INDIA GEOGRAPHY- INDIA SIZE AND LOCATION

 INDIAN GEOGRAPHY

India – Size and Location:

Location: India lies entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and is longitudinally located in the Eastern Hemisphere.

• Latitude – between 8°4′ N & 37°6′ N, from south to north.

• Longitude – between 68°7′ E & 97°25′ E, from west to east.

• The Tropic of Cancer (23°30′ N) divides India into almost two equal parts. It passes through eight states – Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.
• To the south-east of the mainland lies the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
• To the south-west of the mainland lies the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian sea.
• The southernmost part of India called “Indira Point” (Great Nicobar Island of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands) got submerged under seawater in 2004 during the Tsunami.

Size:

Area – 3.28 million square km. About 2.4 % of the total geographical area of the world.

It is the 7th largest country in the world. (7 countries in the decreasing order of their size – Russia, Canada, USA, China, Brazil, Australia, India).

Land boundary – approx. 15,200 km.

• Total length of the coastal line, including Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands –   7517 km.
• Both the longitudinal and latitudinal extent of the mainland is approx. 30°, despite the fact that the north-south extent seems to be larger than the east-west.
• The mainland of India extends from Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari in the south (3214 km) and Arunachal Pradesh in the east to Gujarat in the west (2933 km).
• The territorial limit of India extends towards the sea up to 12 nautical miles (~ 21.9 km) from the coast. (1 Nautical mile ~ 1.852 km).
• The southern part of the country lies within the Tropics and the northern part lies in the sub-tropical zone or the warm temperate zone. This location is responsible for large variations in landforms, climate, soil types and natural vegetation in the country.
• The Standard Meridian of India (82°30′ E) passes through Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh and is taken as the standard time for the whole country (there is a time lag of 2 hrs from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh).
• Indian Standard Time (IST) is ahead of Greenwich Mean Time by 5 hours and 30 minutes. The Standard Meridian of India passes through Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

India and the World:

• India is located in the south-central part of the continent of Asia.
• India shares its land boundaries with seven countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan in the north-west, China, Nepal and Bhutan in the north and Myanmar and Bangladesh in the east.
• Among these, the longest border is shared by Bangladesh (4096.7 km) and the shortest by Afghanistan (106 km). Across the Sea, the southern neighbours are Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrow channel of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar, and Maldives islands are situated to the south of the Lakshadweep islands.

 

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