Ghaghara, Gandak and Kosi but is not on the main stem.
- Direction
- East, then southeast.
- Mouth
- Bay of Bengal.
- Length
- About 2,525 km.
- Major tributaries
- Yamuna, Ghaghara, Gandak, Kosi, Son. Learn them as Himalayan or peninsular only if a later India module asks. Here, Yamuna is the pair to remember.
- Delta or estuary
- The Ganga–Brahmaputra–Meghna delta is the largest delta on Earth. The Hugli is the Indian distributary; the Padma–Meghna is the Bangladesh course.
- Basin
- Sundarbans lie on this delta.
- One exam fact
- Included only so the world’s largest delta has an owner. Do not revise peninsular tributaries from this card.
Mains use
One line in a world-delta comparison. Nothing more belongs in a world answer.