Overview
• India lies entirely in Northern hemisphere between latitudes 8°4’N and 37°6’N and longitudes 68°7’ E and 97°25’ E and is divided by Tropic of Cancer [23°30’N] in almost two equal parts.
• In Southwest, Lakshadweep islands lie in Arabian Sea. India extends from Kashmir in North to Kanyakumari in South and Arunachal Pradesh in East to Gujarat in West.
• India’s territorial limit further extends towards sea-up to 12 nautical miles [about 21.9 km] from coast. 1 statute mile = about 1.6 km [1.584 km] 1 nautical mile = about 1.8 km [1.852 km]
• Southern boundary extends of India, they are roughly about 30 degrees, whereas actual distance measured from North extremity is 3214 km and that from east to west is 2933 km.
• Distance between two longitudes decreases towards poles whereas distance between two latitudes remains same everywhere.
• Southern part of country lies within tropics and northern part lies in sub-tropical zone or warm temperature zone. This location is responsible for large variations in landforms, climate, soil types and natural vegetation in country.
Size
• total area of India is 3.28 million square km which is 2.4% of total area of world.
• India is seventh-largest country in world in terms of landmass. It has a land boundary of about 15,200 km & total length of coastline of mainland including Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands is 7,516.6 km. In northwest, north, & northeast of India, young fold mountains bound it.
Indian Subcontinent
• It includes countries, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and India.
• Himalayas, together with other ranges, have acted as a formidable barrier in past. Except for a few mountain passes such as Bomdila and others, it is difficult to cross it. Contributed to evolution of a unique regional identity of Indian SubContinent.
• peninsular part of India extends towards Indian Ocean. It provides country with a coastline of 6100 km on mainland and 7517 km on entire geographical coast of mainland. There are island groups like, Andaman & Nicobar which are located in Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep in Arabian Sea.
India and its Neighbours
• India is located in south-central part of continent of Asia, bordering Indian Ocean and its two arms extending in form of Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. This maritime location of peninsular India has provided links to its neighbouring regions through sea and air routes.
• Sri Lanka and Maldives are two island countries located in Indian Ocean, which are our neighbouring countries and Sri Lanka is separated from India by Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait.
Neighbours
• India is comprised of 29 states and 7 union territories and shares its land boundary with:
Northwest: Pakistan and Afghanistan
North: China, Nepal & Bhutan
East: Myanmar and Bangladesh
South: Sri Lanka and Maldives
• Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrow channel of sea formed by Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar.
• Maldives Islands are situated to south of Lakshadweep Islands.
• A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides and connected to mainland on one side.
Standard Meridian
Time of India
• A general understanding among countries of world to select Standard Meridian. Indian Standard Time is ahead of Greenwich Mean Time by 5 hours and 30 minutes.
• There are some countries where there is more than one standard meridian due to their vast east to west extent. For example, USA has seven times zones.
• There are few places in India through which standard meridian [82.5 E] passes. They are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha & Andhra Pradesh.
• India with its area of 3.28 million square km accounts for 2.4% of world’s land surface area and stands as seventh-largest country in world.