Space relations and India's place in the world | India - Location | Itselfu Courses English

 Geography Optional Complete Study Material

Location - Space relationship of India with neighbouring countries

[Geography Optional | Paper - II | Physical Setting]

The mainland of India, extends from Kashmir in the north to Kanniyakumari in the south and Arunachal Pradesh in the east to Gujarat in the west. India’s territorial limit further extends towards the sea upto 12 nautical miles (about 21.9 km) from the coast.

Note :- Statute mile = 63,360 inches; Nautical mile = 72,960 inches; 1 Statute mile = about 1.6 km (1.584 km); 1 Nautical mile = about 1.8 km (1.852 km).

Our southern boundary extends upto 6°45' N latitude in the Bay of Bengal. Let us try to analyse the implications of having such a vast longitudinal and latitudinal extent. If you work out the latitudinal and longitudinal extent of India, they are roughly about 30 degrees, whereas the actual distance measured from north to south extremity is 3,214 km, and that from east to west is only 2,933 km. 

This difference is based on the fact that the distance between two longitudes decreases towards the poles whereas the distance between two latitudes remains the same everywhere.

From the values of latitude, it is understood that the southern part of the country lies within the tropics and the northern part lies in the sub-tropical zone or the warm temperate zone. This location is responsible for large variations in land forms, climate, soil types and natural vegetation in the country.

Now, let us observe the longitudinal extent and its implications on the Indian people. From the values of longitude, it is quite discernible that there is a variation of nearly 30 degrees, which causes a time difference of nearly two hours between the easternmost and the westernmost parts of our country.

Note :- There is a general understanding among the countries of the world to select the standard meridian in multiples of 7°30' of longitude. That is why 82°30' E has been selected as the ‘standard meridian’ of India. Indian Standard Time is ahead of Greenwich Mean Time by 5 hours and 30 minutes. There are some countries where there are more than one standard meridian due to their vast east-to-west extent. For example, the USA has seven time zones.

India with its area of 3.28 million sq. km accounts for 2.4 per cent of the world’s land surface area and stands as the seventh largest country in the world. Find out the names of the countries which are larger than India.

Size

The size of India has endowed her with great physical diversity. Thus, you may appreciate the presence of lofty mountains in the north; large rivers such as Ganga, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Krishna, Godavari and Kaveri; green forested hills in northeast and south India; and the vast sandy expanse of Marusthali. You may further appreciate that bounded by the Himalayas in the north, Hindukush and Sulaiman ranges in the northwest, Purvachal hills in the north-east and by the large expanse of the Indian ocean in the south, it forms a great geographic entity known as the Indian subcontinent. It includes the countries — Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and India. The Himalayas, together with other ranges, have acted as a formidable physical barrier in the past. Except for a few mountain passes such as the Khyber, the Bolan, the Shipkila, the Nathula, the Bomdila, etc. it was difficult to cross it. It has contributed towards the evolving of a unique regional identity of the Indian subcontinent. By referring to the physical map of India you can now describe the physical variations which you would come across while travelling from Kashmir to Kanniyakumari and from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan to Imphal in Manipur. Peninsular part of India extends towards the Indian Ocean. This has provided the country with a coastline of 6,100 km in the mainland and 7,517 km in the entire geographical coast of the mainland plus the island groups Andaman and Nicobar located in the Bay of Bengal and the Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea. Thus India, as a country, is a physically diverse land providing occurrence of varied resources. 

India and Its Neighbours

that India is located in the south-central part of the continent of Asia, bordering the Indian ocean and its two arms extending in the form of Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. This maritime location of Peninsular India has provided links to its neighbouring regions through the sea and air routes. Prepare a list of India’s neighbouring countries by consulting the map. Sri Lanka and Maldives are the two island countries located in the Indian Ocean, which are our neighbours. Sri Lanka is separated from India by the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait.

Note :-  Different between Gulf and Palk Strait ? Gulf refers to the portion of the ocean which penetrates within the land. It can be different in shape, deepness and size. Straits refer to a narrow waterway that acts as a connector toward a large water body.