THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

INDIA―Facts and Figures

 India is one of the oldest civilizations of Earth.
 India is the largest democracy in the world.
 India is the 6th most industrialised counties in the world
 India was the 6th nation in the world to achieve nuclear power.
 India was the 6th nation in the world to reach space.
 With population of 139 crores (2021 estimated), India is the 2nd most populated country of the World.
 Life expectancy in India is 69.9 years.
 Crude mortality rate in India in 7.35 per thousand.
 Infant mortality rate in India is 28 per thousand
 With an area of 3.82 million kilometres India is the seventh largest country of the World.
 India has land frontier of 15,200 kilometres.
 India has a coast line of 7,500 kilometres.
 India is located in the northern hemisphere and extends from latitudes 8°4' to 37°6' north, and longitudes
68°7' to 97°25' east.
 India has rich endowment of natural resources. The main physical divisions of India are:
o Himalayan mountains covered with snow and containing forests, wildlife and perennial rivers.
o Indo-Gangetic plain, which are included in one of the world’s greatest stretches of flat alluvium and
most densely populated areas.
o Deccan Plateau, which is a source of Indian mineral wealth ranging from coal to uranium.
o Eastern and Western Ghats (coastal areas), home of tropical rain forests and Indian spices
o Thar desert which complete India’s geographical and cultural diversity.
 There are more than 1,700 languages and dialects in India. India is home to people of different religions,
race and creed.
 India has 28 states and 8 union territories.

INDIA―Physical
Land and the People
 India is situated on the south-central peninsula of Asia.
 India contains two groups of islands i.e. Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea and Andaman & Nicobar Islands
in the Bay of Bengal.
 India occupies almost 2.42 percent of the total land area of the world.
 Russia, Canada, China, United States of America, Brazil and Australia are larger is size than India.
 India is 3,214 kilometres from North to South and 2,933 kilometres from East to West.
Physical Background
 India borders Afghanistan and Pakistan in the North West, China, Bhutan and Nepal in the North, Myanmar
and Bangladesh in the East.
 Sri Lanka is situated towards the South of India and separated by a narrow channel of sea formed by the
Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.
 Himalayas act as natural border of India towards North. Indian Ocean divides India from the rest of the
world in South.
 The longitudinal direction covered by India is so vast, that it leads to the time difference of two hours
between the extreme points in east and west.
 India is divided into two nearly equal parts by the Tropic of Cancer.
 In addition to Himalayas, India has Aravalli, the Vindhyachal, the Satpuras, the Eastern Ghats, and the
Western Ghats.

India and Neighbours

 India gives highest priority to its neighbours. India understands that peaceful existence in India is
impossible without peaceful relationships with the immediate neighbours.
 India clearly understands that peaceful and prosperous South Asia will contribute significantly
towards prosperous India.
 India uses a policy of asymmetric engagement for strengthening the relationships and creating new avenues
of growth and security.
 Indian foreign policy encourages both bilateral SAARC related engagements with neighbours.

Countries that share borders with India.

Bhutan: 600 kms (West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam)
Myanmar: 1643 kms (Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh)
Nepal: 1758 kms (West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand)
Pakistan: 3323 kms (Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and J&K)
China: 3380 kms (Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and J&K)
Bangladesh: 4097 kms (Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and West Bengal)
Afghanistan: 106 kms (J&K)
Sri Lanka: 400 kms (maritime border)

