Location
• India lies entirely in Northern Hemisphere.
• India’s mainland extends between 8°4’ N and 37°6 N latitudes, and 68°7’ E and 97°25’ E longitudes.
• Tropic of Cancer [23°30’N] divides India into almost two equal parts.
Size
• Covering an area of 3.28 million square kilometres, India’s total area is 2.4% of total geographical area of world.
• India is world’s seventh largest country with a land boundary of about 15,200 km & total length of coastline being 7,516.6 km.
• India’s east-west extent appears to be smaller than north-south extent.
India and World
• Indian landmass is centrally located between West and East Asia.
• India’s protruding Deccan Peninsula helped India to establish close contacts with West Asia, Africa & Europe, South-East and East Asia.
• India’s contacts with world via land routes are much older than her maritime contacts.
• India has contributed a lot to world in form of ideas, philosophies [Upanishads, Ramayana, Panchtantra] and mathematics [Indian numerals and decimal system]. spices, muslin cloth, and various other merchandise were taken from India around world.
• In exchange, India’s architecture was influenced by Greek sculpture and architectural styles from West Asia.
India’s Neighbours
• India has an important position in South Asia and has 28 States and 8 Union Territories.
• India shares its boundaries with Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar & Bhutan.
• southern neighbours across sea consist of two island countries that are, Maldives & Sri Lanka.
• India stands apart from rest of Asia.