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Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the
Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
Geographic coordinates: 20 00 N, 77 00 E
Map references: Asia
Area:
total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km
water: 314,400 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly more than one-third the size
of the US
Land boundaries:
total: 14,103 km
border countries: Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma
1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km
Coastline: 7,000 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental
margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate
in north
Terrain: upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to
rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m
Natural resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in the
world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite,
natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land
Land use:
arable land: 56%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 4%
forests and woodland: 23%
other: 16% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 480,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms
common; earthquakes
Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion;
overgrazing; desertification; air pollution from industrial effluents
and vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage and runoff
of agricultural pesticides; tap water is not potable throughout
the country; huge and growing population is overstraining natural
resources
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber
83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: dominates South Asian subcontinent; near
important Indian Ocean trade routes
India
the seventh largest country in the world , is well marked with
off from the rest of Asia by mountains and the sea, which gives
the country a distinct geographical entity.It covers an area
of 32,87,2631 sq.km. Bounded by the great Himalayas to the north
, it stretches southwards and at the tropic of cancer,tapers off
in the Indian ocean between the bay of bengal on the east and the
Arabian sea to the west.
Lying entirely in
the northern hemisphere the mainland extends measures 3214 km from
north south between extreme latitudes and about 2933 km from east
to west between extreme longitudes.It has a land frontier of about
15200 km.The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshwadeep
group of islands and Andaman and Nicobar group of islands is 7,516.5
km.
The Himalayas and
the other mountain ranges -Mustagh Ata , Aghil Kunlun mountains
to the north of Kashmir and to south eastern portion of Zaskar mountains
to the east of Himachal Pradesh- form indian northern boundry except
in Nepal region. She is adjoined to the north by China Nepal and
Bhutan.A series of mountain ranges separate India from Burma. Also
, in the east lies the Bangladesh.In the north west Afganisthan
and Pakistan border India.The Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Straits
separate India from Sri lanka. The Andaman and Nicobar island in
the Bay of Bengal and Lakshwadeep in the Arabian sea are parts of
the territory of India.
The Indian sub-continent
is characterised by great diversity in its physical features
.It may be divided into three broadly defined physical units:
-
The Himalayas and the associated mountain ranges
-
The Indus Ganga-Bramha-putra plain
- The
Peninsular Plateau.
Himalayan Mountain
complex:The Himalayas and the associated mountains arcs gridling
the sub continent on the stretch in a consistent north west- south
east direction for about 2400 km between the gorges of the indus
and the Tsango-Bhramaputra.The section between the Indus and the
Sutlej and the Kali is termed as Kumaon Himalayas. The other two
sections between the Kali and the Tista and between the latter
river and the Dihangare described as the Nepal and the Assam Himalayas.The
Greater Himalayas which have an average altitude of 6000 m have
within them almost all the prominent peaks such the Everest (8848m)
, Kanchenjunga (8598m) Nanga Parbat (8126m) ,Nanda devi (7817m)
and Namcha parbat (7756m).
The Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra
Plain:The great plain of india is formed by the Indus, ganga
and the Brahmaputra rivers. the plain extends for 3200 km between
the mouths of the Ganga and the indus, all along the foot of the
mountain rim, with a width varying from 150 to 300 km. The longitudinal
extent from the banks of the Ravi and the Sutlej to the ganga
delta alone is of 2400km. The plain is narrowest in Assam and
broadens towards the west . It is 160 km wide near the Rajmahal
Hills and 280 km near Allahabad. The plains are alluvial in nature.
Peninsular
plateau: Rising from the alluvial plains of uttar pradesh
and Bihar, south of the Yamuna Ganga line, the great indian
plateau extends towards the south to encompass the whole of
Peninsula. With a general elevation of 600-900m,the plateau
makes an irregular tringale with its concave base lying between
Delhi ridge and Rajmahal hills and the Apex formed by Kanya
Kumari . The outlying projections of the peninsular plateau
presented by the Aravallis,Rajmahal and Shillong hills convey
some idea of its original northerly limits.
The location
of another fragment of the peninsular block in the Shillong
plateau gives the indication of the possible connection. The
Shillong Plateau a highly dissected and jungly tract, descends
in a deep slope towards the Surma valley.The northern outliers
are represented by the Mikir and the Rengma hills.
Western ghats:The
topography of the Deccan and the Karnataka Plateau is dominated
by the Western Ghats, which stretch uninterruptedly to the southern
tip of Peninsula.They have a general altitude of 900-1100 m
but occassionally rise upto 1600 m or even more.Near Goa the
highly dissected relief of the lava rocks is replaced by smoothly
rounded hills of Granite and Gnesis.In this stretch the ghats
dip but rise once again in the Nilgiris.Further south the continuity
of the ghats is distributed by the palghat gap and the Shencottah
gap.The Cardamom Hills may be regarded as the continuation of
the Western ghats.
The east of
Nagpur ,the Deccan lava rergion is flanked by the plateau surfaced
containing the Wainganga valley and the upper Mahandi basin
in Chhatiagrah, a region interposed between the Mikir andthe
Orissa hills.
Eastern Ghats:The
eastern Ghats are generally less impressive than theWestern
Ghats and form a discontinous crest on the eastern peripheryof
the plateau.They are repesented by an irregular line of hills,
such as the Nallamalais, Velikondas,Palkondas and the Pachaimalais.
This hills are often referred to as the northern hills in the
northern sector,Cuddapah ranges in the middle and the Tamil
nadu hills in the south.
The
Coastal Plains and the Islands:The plateau is flanked by
coastal plains of varid width extending from Kutch to Orissa.
There are striking difference between the eastern and the western
coastal plains; with notable exception of Gujarat the west coast
has narrow alluvial margin interspersed by hillty terrain .It
has indentation except in the south where the beautiful Lagoons
introduce an element of diversity.
The eastern
coast on the other hand has a wide plain with well developed
deltas of the major rivers. The climatic transition between
the south west monsoon regime of the north and the north -east
monsoon regime of the south has given rise to interesting differences
in the alluvial features in the two different stretches of the
east coastal plain.
The Indian
islands in the Bay of Bengal consist of the Andamans
and the Nicobar group,some of which are of volcanic origin.There
are as many as 200 islands in Andaman alone, extending for 350km.There
are 19 island in Nicobar group.
The Arabian
sea consist of the Lakshadweep group. They are formed
on a coral deposit off the Kerala coast .The southern most of
this lies just to the north of the Maldive island which is an
independent territory.
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