Geography

Following are the Geographical facts about India.

Location

• The Union of India is the seventh largest country in the world covering an area of 32,87,590 square kilo meters and it is an important country of south Asia.
• South Asia has a total area of about 4.488 million sq. km out of which India has the largest area (3.287 sq. km). It occupies 73.2 % of total area.
• It is 4 times largest than Pakistan which is second largest in South Asia. India is 12 times largest that UK and 8 times largest than Japan.
• The mainland stretches from latitude 8^o4' north to 37^o6' north and from longitude 68^o7' east to 97^o25' east of Greenwhich. The latitudinal and longitudinal extent of the country is almost same in degrees i.e. about 30 degrees.
• The southernmost point in Indian Territory, (in Great Nicobar Islands) is the Indira Point (6^o45’ ), while Kanyakumari, also known as Cape Comorin, is the southernmost point of Indian mainland. The country thus lies wholly in the northern and eastern hemispheres.
• The 82^o30' E longitude is taken as Standard Time Meridian of India, as it passes through the middle of India (from Naini, near Allahabad.) Hence Naini, Near Allahabad is the Standard Time of India.
• The country is of a vast size and measures about 3,214 kilometers from north to south and about 2,933 kilometers from west to east.
• Indian Standard Time:- GMT +05:30
• Telephone Country Code:- +91
• Coastline:- 7,516.6 km encompassing the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Ocean

• India lies midway between the Far East and the Middle East. The trans-Indian Ocean routes connecting the industrially developed countries of Europe in the west and the underdeveloped countries of east Asia pass close by. India being centrally located in South Asia, she enjoys an advantageous-position for doing trade with Australia and the countries of Africa, the Middle East and the Far East. Thus, India dominates the Indian Ocean and commands an important strategic position. Her land frontier is 15,200 kilometers long. Her northern borderland, being mountainous, is very difficult to cross and it offers very few transport facilities for trade with the arid, almost barren and very sparsely populated regions of Central Asia. India has a coastline of 6,100 kilometers in the main land and she depends on the Indian Ocean for bulk of her foreign trade. The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep group of Islands and Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands is 7,519.5 km.

India Facts
Territorial Sea	12 nm (nautical miles)
Contiguous Zone	24 nm
Exclusive economic Zone	200 nm
Continental Shelf	200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Longest River	Ganga
Largest Lake	Lake Chilka
Highest Point	Mt. K2 (8611 m)
Highest Point of Himalaya	Kanchan Junga (8,598 m)
Lowest Point	Kuttanad (-2.2 m)
Northernmost Point	Siachen Glacier near Karakoram
Southernmost Point	Indira Point, Great Nicobar, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Southernmost Point of India (Mainland)	Cape Comorin (Kanya Kumari)
Westernmost Point	West of Ghuar Mota, Gujarat
Easternmost Point	Kibithu, Arunachal Pradesh
Highest Altitude	Kanchenjunga, Sikkim
Lowest Altitude	Kuttanad (Kerala)

Physical Boundaries :- The sub-continent is isolated in a remarkable way from the rest of Asia, making it a geographical unit. For example, barring the plateau of Baluchistan the two great ranges, namely, the Sulaiman and the Kirthar, cut it off from the west. Along the North the great mountains wall formed by the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and the Himalayas, cut it off the countries that lie beyond as the mountains are very high and difficult to cross. Similarly, the Southward offshoots of the Eastern Himalayas separate it from Burma.

The latitudinal and longitudinal extent of the country is almost the same in degrees i.e. about 30 degrees. But in kilometers, the north-south distance (about 3,200 km) is more than that of the east-west.

The Himalayas and other lofty mountains- Muztagh Ata, Aghil Kunlun Mountains to the north of Kashmir and south eastern portion of Zaskar mountains to east of Himachal Pradesh - from India's northern boundary, except in the Nepal region. She is adjoined in the north by China, Nepal and Bhutan. A series of mountain ranges in the east separate India from Burma. Also, in the east, lies Bangladesh bounded by Indian States of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. In the north-west, Afghanistan and Pakistan border on India. The Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait separate India from Srilanka.

Locational Advantage:- India is a unique country as it is easily accessible to other parts of Asia, Africa, Europe and Americas. Its cultural influences have crossed its border from time immemorial and reached far off lands. It acts as a bridge head between developed and developing countries of the world and between the East and the West. India's strength lies in its geography as much as in its culture. Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, distance between India and Europe has been reduced by 7000 kms. India enjoys a favourable ocean routes from East and South-East Asia and Australia to Africa and Europe pass through Indian Ocean. India is connected with the Cape of Good Hope and the Suez Canal. India can also reach Canada and the USA through the Strait of Malacca after crossing the Pacific Ocean.