The Western Ghats, also known as Sahyadri, are a mountain range that covers an area of 140,000 km2 a stretch of 1,600 km Parallel to the Western Coast of the Indian peninsula, traversing the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. UNESCO declared 39 places in the Western Ghats as World Heritage Sites in 2012. It is one of the 8 hottest hotspots of biological diversity in the world. It has 2 reserves and 13 national parks.