NCERT Notes: India - Size and Location

India and its Neighbouring Countries Map (Image Source: NCERT)

India - Land

1. India's mainland extends from 8°4'N  to 37°6'N latitude and  68°7'E  and  97°25'E longitude.
2. The distane between its northern and southern points is 3214 km and distance between eastern and western points is 2933 km.
3. The tropic of cancer (23.5 N) divides India in almost two equal parts. The North India lies in temperate zone whereas South India lies in torrid zone.
4. The tropic of cancer passes through 8 Indian states. These are Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.
5. India has one single standard time. The standard meridian of India passes through Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh (82°30'E). However, there is a time difference of two hour between its eastern and western extreme points.
6. The Standard Meridian of India passes through 6 different states. These are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

India - Size

1. India is the 7th largest country in the world after Russia, Canada, China, USA, Brazil and Australia in terms of landmass.
2. It has landmass of 3.28 million sq km which is 2.4% of overall earth landmass.
3. It has land boundary of 15200 km.
4. Its mainland has coastline of 6100 km where as it has overall coastline of 7516.6 km.
5. India is bounded by the Great Himalayan range from the north, the Arabian Sea from the west, the Bay of Bengal from the east and the Indian Ocean from the south.
6. India has 28 states and 9 union territories.*
7. India has two two Island groups, Andaman and Nicobar Islands lies and Lakshadweep Islands lies in southeast and southwest direction of the mainland respectively.
8. Along with Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, India forms a great geographical entity known as the Indian Subcontinent or simply the Subcontinent.

India and its Neighbours

1. India lies in the South Central Asia, almost in the centre of East and West Asia.
2. India's central position in the Indian position allows it to trade with Europe, West Asia and Africa from its western coast and Southeast and East Asia from its eastern coast.
3. In ancient times, India has established trade relationship with Central and rest of Asia through various passages in Northern Himalayas. Some of the famous passes are Khyber, Bolan, Shipkila, Nathula and Bomdila Pass.
4. India shares its boundary with Pakistan and Afghanistan in the northwest, China (Tibet), Nepal and Bhutan in the north and Myanmar and Bangladesh in the east.
5. India ans Srilanka are separated by a narrow sea channel known as the Palk Strait whereas Maldives islands are situated in the south of Lakshadweep islands.

*As of 31 October 2019, The Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir has been demoted and split into to two separate Uninion Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.