India geography
- India is located entirely in the northern hemisphere; specifically in the south-central part of the continent of Asia.
India lies between the latitudes 8°4′ N to 37°6′ N. It lies between and 68°7′ E to 97°25′ E .
- North-south extent from Indira Col in Kashmir to Kanniyakumari is 3,214 km
- East-west width from the Rann of Kachachh to Arunachal Pradesh is 2,933 km
- The mainland of India extends from Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari in the south and Arunachal Pradesh in the east to Gujrat in the west
- With an area of 32,87,263 sq km India is the 7th largest country of the world After Russia, Canada, USA, China, Brazil, and Australia.
- India accounts for about 2.4 percent of the total geographical area of the world
- India has a total land boundary of about 15,200 km and coastline of 7,516.6km
- The territorial limit of India extends towards the sea up to 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) from the coast. This limit includes the islands of Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep.
- India has 15106.7 Km of land border running through 92 districts in 17 States and a coastline of 7516.6 Km [6100 km of mainland coastline + coastline of 1197 Indian islands] touching 13 States and Union Territories (UTs).
- Indian Standard Meridian 82° 30’E Meridian crossing through the Mirzapur city of Uttar Pradesh is taken as India’s Standard Meridian.
- Indian Standard Time is ahead of Greenwich (00 or Prime Meridian) Mean Time by 5 hours and 30 minutes.
- The Tropic of Cancer passes through the middle of the country dividing it into two latitudinal halves.
- Tropic of cancer (23°30’N) passes through Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, and Mizoram.
- International Boundaries
- India shares its international boundaries with Afghanistan and Pakistan in the North-West; China, Tibet
(China), Nepal, and Bhutan in the North and NorthEast; and Myanmar and Bangladesh in the East.
- Except Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Delhi, all the other states in the country share boundaries with other countries or have coastlines.
- The effective border between India and China is known as the McMahon line.
- The line that separates Indian-held lands from Chinese-held lands is called the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
- The India-Pakistan border is known as Radcliffe line. The military control line between the parts of Jammu Kashmir controlled by India and Pakistan is called the Line of Control (LoC).
- The India-Afghanistan and Pakistan-Afghanistan border are demarcated by a single line known as the Durand line.
- India and Sri Lanka are separated by the Palk Strait.
- India shares largest land frontier boundary with Bangladesh.
- Straits and Passage of India
- Palk Strait – is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Mannar district of the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka. It connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with Palk Bay in the southwest.[1] The strait is 53 to 82 kilometres (33 to 51 mi) wide
- Duncan Passage is a strait in the Indian Ocean. It is about 48 km (30 mi) wide; it separates Rutland Island (part of Great Andaman) to the north, and Little Andaman to the south. West of Duncan Passage is the Bay of Bengal; east is the Andaman Sea.
- The Nine Degree Channel is a channel in the Indian Ocean between the Laccadive Islands of Kalpeni and Suheli Par, and Maliku Atoll.[1] These two subgroups of islands, together with the Amindivi Subgroup, form the Indian Union Territory (UT) of Lakshadweep.[2]The Channel is approximately 200 km wide with a depth of 2597 metres.
- The Ten Degree Channel is a channel that separates the Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands from each other in the Bay of Bengal. The two sets of islands together form the Indian Union Territory (UT) of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This channel is 150 km wide from north to south,[1] and approximately 10 km long from east to west.
- The Northernmost point of the country is the Indira Col is situated in the west from 3 km of Sia Kangri, the summit has the boundary of India, Pakistan, and China.
- The southernmost point of the country is the Pygmalion Point or Indira Point is located at 6° 45′ N latitude.
- Westernmost Point : West of Ghuar Mota, Gujarat
- Easternmost Point: Kibithu, Arunachal Pradesh
- Longest River : Brahmaputra
- Logest River india : Ganga
- Largest River: Ganga
- Ganga of South : Godavari
- Largest Lake: Lake Chilka
- Largest fresh water :lakeWular Lake
- Highest Point: Mt. K2(8611 m)
- Highest Point of Himalaya: Kanchan Junga (8,598 m)
- Lowest Point: Kuttanad (-2.2 m)
- Highest Altitude: Kanchenjunga, Sikkim
- Lowest Altitude: Kuttanad (Kerala)