indian location geography. Exams upsc

INDIAN GEOGRAPHY

LOCATION :

● Entirely located in the northern hemisphere , in Asia Continent.

● India is 7th Largest Country in world with 2.4% area of world.

● Latitude : 8°4’N and 37°6’N

● Longitudes : 68°7’E and 97°25’E

o The latitudinal and longitudinal extent of the mainland is about 30°.

About Boundary of India : (UPSC 2015, 2018 PRE )

● India has land boundary of about 15,200 km

o The Northern most point – Indira Col ( Ladakh UT)

o Southern most point - Pygmalion Point or Indira Point is located at 6° 45′ N latitude.

o Eastern most point – Kibithu In Arunachal Pradesh

o Western Most point – Ghaur Moti ( Gujrat )

● The total length of the coastline of the mainland, including Andaman and Nicobar and

Lakshadweep, is 7,516.6 km.

About Time Zone :

● The 82°30’ E is the standard meridian passing through Mirzapur( Uttar Pradesh ) is Standard time

zone of India.

● This meridian passes through –

o Uttar Pradesh

o Madhya Pradesh

o Chhattisgarh

o Odisha

o Andhra Pradesh

● From Gujrat to Arunachal Pradesh There is 2 hour time difference.

Tropic of Cancer :

● The Tropic of Cancer passes through eight states in India:

o Gujarat (Jasdan), Rajasthan (Kalinjarh), MadhyaPradesh (Shajapur), Chhattisgarh (Sonha

t), Jharkhand (Lohardaga), WestBengal (Krishnanagar), Tripura (Udaipur)and Mizoram (

Champhai).

Coastline of India

● Indian has sea on its three sides. The coastal plains in India are along the west and east of the

country. Extending up to 7516.6 km, the coastal plains in India are of two types:

o Eastern Coastal Plains of India

o Western Coastal Plains of India

Eastern Coastal Plains of India :

● The east coast is stretch from – West Bengal, Odhisa, Andhra Pradesh & Tamilnadu.

● Deltas of the rivers Mahanadi, Krishna, Godavari, and Cauvery are present in the eastern coastal

plain.

● The deltas are very fertile and productive for agriculture. Therefore, the delta of the River

Krishna is called the ‘Granary of South India‘.

● The Eastern coast is again divided into three categories:

o Utkal coast: Extending between the Chilika Lake and Kolleru Lake, they are much wider

than the western coastal plains and undergo immense rainfall. Some of the crops that are

cultivated here are rice, coconut, and banana.

o Andhra coast: Extending between the Kolleru Lake and Pulicat Lake, the Andra coast

forms a basin area for the Krishna and the Godavari rivers.

o Coromandel coast: The Coromandel coast extends between Pulicat Lake and

Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. This Indian coastline remains dry in summer and receives

rainfall during the winter due to the north-east monsoons.

Western Coastal Plains of India (UPSC 2017 PRE)

● This passes through – Gujrat , Maharashtra , Goa, Karnataka, kerala.

● The western coastal plains stretch for 1500 km north to south and its width ranges from 10 to 25

km.

● The West Continental Shelf is at its widest off the Bombay coast.

● This place is rich in oil.

● Along the Malabar Coast, there are many beautiful lagoons that make the place a tourist

destination.

● The western coast is narrower than the eastern coast.

● The western coast is further divided into four categories:

o Kachchh and Kathiawar coast: Kachchh, formerly a gulf is formed by the deposition of

silt by the Indus. The area of Kachchh is covered with shallow water during the

monsoons and is divided into Great Rann in the north and Little Rann in the east.

Whereas, Kathiawar is situated to the south of Kachchh.

o Konkan coast: It extends between Daman in the north to Goa in the south. Rice and

cashew are the two important crops of this region.

o Kanada coast: It extends between Marmagaon and Mangalore and is rich in iron

deposits.

o Malabar coast: Extending between Mangalore to Kanyakumari, the Malabar coast is

relatively broad. This region also consists of lagoons running parallel to the coast in

southern Kerala.