GEOGRAPHY – CHAPTER-1 = INDIA - SIZE AND LOCATION
Introduction
India Size and Location
• One of the ancient civilization in the world.
• Achieved multifaceted socio economic progress during the last five decades.
• Contributed significantly to the making of world history.
Significant of the chapter
What we are going to study in this chapter?
• Location
• Size
• India and the world
• India’s neighbours
INDIA: LOCATION
Back to Basic
India
India is a vast country.
Lying entirely in the Northern hemisphere.
The main land extends between
Latitude - 8°4’N and 37°6’N and
Longitude - 68°7’E and 97°25’E.
• The Tropic of Cancer (23°30’N) divides the country into almost two equal parts.
• To the southeast and southwest of the mainland, lie the Andaman and Nicobar islands and the Lakshadweep islands in Bay of
Bengal and Arabian sea respectively.
• The southernmost point of the Indian Union – ‘Indira Point’ got submerged under the sea water in 2004 during the Tsunami.
Andaman & Nicobar
island
Lakshadweep
island
INDIA: SIZE
INDIA: SIZE
• The land mass of India has an area of 3.28 million square km.
• India’s total area accounts for debut 2.4 percent of the total geographical area of the world.
• India is the seventh largest country of the world.
• India has a land boundary of about 15,200 km.
• The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep, is 7,516.6 km.
India, Geography and Location
• India is bounded by the young fold mountains in the northwest, north and northeast.
• South of about 22° north latitude, it begins to taper, and extends towards the Indian Ocean, dividing it into two seas, the
Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on its east.
India: Longitude and Latitude and their significance
• The latitudinal and longitudinal extent of the mainland is about 30°.
• Despite this fact, the east-west extent appears to be smaller than the north-south extent.
Explain
Longitudinal extent : Influences the sunrise and sunset from east to west.
Latitudinal extent : Influences the duration of day and night, as one moves from south to north.
Longitudinal extent
From Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh, there is a time lag of two hours.
Implications
Hence, time along the Standard Meridian of India (82°30’E) passing through Mirzapur (in Uttar Pradesh) is taken
as the standard time for the whole country.
• Why 82°30’E has been selected as the Standard Meridian of India?
• Why is the difference between the duration of day and night
hardly felt at Kanyaku
Arctic Circle (66.5°N) 24 hours of daylight
Tropic of Cancer (23.5°N) 13.5 hours of
daylight
Equator (0°) 12 hours of daylight
Tropic of Capricorn (23.5°S) 10.5 hours of
daylight
Antarctic Circle (66.5°S)
INDIA AND THE WORLD
• The Indian landmass has a central location between the East and the West Asia.
• Southward extension of the Asian continent.
Strategic central location of India
• The trans Indian Ocean routes, which connect the countries of Europe in the West and the countries of East Asia.
• The Deccan Peninsula protrudes into the Indian Ocean, thus helping India to establish close contract with West Asia, Africa and
Europe from the western coast and with Southeast and East Asia from the eastern coast.
• No other country has a long coastline on the Indian Ocean as India has.
Therefore, it is India’s eminent position in the Indian Ocean, which justifies the naming of an Ocean after it.
Suez Canal
Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, India’s distance from Europe has been reduced by 7,000 km.
India’s contact with the world
• India’s relationship with world through the land routes are much older than her Maritime contracts.
• The various passes across the mountains in the north have provided passages to the ancient travelers, while the oceans
restricted such interaction for a long time.
• These routes have contributed in the exchange of ideas and commodities since ancient times.
How
The exchange of ideas and commodities through the routes
• The ideas of the Upanishads and the Ramayana, the stories of Panchtantra, the Indian numerals and the decimal system thus
could reach many parts of the world.
• The spices, muslin and other merchandise were taken from India to different countries.
• On the other hand, the influence of Greek sculpture, and the architectural styles of dome and minarets from West Asia can be
seen in different parts of our country.
INDIA’S NEIGHBOURS
• India occupies an important strategic position in South Asia. India has 28 states and 8 Union Territories.
• India shares its land boundaries with Pakistan and Afghanistan in the northwest, China (Tibet), Nepal and Bhutan in the north
and Myanmar and Bangladesh in the east.
• Our southern neighbours across the sea consist of the two island countries, namely Sri Lanka and Maldives.
• Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrow channel of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar, while Maldives
Islands are situated to the south of the Lakshadweep Islands.
• India has had strong geographical and historical links with her neighbours.
CHAPTER COMPLETE
