INDIA is, by area, the seventh largest country in the world, but by population, it is the second largest. The Indian mainland extends between latitudes 8° 4' and 37° 6' north and longitudes 68° 7' and 97° 25' east. It covers an area of 3,287,263 sq. km. From north to south, the country measures 3,214 km and from east to west 2,933 km. India's land frontiers are approximately 15,200 km long and its coastline is about 7,516 km. includes A & N Island and Lakshadweep regions.
India's northern boundary is demarcated by the Himalayas and other mountain ranges, except in the Nepal region, which is marked by low hills. China, Nepal and Bhutan are India's neighbours in the north-east and Pakistan and Afghanistan in the north-west. To the east of India lies Myanmar, while surrounded by India's eastern and north-eastern states is Bangladesh. Eastern India is, as a result, linked to the north-eastern territories by a strip of land that is only about 50 km wide at its narrowest. Below the broad territorial expanse of northern India is Peninsular India, with the Arabian Sea to its west and the Bay of Bengal to the east. Just south of peninsular India is Sri Lanka, separated from the mainland of India by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep (The 100,000 islands) and Minicoy in the Arabian Sea are integral parts of Indian Territory.
THE LAND REGIONS
This great landmass is divided into four fairly clear, physically identifiable regions: the great northern mountain zone, the sprawling Indo-Gangetic Plain, the desert area and the Southern Peninsula.
The mountain region, about one-sixth the area of India, virtually stretches from one end of India to the other in the northernmost part of the country and comprises
India's northern boundary is demarcated by the Himalayas and other mountain ranges, except in the Nepal region, which is marked by low hills. China, Nepal and Bhutan are India's neighbours in the north-east and Pakistan and Afghanistan in the north-west. To the east of India lies Myanmar, while surrounded by India's eastern and north-eastern states is Bangladesh. Eastern India is, as a result, linked to the north-eastern territories by a strip of land that is only about 50 km wide at its narrowest. Below the broad territorial expanse of northern India is Peninsular India, with the Arabian Sea to its west and the Bay of Bengal to the east. Just south of peninsular India is Sri Lanka, separated from the mainland of India by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep (The 100,000 islands) and Minicoy in the Arabian Sea are integral parts of Indian Territory.
THE LAND REGIONS
This great landmass is divided into four fairly clear, physically identifiable regions: the great northern mountain zone, the sprawling Indo-Gangetic Plain, the desert area and the Southern Peninsula.
The mountain region, about one-sixth the area of India, virtually stretches from one end of India to the other in the northernmost part of the country and comprises