Title Chapter 1 India - Size and Location.pdf ✅

GEOGRAPHY Chapter 1: India – Size and Location
(1) 01 INDIA – SIZE AND LOCATION India – Size and Location India has a long and a remarkable history. It is a country which has abundant natural resources. After independence, India has made tremendous progress in the fields of agriculture and technology. India is one of the oldest civilisations and have a remarkable history. After Independence from British rule, it achieved multi-faceted socio-economic progress. Also made a remarkable progress in the field of agriculture, industry, technology and overall economic development. India – Location and Size • If you look at the above map, you would find that India lies to the north of the 0 0 latitude, i.e., Equator. She thus entirely lie in the northern hemisphere. Its mainland extends from latitude 8°4′N to latitude 37°6′N. Its longitudinal extent is from 68°7′E to 97°25′E. • India also lies to the east of the 00 longitude, the Prime Meridian. She thus lies in the eastern hemisphere. • India is divided into almost two equal parts by the Tropic of Cancer. It passes through eight Indian states—Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram. • India is a part of the Asian continent. It is the seventh largest country in the world and the Map showing the location of India in the world
(2) 01 INDIA – SIZE AND LOCATION third largest country in Asia. • It has two main groups of islands—the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea. • India occupies about 2.4% of the total geographical area of the world. • The young fold Himalayan Mountains form the boundary of India in the northwest, north and northeast. • India is a peninsula which tapers to the south dividing the Indian Ocean into the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. • India has a vast longitudinal extent. There is a difference of two hours when one travels from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh. • To maintain one standard time, the time along the Standard Meridian of India passing through Uttar Pradesh is taken as the standard time for the whole country. Its Size • Total Area of India is 3.28 million square km which is 2.4 percent of the total area of the world. • It is seventh largest country in the world in terms of landmass. • It has land boundary of about 15,200 km and the total length of the coast line of the mainland including Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands is 7,516.6 km. • In the northwest, north and north east of India, young folds mountains bounds it. • South of about 22° north latitude, India narrows and finally extends towards the Indian Ocean. It also divides it into two seas, the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on its east. • The latitudinal and longitudinal extent of the mainland is about 30°. • India’s east-west extent appears to be smaller than the north-south extent. • The time along the Standard Meridian (82°30' E) passing through Mirzapur in UP is taken as the Indian Standard Time for whole country.
(3) 01 INDIA – SIZE AND LOCATION • The time gap between Arunachal Pradesh present in the east and Gujarat present in the west is about 2 hours. The latitudinal extent influences the duration of day and night, as one moves from south to north. India and the World • India is almost located centrally between the east and the west of Asia. It lies in the southern part of the Asian continent. • The oceanic routes which link Europe in the West with the East Asian countries give an important strategically central location to India which helped establish oceanic trade links with the other countries in the past. • The Deccan Peninsula which extends into the Indian Ocean has helped India in maintaining close relations with Africa, West Asia and Europe from its western coast and East Asia and Southeast Asia from its eastern coast. • The Indian Ocean is named after India because India occupies an important strategic position