Which one of the following types of forests is most widespread in India ?

Tropical deciduous forests are the most widespread forest type in India, commonly referred to as monsoon forests [4][t1]. These forests are distributed across regions receiving annual rainfall between 70 cm and 200 cm [1][t1]. They are further categorized into moist deciduous (100–200 cm rainfall) and dry deciduous (70–100 cm rainfall) based on water availability [4]. While the deciduous group as a whole is the most extensive, the Tropical Dry Deciduous forest specifically covers the largest portion of India's geographical area compared to other subtypes [c2][t2]. They are found extensively across the Peninsular plateau, the plains of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan [c2]. In contrast, Tropical Wet Evergreen forests are restricted to high rainfall zones like the Western Ghats and Andaman Islands [c2][t1], and Mangroves cover only about 0.15% of the country [t6].

Sources

1. [1] INDIA PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, Geography Class XI (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 5: Natural Vegetation > Tropical Deciduous Forests > p. 44
2. [4] Environment and Ecology, Majid Hussain (Access publishing 3rd ed.) > Chapter 4: BIODIVERSITY > social relevance of forests > p. 21