Know Geography About Our Country India

OUR COUNTRY – INDIA

§     India is a country of vast geographical expanse.

§   The Indian landmass has a central location between the East and the West Asia. India is a southward extension of the Asian Continent.

§    India is bounded by the young fold mountains in the northwest, north and north east.

§      The Arabian Sea in the west

§      The Bay of Bengal in the east

§       Indian Ocean in the south

§       India has an area of about 3.28 million sq. km.

§    India’s total area accounts for about 2.4 per cent of the total geographical area of the world

§   India is the seventh largest country of the world.

§      India has a land boundary of about 15,200 km

§  The total length of the coast line of the mainland including Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep is 7,516.6 km.

§  The north-south extent from Kashmir to Kanyakumari is about 3,200 km. And the east-west extent from Arunachal Pradesh to Kuchchh is about 2,900 km.

§      It is the second most populous country of the world after China.

§     India is located in the northern hemisphere. The Tropic of Cancer (23°30'N) passes almost halfway through the country. Tropic of Cancer passes through 8 states. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram

§      From south to north, main land of 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.

§     The local time changes by four minutes for every one degree of longitude.

§      Local time of longitude of 82°30' E passing through Mirzapur (in

Uttar Pradesh)has been taken as the Indian Standard Time. This meridian or longitude is also termed as the Standard Meridian of India.

§     There are seven countries that share land boundaries with India

Nepal, Bhutan , Pakistan , Afghanistan , Myanmar, Bangladesh, China  

§  Across the sea to the south, lie our island neighbours— Sri Lanka and Maldives. Sri Lanka is separated from India by the Palk Strait.

§   Him+alaya mean ‘the abode of snow’. The Himalayan mountains are divided into three main parallel ranges. The northernmost is the Great Himalaya or Himadri. The world’s highest peaks are located in this range.

§     Middle Himalaya or Himachal lies to the south of Himadri.

     Dalhousie, Manali, Shimla, Nanital, Musoorie, Darjeeling

§     The Shiwalik is the southernmost range.

§  The Northern Indian plains lie to the south of the Himalayas. They are generally level and flat.

§    These are formed by the alluvial deposits laid down by the rivers– the Indus, the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and their tributaries. These river plains provide fertile land for cultivation.

§    In the western part of India lies the Great Indian desert. It is a dry, hot and sandy stretch of land. It has very little vegetation.

§    To the south of northern plains lies the Peninsular plateau. It is triangular in shape. The relief is highly uneven.

§    This is a region with numerous hill ranges and valleys. Aravali hills, one of the oldest ranges of the world.

§  The Western Ghats or Sahyadris border the plateau in the west and the Eastern Ghats provide the eastern boundary. While the Western Ghats are almost continuous, the Eastern Ghats are broken and uneven

§      The plateau is rich in minerals like coal and iron-ore.

§  To the West of the Western Ghats and the East of Eastern Ghats lie the Coastal plains.

§  The eastern Coastal plains are much broader. There are a number of east flowing rivers. The rivers Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri drain into the Bay of Bengal.

§    The Sunderban delta is formed where the Ganga and Brahmaputra flow into the Bay of Bengal.

§  Two groups of islands also form part of India. Lakshadweep Islands are located in the Arabian Sea.

§  The Andaman and the Nicobar Islands lie to the southeast of the Indian mainland in the Bay of Bengal.

§    The trans Indian Ocean routes which connect the countries of Europe in the West and the countries of East Asia provide a strategic central location to India.

§     No other country has a long coastline on the Indian Ocean as India has and indeed, it is India’s eminent position in the Indian Ocean which justifies the naming of an Ocean after it.