Location
• India lies entirely in the Northern Hemisphere.
• India’s mainland extends between 8°4’N and 37°8N latitudes, and 68°7’E and 97°25’E
longitudes.
• The Tropic of Cancer (23°30N) divides India into two almost equal parts.
Size
• Covering an area of 3.28 million square kilometres, India’s total area is 2.4% of the total geographical area of the world.
• India is the world’s seventh largest country with a land boundary of about 15,200 km, with total length of the coastline being 7,516.6 km.
• India’s east-west extent appears to be smaller than the north-south extent.
India and the World
• The Indian landmass is centrally located between West and East Asia.
• India’s protruding Deccan Peninsula helped India to establish close contacts with West Asia, Africa and Europe, South-east and East Asia.
• India’s contacts with the world via land routes are much more than her maritime contacts.
• India has contributed a lot to the world in forms of ideas, philosophies (Upanishads, Ramayana, Panchatantra) and mathematics (Indian numerals and decimal system).
• In exchange, India’s architecture was influenced by Greek sculpture and architectural styles from West Asia.
India’s Neighbours
• India has an important position in South Asia and has 28 States and 7 Union Territories.
• India shares its boundaries with Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Bhutan.
• The southern neighbors across the sea consist of the two island countries, namely Maldives and Sri Lanka.
• India stands apart from the rest of Asia.