Political geography Main article: States and union territories of India India is divided into 28 States (further subdivided into districts) and 8 union territories including the National capital territory (i.e., Delhi). India's borders run a total length of 15,200 km (9,400 mi).[1][10]
Its borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh were delineated according to the Radcliffe Line, which was created in 1947 during Partition of India. Its western border with Pakistan extends up to 3,323 km (2,065 mi), dividing the Punjab region and running along the boundaries of the Thar Desert and the Rann of Kutch.[1] This border runs along the Indian states and union territories of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.[11] Both nations delineated a Line of Control (LoC) to serve as the informal boundary between the Indian and Pakistan-administered areas of the Kashmir region. India claims the whole of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which includes areas now administered by Pakistan and China, which according to India are illegally occupied areas.[1]
India's border with Bangladesh runs 4,096.70 km (2,545.57 mi).[1] West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram are the states which share the border with Bangladesh.[12] Before 2015, there were 92 enclaves of Bangladesh on Indian soil and 106 enclaves of India were on Bangladeshi soil.[13] These enclaves were eventually exchanged in order to simplify the border.[14] After the exchange, India lost roughly 40 km2 (10,000 acres) to Bangladesh.[15]
The Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the effective border between India and the People's Republic of China. It traverses 4,057 km along the Indian states and union territories of Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.[16] The border with Burma (Myanmar) extends up to 1,643 km (1,021 mi) along the eastern borders of India's northeastern states viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.[17] Located amidst the Himalayan range, India's border with Bhutan runs 699 km (434 mi).[1] Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are the states which share the border with Bhutan.[18] The border with Nepal runs 1,751 km (1,088 mi) along the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India.[1] Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim are the states which share the border with Nepal.[19] The Siliguri Corridor, narrowed sharply by the borders of Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, connects peninsular India with the northeastern states.
Political map of India
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