The Himalayas act as a border between the two most populous countries in the world, India and China. The Himalayas begin around the Siwalik plains in India, which drastically turn into hillsides with a 7000 ft average elevation, where the mountainous valley then extends to the largest snowy mountains in the world, followed by bordering outside hills in China. Historically both of these nations have been agrarian economies, subsistence farmers who had very little negative impact on the land. Therefore, up until 1950 the Himalayas remained a treasure of vast forest and ice caps, providing both wood and water at a renewable rate. It was not until the second world war that this all started to change. Today, the environment is being degraded at an aggressive pace as both India and China grow beyond capacity in the process of industrializing (Guha, 2000).
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