G-6: INDIAN GEOGRAPHY

• India is a country of vast geographical expanse. In the north, it is bound by the lofty Himalayas. The Arabian Sea in the west, the Bay of Bengal in the east, and the Indian Ocean in the south wash the shores of the Indian peninsula. The peninsula is a piece of land that is surrounded by water on three sides.
• India has an area of about 3.28 million sq. km. The north-south extent from Ladakh to Kanyakumari is about 3,200 km. And the east-west extent from Arunachal Pradesh to Kuchchh is about 2,900 km.
• There is a great variety in the climate, vegetation, wildlife as well as in the language and culture of India. Our country has a population of more than one hundred forty crores to date.
• For administrative purposes, India is divided into 28 States and 8 Union Territories. Delhi is the national capital. The states have been formed mainly on the basis of languages.
  ⟫ The political map of India is discussed in our previous post.

• Two groups of islands also form part of India: Lakshadweep Islands located in the Arabian Sea. These are coral islands located off the coast of Kerala; the Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie to the southeast of the Indian mainland in the Bay of Bengal.

Locational Setting

• India is located on the western side of the northern hemisphere. The Tropic of Cancer (23°30'N) passes almost halfway through the country. 
• From south to north, the mainland of India extends between 8°4'N and 37°6'N latitudes. From west to east, India extends between 68°7'E and 97°25'E longitudes.
• Due to the great longitudinal extent of about 29°, there is a wide difference in the local time of places located at two extreme points of India of about 2 hours. 
• Therefore the sun rises about two hours earlier in the east (Arunachal Pradesh) than in the west (Gujarat). That's why the local time of longitude of 82°30'E has been taken as the Indian Standard Time.

India's Neighbors

• There are 7 countries that share land boundaries with India namely, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

• Across the sea to the south, lie our island neighbors— Sri Lanka and Maldives. Sri Lanka is separated from India by the Palk Strait.

Physical Divisions

•  India is marked by a diversity of physical features such as mountains, plateaus, plains, coasts, and islands. Standing as sentinels in the north are the lofty snow-capped Himalayas.
•  The Himalayan mountains are divided into three main parallel ranges.
  a) The northernmost is the Great Himalayas or Himadri. The world’s highest peaks are located in this range.
  b) Middle Himalaya or Himachal lies to the south of Himadri. Many popular hill stations are situated here.
  c) The Shiwalik is the southernmost range.

• The Northern Indian plains lie to the south of the Himalayas. They are generally level and flat.
• These are formed by the alluvial deposits laid down by the rivers– the Indus, the Ganga, the Brahmaputra, and their tributaries. 
• These river plains provide fertile land for cultivation. That's why there is a high concentration of population in these plains.
•  In the western part of India lies the Great Indian Desert. It is a dry, hot, and sandy stretch of land. It has very little vegetation.
• To the south of the northern plains lies the Peninsular plateau. It is triangular in shape. 
• This is a region with numerous hill ranges and valleys. Aravali hills, one of the oldest ranges of the world, border it on the northwest side. 
• The Vindhyas and the Satpuras are the important ranges. The rivers Narmada and Tapi flow through these ranges. These are west-flowing rivers that drain into the Arabian Sea. 
• The Western Ghats, or Sahyadris, border the plateau in the west, and the Eastern Ghats provide the eastern boundary. While the Western Ghats are almost continuous, the Eastern Ghats are broken and uneven. The plateau is rich in minerals like coal and iron ore.
• To the West of the Western Ghats and the East of Eastern Ghats lie the Coastal plains. The western  coastal plains are very narrow compared to the eastern Coastal plains which are much broader. 
• There are a number of east-flowing rivers as: Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri drain into the Bay of Bengal. These rivers have formed fertile deltas at their mouth. The Sunderban delta is formed where the Ganga and Brahmaputra flow into the Bay of Bengal.
• Alluvial deposits are excellent soils, brought by rivers and deposited in the river basins. 
• Tributary is a river or stream that contributes its water to a main river by discharging it into the main river from either side.

Facts

• The Ganga and the Brahmaputra form the world’s largest delta, the Sundarbans delta. The delta is triangular in shape. It is an area of land formed at the mouth of the river (where rivers enter the sea, that point is called the mouth of the river).
• Corals are skeletons of tiny marine animals called Polyps. When the living polyps die, their skeletons are left. Other poplyps grow on top of the hard skeleton which grows higher and higher, thus forming the coral islands.