Chapter Notes and Summary
• India in North is bounded by Himalayas, Arabian sea in West, Bay of Bengal in East and Indian Ocean in South.
• India has an area of about 3.28 million sq. Km.
• North South extent from Kashmir to Kanyakumari is about 3,200 km. Thus, west extent from Arunachal Pradesh to Kuchchh is about 2900 km.
Locational Setting
• Tropic of Cancer (23°30’ N) passes almost halfway through country.
• From South to North. India extends between 8°4’ N and 37°6’ N latitudes.
• From West to East, India extends between 68°7’ E and 97°25’ E longitudes.
• local time changes by four minutes for every one degree of longitude.
• local time of longitude of 82°30’ E has been taken as Indian Standard Time.
India’s Neighbours
• There are seven countries that share land boundaries with India.
• seven countries are Afganistan, Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan. Myanmar and Bangladesh.
• Island neighbours are Sri Lanka and Maldives.
• Sri Lanka is separated from India by Palk Strait.
Political and Administrative Divisions
• India is divided into 29 states and 7 union territories.
• Delhi is national capital.
• Rajasthan is largest state and Goa is smallest state in terms of area.
Physical Divisions
• Himalayas in North are divided into three main parallel ranges.
• three main parallel ranges are Great Himalaya or Himadri, Middle Himalaya or Himachal and Shiwalik.
• Northern Indian plains lie to South of Himalayas.
• In Western part of India lies Great Indian desert.
• To South of Northern plains lies peninsular plateau.
• Aravali hills is one of oldest ranges of world.
• Western Ghats or Sahyadris border plateau in West and Eastern Ghats provide Eastern boundary.
• To West of Western Ghats and East of Eastern Ghats lie coastal plains.
• rivers Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri drain into Bay of Bengal.
• Sunderban delta is formed where Ganga and Brahmaputra flow into Bay of Bengal.
• Lakshadweep Islands are located in Arabian Sea.
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie to South-East of Indian mainland.