India Size and Location

Location

India is a vast country whose entire mainland is located in the northern hemisphere of the word. Its longitudinal extent is 37 degrees 6 minutes to 8 degrees 4 minutes while its latitudinal extent is 68 degrees 7 minutes to 97 degrees 25 minutes. The Tropic of Cancer ( 23 degrees 30 minutes ) passes through it nearly dividing the country in half. Towards the south eastern region of the country, in the bay of Bengal, the Andaman and Nicobar island groups can be found. Towards the south western region of the country, in the Arabian Sea lie the Lakshadweep islands. India’s southernmost point “Indira Point” sunk into the ocean after the 2004 tsunami.

Size

Being such a large country, India’s land mass has the area of around 3.28 million square kilometers. This makes up of around 2.4% of the worlds geographical area. It also makes India the 7^th largest nation in the world. The Perimeter of the landmass is 15200 km while the coastline ( including both the island groups ) is 7516.6 km. Towards the north, northwest, and northeast lie the Himalayas which as young fold mountains. At around 22 degrees N the country starts to taper, and two water bodies are found on either side. The bay of Bengal is present in the east while the Arabian sea is present in the West. The longitudinal and latitudinal extent of the country is around 30 degrees. However, the east – west length is smaller than the north – south length. Being such a large country, the actual time difference between the Arunachal Pradesh and Gujrat is 2 hours. To avoid the confusion, the Indian Standard Time ( IST ) was created. The IST is an imaginary line at the longitudes ( 82 degrees and 30 minutes ). It passes through the town of Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh.

India and the World

India’s central location between West Asia and East Asia gives it a very strategic trade advantage. The Trans Indian Trade routes allowed for Countries in Europe to trade with India. It is also important to note that the deccan peninsula also sticks out into the Indian ocean. This allowed India to trade with countries in Africa, West Asia, and Europe easily from the West Coast and countries in the Eastern part of Asia and Australia from the east coast. This also gave India the largest coastal boundary with the Indian ocean which justifies naming the ocean after it. In 1869, after the opening of the Suez Canal, the distance between India and Europe was reduced by 7000 kilometers by sea. India’s relation with other countries of the world comes from times way before maritime travel. During ancient times, travelers used to come to India via passages in the north. This allowed for the spread of ideas and commodities. The teaching of the Upanishads, The Ramayana, The Stories of Panchatantra, the Indian Decimal system, Indian Numericals, etc were able to spread to the rest of the world through these passages. Commodities like spices, muslin, and other merchandise was also shared with the rest of the world via these paths. Therefore, it is important to know that India’s location gave it strategic control over trade with the world.

India’s Neighbors

India Holds a strategic location in the South of Asia. It has 28 states and 8 union territories. Its neighbors are Pakistan and Afghanistan in the Northwest, China, Nepal, and Bhutan in the north, Bangladesh and Myanmar in the East, and its southern neighbors are separated by sea. India’s neighbors in the South are Sri Lanka and Maldives. Sri Lanka is separated from India by a thin channel known as the Palk straight and the gulf of Mannar. Maldives is located towards the south of the Lakshadweep islands.