Introduction

Locational setting
India’s neighbours
Political map of india
Political and administrative divisions
Physical map of india
Physical divisions
Geography : Location & Topography
Located in the Southern part of Asia, India lies between 8°4' and 37°6' N
Latitude and 68°7' and 97°25' E Longitude. This seventh largest country in the
world spreads over an area of 3,166,414 sq. km., including Lakshadweep Island
in the Arabian Sea and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
India is bounded by the Arabian Sea on its west and south west and the Bay of
Bengal on its east and south east and the Himalayan Mountain ranges borders
the country on its north. India shares its territorial border with Afghanistan,
Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

India is blessed with diverse topography—from mountains to plains, to

plateaus, deserts, coasts and islands. The Tropic of Cancer divides the country
into two equal parts in the Northern and Southern part, and the Vindhya
Mountains cut right across the country, from West to East.

The Himalayas, which forms the Northern boundary of the country, consist of
three parallel series of mountain range: the Nimadi, Himachal and Shivaliks.
Locational Setting
India is located in the Northern hemisphere.
The Tropic of Cancer (23º30’N) passes almost halfway through the country.
From south to north, the mainland of India extends between 8º4’N and 37º6’N latitudes.
From west to east, India extends between 68º7’E and 97º25’E longitudes.
Due to a great longitudinal extent of about 29º, there could be a wide difference in local
time between places located at two extreme points of India.
It is known that the local time changes by four minutes for every one degree of
longitude. As such, the difference between these two points would be of about two
hours. So, the sun rises two hours earlier in Arunachal Pradesh than in Gujarat.
The local time of longitude 82º30’E has been taken as the Indian Standard Time. This
meridian or longitude is also termed as the Standard Meridian of India.
Large countries like USA, Canada and Russia, which stretch extensively from east to
west do not have a single Standard Time like India.
 India is sharing its borders with the following countries –
Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal,
Pakistan & Sri Lanka.
Border Lines are the dividing line between two different
places. This line separates two countries clearly. Borderline
names make us easy to identify this divider line between
different countries and their territorial limits of the
particular country and also easy to remember.
The administrative divisions of India are subnational
administrative units of India; they compose a nested
hierarchy of country subdivisions. Indian states and
territories frequently use different local titles for the same
level of subdivision (e.g., the mandals of Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana correspond to tehsils of Uttar
Pradesh and other Hindi-speaking states but
to talukas of Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra
, and Tamil Nadu
In the north are the lofty snow-capped Himalayas. They are
divided into three main parallel ranges.
a. The northernmost is the Great Himalaya or Nimadi. It
consists of some of the world’s highest peaks.
b. Middle Himalaya or Himachal lies to the south of Nimadi. It
has many popular hill stations.
c. The Shiwalik is the southernmost range.
2. The Northern Indian Plains lie to the south of the
Himalayas and are generally level and flat.
These are formed by the alluvial deposits laid down by the
rivers- the Indus, the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and their
tributaries.
Alluvial deposits are very fine soils, brought by rivers and
deposited in the river basins.
A tributary is a river or a stream which contributes its water to a
main river from either side.
The river plains provide fertile land for cultivation which is the
reason for high concentration of population in these plains.