India is situated north of the equator between 8°4' north to 37°6' north latitude and 68°7' east to 97°25' east longitude. It is the seventh-largest country in the world, with a total area of 3,287,263 square kilometres. India measures 3,214 km from north to south and 2,933 km from east to west.
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Area: Ranked 7th Coastline: 7,516.6 km (4,670.6 mi) Continent: Asia Coordinates: 21°N 78°E / 21°N 78°E Exclusive economic zone: 2,305,143 km2 (890,021 sq mi) Highest point: Kangchenjunga; 8,586 m (28,169 ft) Region: South Asia and Southeast Asia; (Indian subcontinent) Total 3,287,263 km2 (1,269,219 sq mi) • Land 91% • Water 9% Coastline 7,516.6 km (4,670.6 mi) Borders Total land borders:[1] 15,200 km (9,400 mi) Bangladesh: 4,096.70 km (2,545.57 mi) China (PRC): 3,488 km (2,167 mi) Pakistan: 3,323 km (2,065 mi) Nepal: 1,751 km (1,088 mi) Myanmar: 1,643 km (1,021 mi) Bhutan: 699 km (434 mi) Highest point Kangchenjunga 8,586 m (28,169 ft) Lowest point Kuttanad −2.2 m (−7.2 ft) Longest river Ganges (or Ganga) 2,525 km (1,569 mi) Largest lake Loktak Lake (freshwater) 287 km2 (111 sq mi) to 500 km2 (190 sq mi) Chilika Lake (brackish water) 1,100 km2 (420 sq mi) Exclusive economic zone 2,305,143 km2 (890,021 sq mi)
On the south, India projects into and is bounded by the Indian Ocean—in particular, by the Arabian Sea on the west, the Lakshadweep Sea to the southwest, the Bay of Bengal on the east, and the Indian Ocean proper to the south. The Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar separate India from Sri Lanka to its immediate southeast, and the Maldives are some 125 kilometres (78 mi) to the south of India's Lakshadweep Islands across the Eight Degree Channel. India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, some 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) southeast of the mainland, share maritime borders with Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia. The southernmost tip of the Indian mainland (8°4′38″N, 77°31′56″E) is just south of Kanyakumari, while the southernmost point in India is Indira Point on Great Nicobar Island. The northernmost point which is under Indian administration is Indira Col, Siachen Glacier.[6] India's territorial waters extend into the sea to a distance of 12 nautical miles (13.8 mi; 22.2 km) from the coast baseline.[7] India has the 18th largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 2,305,143 km2 (890,021 sq mi).
The northern frontiers of India are defined largely by the Himalayan mountain range, where the country borders China, Bhutan, and Nepal. Its western border with Pakistan lies in the Karakoram and Western Himalayan ranges, Punjab Plains, the Thar Desert and the Rann of Kutch salt marshes. In the far northeast, the Chin Hills and Kachin Hills, deeply forested mountainous regions, separate India from Burma. On the east, its border with Bangladesh is largely defined by the Khasi Hills and Mizo Hills, and the watershed region of the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
The Ganges is the longest river originating in India. The Ganges–Brahmaputra system occupies most of northern, central, and eastern India, while the Deccan Plateau occupies most of southern India. Kangchenjunga, in the Indian state of Sikkim, is the highest point in India at 8,586 m (28,169 ft) and the world's third highest peak. The climate across India ranges from equatorial in the far south, to alpine and tundra in the upper regions of the Himalayas. Geologically, India lies on the Indian Plate, the northern part of the Indo-Australian Plate.
Indian geography in 1947
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Drawing the border dividing the Indian subcontinent into Hindu majority India and Muslim majority East and West Pakistan was an enormous task. It was organised by the Bengal Boundary Commission and the Punjab Boundary Commission, both under the chairmanship of British lawyer Sir Cyril Radcliffe. Radcliffe sought to divide the sub-continent along religious lines. Using censuses, he looked at individual districts: placing districts with Muslim majority populations in Pakistan and Hindu majority districts in India.
DID YOU KNOW...? A census is an official count of the population. Radcliffe was ill-equipped for the task at hand as he had never visited India before drawing the border and arrived in India just one month before Britain’s departure. The British government considered this an asset that made him a neutral party. This actually made Radcliffe ill-informed on the geography and politics necessary for the exercise and the censuses he used were six years out of date. Accurate data collection was almost impossible in the time he had; as Radcliffe drew the border the migration of refugees had already begun. The population was changing daily. Radcliffe had insufficient time for such a significant task.
The border paid no attention to existing railway lines and divided industrial plants from agricultural areas where raw materials such as jute were grown. The border also cut off communities from sacred pilgrimage sites. For example, for centuries Sikhs made pilgrimages between the Golden Temple in Amritsar India and Kartarpur in Pakistan, yet now these sites became separated by the border.
DID YOU KNOW...? Observer+final.png Jute is a very strong, quite cheap fibre used in making packaging materials. Grown in India, jute would be shipped to places such as Dundee in Scotland. During the 19th century, half the workforce of Dundee were employed in the textile industry who would make products from jute. The city became known as a ‘juteopolis’ due to the fact that their main industry involved working with jute. Events in India would have a big impact on life in the UK due to the connectedness of British industry with Indian resources
geological developments India is situated entirely on the Indian Plate, a major tectonic plate that was formed when it split off from the ancient continent Gondwanaland (ancient landmass, consisting of the southern part of the supercontinent of Pangea). The Indo-Australian plate is subdivided into the Indian and Australian plates. About 90 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous Period, the Indian Plate began moving north at about 15 cm/year (6 in/yr).[8] About 50 to 55 million years ago, in the Eocene Epoch of the Cenozoic Era, the plate collided with Asia after covering a distance of 2,000 to 3,000 km (1,243 to 1,864 mi), having moved faster than any other known plate. In 2007, German geologists determined that the Indian Plate was able to move so quickly because it is only half as thick as the other plates which formerly constituted Gondwanaland.[9] The collision with the Eurasian Plate along the modern border between India and Nepal formed the orogenic belt that created the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. As of 2009, the Indian Plate is moving northeast at 5 cm/yr (2 in/yr), while the Eurasian Plate is moving north at only 2 cm/yr (0.8 in/yr). India is thus referred to as the "fastest continent".[9] This is causing the Eurasian Plate to deform, and the Indian Plate to compress at a rate of 4 cm/yr (1.6 in/yr).
