N.K. Chauhan 
India is situated north of the equator, mainland extends between 8°4' north to 37°6' north latitude and 68°7' east to 97°25' east longitude.
It is the seventh-largest country in the world after Russia, Canada, China, USA, Brazil and Australia, with a total area of 3,287,263 square kilometres (3.28 million sq. km.).
It occupies 2.4% of the total area of lithosphere and is home to 17.7% population of the world.
India measures 3,214 km from north to south and 2,933 km from east to west.
It has a land frontier of 15,200 km and a coastline of 7,516.6 km (5422.6 km of mainland coastline and 2094 km of Indian islands).
According to Census 2011, India has a total of 6 Lakh 49 Thousand 4 Hundred and 81 villages.
The Tropic of Cancer (23°3' North) passes almost through the middle of India, it passes through 8 Indian States - Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram.
The states (city) of India through which the tropic of cancer passes: Gujarat (Jasdan), Rajasthan (Kalinjarh), Madhya Pradesh (Shajapur), Chhattisgarh (Sonhat), Jharkhand (Lohardaga), West Bengal (Krishnanagar), Tripura (Udaipur), Mizoram (Champhai).
India Standard Time - IST Time Zone is based on longitude 82.3° E, which passes through Mirzapur, near Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.
It is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), now called the Universal Coordinated Time (UTC).
Standard Meridian passes through 5 states - Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
The Meridian passed through Naini, Allahabad (UP) and Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh).
Extreme points
The extreme points of India are:| Extreme points | |
|---|---|
| North | Indira Col, Siachen Glacier (Jammu and Kashmir) |
| South | Pygmalion Point or Indira Point, Nicobar Islands (Andaman and Nicobar) |
| East | Kibithu (Arunachal Pradesh) |
| West | Guhar Moti, Sir Creek (Kutch, Gujarat). |
Kanyakumari is the southern-most tip of mainland India and is the meeting point of the three seas surrounding India: the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
Neighbouring countries
Seven countries share the boundaries with India.Bangladesh(4,096.7 KM), China(3,488 KM), Pakistan(3,323 KM), Nepal(1,751 KM), Myanmar(1,643 KM), Bhutan(699 KM) and Afghanistan(106 KM) etc.
Following is the list of India's states sharing border with neighbouring seven countries:
| Neighbouring countries |
India's states sharing border |
|---|---|
| Bangladesh | West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. |
| China | Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. |
| Pakistan | Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. |
| Nepal | Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim. |
| Myanmar | Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. |
| Bhutan | Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. |
| Afghanistan | Ladakh |
| Radcliffe Line | Indian and Pakistan |
|---|---|
| Durand Line | Afghanistan, Pakistan & India |
| McMahon Line | China and India |
Coastline
India has a coastline of 7516.6 km - 5422.6 km of mainland coastline and 2094 km of Indian islands.Indian coastline touches nine states - Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and two union territories - Daman and Diu & Puducherry.
The two Island territories of India are - Andaman and Nicobar Islands in Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea.
The islands of Andaman and Nicobar had the longest coastline in India, amounting to a little over 1,912 kilometers, followed by Gujarat(1600 km).
Coastlines: Andaman and Nicobar (1912), Gujarat(1600 km), Andhra Pradesh (974 km) . . . Goa (160 km), West Bengal(157 km), Lakshadweep (132 km), Puducherry (45), Daman and Diu (27).
Islands
Saddle Peak or Saddle Hill is located on North Andaman Island in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. At 832 m, it is the highest point of the archipelago in the Bay of Bengal.In Andaman and Nicobar, there are 572 (220 Islands and remaining Islets), of which only some 38 are permanently inhabited.
Very small islands, say, islands smaller than necessary for any useful purpose, but still larger than rocks are called islets.
The Ten Degree Channel is a channel that separates the Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands from each other in the Bay of Bengal.
Barren Island, a possession of India in the Andaman Sea about 135 km NE of Port Blair in the Andaman Islands (Bay of Bengal), is the only historically active volcano along the N-S-trending volcanic arc extending between Sumatra and Burma (Myanmar).
Sriharikota is a barrier island off the Bay of Bengal coast located in the Shar Project settlement of Tirupati district in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Lakshadweep is a tropical archipelago of 36 atolls and coral reefs in the Laccadive Sea, off the coast of Kerala, India.
Lakshadweep islands are called as the coral islands.
Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, is an island located between peninsular India and Sri Lanka, on the Rama Setu archipelago.
The Kori Creek is a tidal creek in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat.
Related Facts
The Indian sub-continent was originally part of a huge landmass called Gondwana continent.The Kuttanad (Kerala) has the lowest altitude in India, and is one of the rarest places in the world where farming is carried on around 1.2 to 3.0 metres (4 to 10 ft) below sea level.
Mawsynram , in east Khasi hills of Meghalaya, receives the highest rainfall in India. On the other hand, places like Jaiselmar and Leh receive the lowest rainfall in India.
Read Also: Census 2011
