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Southern India CHAPTER

For those that like sultry weather, Southern India has it in spades. Its tropical climate keeps the temperatures on a scale from warm to scorching for most of the year. The locals say there are three seasons: summer (March-May), the monsoon season (June-September), and winter (October-February). In summer, temperatures inland average around 113°Fahrenheit (45°Celsius), but along the coast, they’re relatively more comfortable around 95°Fahrenheit (35°Celsius), thanks to the ocean breezes. There are two mountain ranges, the Western and Eastern Ghats, which bookend the large Deccan Plateau, described by National Geographic as a “flat, elevated landform that rises sharply above the surrounding area,” located south of the Narmada River. At 138,361 square miles (222,670 square kilometers), the plateau is almost the size of Montana. Strongly Diverse The people who live in the five southern states are called Dravidians because they speak one of the Dravidian languages, which include Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Brahui, and Tulu. More than 200 million people in Southern India speak a Dravidian language.

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