INDIA―About Indian States

List of Indian States and Union Territories and Their Capitals
STATES
State Capital Area Districts Population Population Literacy Sex Official Largest Cities
(Year of (in /Admn. Density Rate% Ratio Languages
Establishment) km2) divisions (per km2)
Andhra Hyderabad 160, 13 4,93,78,776 67.66* 992* Telugu Visakhapatna
Pradesh (till 2024)/ 205 m,
(1956) Amaravati Vijayawada,
(proposed) Guntur
2024
onwards
Arunachal Itanagar 83,7 17 1,382,611 17 66.95 920 English Itanagar
Pradesh 43
(1987)
Assam (1975) Dispur 78,4 33 31,169,272 397 73.18 954 Assamese Guwahati,
38 Silchar,
Dibrugarh,
Nagaon
Bihar (1935) Patna 94,1 38 103,804,637 1,102 63.82 916 Hindi Patna, Gaya,
63 Bhagalpur,
Muzaffarpur,
Biharsharif
Chhattisgarh Raipur 135, 27 25,540,196 189 71.04 991 Chhattisgar Raipur, Bhilai
(2000) 191 hi Nagar, Korba,
Bilaspur, Durg
Goa (1961) Panaji 3,70 2 1,457,723 394 87.4 968 Konkani Panaji
2
Gujarat (1960) Gandhinaga 196, 33 60,383,628 308 79.31 918 Gujarati Ahmedabad,
 r 024 Surat,
Vadodara,
Rajkot,
Bhavnagar
Haryana Chandigarh 44,2 22 25,353,081 573 76.64 877 Haryanvi Faridabad,
(1966) 12 Gurgaon,
Rohtak, Hisar,
Panipat
Himachal Shimla 55,6 12 6,856,509 123 83.78 974 Hindi Shimla
Pradesh 73
(1971)
Jharkhand Ranchi 79,7 24 32,966,238 414 67.63 947 Hindi Dhanbad,
(2000) 14 Ranchi,
Jamshedpur,
Bokaro Steel,
Mango
Karnataka Bengaluru 191, 30 61,130,704 319 75.6 968 Kannada Bangalore,
(1956) 791 Hubli and
Dharwad,
Mysore,
Gulbarga,
Belgaum
Kerala (1956) Trivandrum 38,8 14 33,387,677 859 93.91 1084 Malayalam Trivandrum,
63 Kochi,
Kozhikode,
Kollam,
Thrissur
Madhya Bhopal 308, 51 72,597,565 236 70.63 930 Hindi Indore,
Pradesh 245 Bhopal,
(1956) Jabalpur,
Gwalior,
Ujjain
Maharashtra Mumbai 307, 36 112,372,972 365 82.91 946 Marathi Mumbai,
(1960) 713 Pune, Nagpur,
Thane, Pimpri
and
Chinchwad
Manipur Imphal 22,3 16 2,721,756 122 79.85 987 Meiteilon Imphal
(1947) 27 (Manipuri)
Meghalaya Shillong 22,4 11 2,964,007 132 75.48 986 English Shillong
(1970) 29
Mizoram Aizawl 21,0 8 1,091,014 52 91.58 975 Mizo Aizawl
(1972) 81
Nagaland Kohima 16,5 11 1,980,602 119 80.11 931 English Dimapur
(1963) 79
Odisha (1948) Bhubanesw 155, 30 41,947,358 269 73.45 978 Oriya Bhubaneswar,
ar 707 Cuttack,
Brahmapur
Town, Raurke
la, Puri Town
Punjab (1966) Chandigarh 50,3 22 27,704,236 550 76.68 893 Punjabi Ludhiana,
62 Amritsar,
Jalandhar,
Patiala,
Bathinda
Rajasthan(194 Jaipur 342, 33 68,621,012 201 67.06 926 Hindi Jaipur,
8) 239 Jodhpur,
Kota, Bikaner
, Ajmer
Sikkim (1975) Gangtok 7,09 4 607,688 86 82.2 889 Nepali Gangtok
6
Tamil Nadu Chennai 130, 32 72,138,958 555 80.33 995 Tamil Chennai,
(1969) 058 Coimbatore,
Madurai,
Tiruchirappall
i, Salem
Telangana Hyderabad 114, 10 3,52,86,757 310 66.46% 988 Telugu, Hyderabad,
(2014) 840 Urdu Warangal
Tripura (1956) Agartala 10,4 8 3,671,032 350 87.75 961 Bengali & Agartala
86 Kokborok
Uttar Pradesh Lucknow 240, 75 199,581,477 828 69.72 908 Hindi Lucknow,
(1937) 928 Kanpur,
Ghaziabad,
Agra,
 Meerut
Uttarakhand Dehradun 53,4 13 10,116,752 189 79.63 963 Hindi Dehradun,
(2000) 83 Hardwar,
Haldwani
and Kathgoda
m, Rudrapur
West Bengal Kolkata 88,7 23 91,347,736 1,029 77.08 947 Bengali Kolkata,
(1947) 52 Haora,
Durgapur,
Asansol,
Siliguri
Union Territories
Andaman and Port Blair 8,24 3 379,944 46 86.27 878 English Port Blair
Nicobar 9
Islands (1956)
Chandigarh Chandigarh 114 1 1,054,686 9,252 86.43 818 Punjabi Chandigarh
(1966)
Dadar and Daman 603 3 585764 970 90.51 846 Konkani, Daman
Nagar Marathi Silvassa
Haveli Daman and
and Gujarati
Diu (2020) English

Delhi (1952) Delhi 11,2 9 16,753,235 11,297 86.34 866 Hindi, Delhi
97 Punjabi
and
Urdu
Lakshadweep Kavaratti 32 1 64,429 2,013 92.28 946 English Kavaratti
Puducherry Pondicherr 479 4 1,244,464 2598 86.55 1038 Tamil, Ozhukarai,
(1954) y English Puducherry

Jammu and Kashmir 2222 20 12541302 56 85.70 889 Srinagar,

Kashmir (summer) 36 Urdu, Jammu,
(2020) Jammu Kashmiri, Udhampur,
(Winter) Hindi, Dogri Kathua
Ladakh Leh 5914 2 290492 4.6 90.29 919 Tibetic
(2020) 6 Leh

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