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Situated in south-central Asia, the Indian subcontinent extends southward into the Indian Ocean, with the Arabian Sea to its west and the Bay of Bengal to its east.
It is located north of the equator, hence in the northern hemisphere. Lying between 8° 4′ N and 37° 18′ N latitudes and 68° 7′ E and 97° 25′ E longitudes, the country is divided into almost equal parts by the Tropic of Cancer (23° 30′ N).
The southern half which coincides with peninsular India lies in the tropical zone, while the northern half belongs to the subtropical zone and is somewhat continental in nature. India also belongs to the eastern hemisphere as it lies to the east of the Prime Meridian.
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The 82° 30′ E longitude is taken as the Standard Time Meridian of India, as it passes through the middle of India (near Allahabad). It means that when it is noon in Allahabad, the time for the whole of India is taken as noon. This is so despite the fact that at places lying east of 82° 30′ E, i.e., the Standard Meridian, it is already past noon, and at places lying west of Allahabad noon is yet to come. (India, for such a large country, is not divided into different time zones.)
In- terms of area, India is the seventh largest country in the world occupying 2.2 per cent of the world area. It is 12 times as big as the United Kingdom and nearly one-third of Canada. Population-wise, it is second in the world, after China; 16 per cent of world population is said to inhabit India.
The country covers an area of 32, 87,263 sq km. It measures about 3,214 km from north to south and about 2,933 km from east to west.
Mainland India has a coastline of 6,100 km. Including the Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar, the coastline measures about 7,516.6 km. To the north-west, north and north-east, India has land frontiers measuring about 15,200 km in length.
The southernmost point of the Indian Territory is the Indira Point (earlier called Pigmalion Point) in Great Nicobar, while Kanyakumari, also known as Cape of Comorin, is the southernmost point of the Indian mainland. The Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea meet at Kanyakumari.
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India’s international boundaries are mostly natural and historically determined. Our country is bound in three directions by the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. In the north and east, the mighty Himalayas and its offshoots form the international boundary of the country. However, India shares its frontiers with many countries such as Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. If we take into consideration Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Afghanistan is also one of India’s neighbours.
The nearest neighbour of India across the sea is Sri Lanka which is separated by the narrow Palk Strait from the mainland of India. Maldive islands are another neighbour situated to the south of Lakshadweep islands. Myanmar is our immediate neighbour across the Purvanchal Hills and the Bay of Bengal. Other neighbours on these frontiers include Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
To the west are Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and the Arabian countries. Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania are our neighbours across the ocean. Five countries of Asia—China, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India—meet at the apex of the North Indian Triangle. At the easternmost point of the Indian border is the north-eastern tri-junction, where India, China and Myanmar meet.
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The Indian states on international boundaries (other country/countries within brackets) are:
Gujarat (Pakistan), Rajasthan (Pakistan), Punjab (Pakistan), Jammu and Kashmir (China and Pakistan), Himachal Pradesh (China), Bihar (Nepal), Uttarakhand (China and Nepal), Uttar Pradesh (Nepal), West Bengal (Bhutan and Bangladesh), Sikkim (China, Bhutan and Nepal), Arunachal Pradesh (Bhutan, China and Myanmar), Nagaland (Myanmar), Manipur (Myanmar), Mizoram (Bangladesh and Myanmar), Meghalaya (Bangladesh), Tripura (Bangladesh), and Assam (Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar).
