The region bounded by the young fold mountain ranges in the northwest, north and northeast, and washed by the waters of the Indian Ocean and its two northern arms the Arabian Sea in the west and the Bay of Bengal in the east, has been a distinct geographical and geopolitical unit since the ancient times. This region stands out distinctly from the rest of the continent of Asia and is called the Indian Subcontinent.
The word ‘India’ owes its origin to the Greek word ‘Indoi’ meaning the land near Indos River. The Romans pronounced the river as Indus and the country beyond it as India. The Persians referred to this river as Hindu (for Sindhu) and the land east of it as Hindustan. The name Bharat has been derived from the ancient king of that name, who visualised the fundamental unity of the country.
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Location and Extent:
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India lies in the northern and eastern hemispheres of the globe. The mainland of India extends from about 8° 4′ N to 37° 6′ N latitudes and from about 68° 7′ E to 97° 25′ E longitudes. Thus, its latitudinal and longitudinal extent is about 30°. Although the southernmost tip of the mainland is Kanniyakumari, but for the whole country, it is Indira Point located in the Great Nicobar Island.
The north-south extent of the mainland of India from Kashmir in the north to Kanniyakumari in the south is about 3214 km. The east-west extent from the Rann of Kachchh in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east is about 2933 km.
The Tropic of Cancer passes through the middle of India, dividing it into two parts. The northern portion is nearly twice the area of the southern portion.
The east-west extent of India is about 30 degrees of longitude. Due to this great longitudinal extent, the Sun rises or sets almost two hours earlier in the eastern most part than in the westernmost part.
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To avoid any confusion with respect to time at different places in India, the almost centrally located longitude of 82.5° E has been selected as the Standard Meridian for the whole country. The local time of this longitude is used as the Indian Standard Time or IST.
The Standard Meridian of India provides for the exact difference of 5 hours and 30 minutes between the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and the Indian Standard Time (1ST). As India is located towards the east of Greenwich, the 1ST is ahead of GMT by 5 hours and 30 minutes.
India has 15,200 km long land frontier to its northwest, north and northeast. This frontier is provided by high mountain ranges which are the highest in the world. About 6100 km long coastline of the mainland of India is washed by the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The total coastline, including those of the islands is about 7517 km.
India’s Neighbours:
i. India has common land boundaries with Pakistan and Afghanistan in the northwest, China, Nepal and Bhutan in the north and Myanmar and Bangladesh in the southeast and east respectively.
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ii. The Indian frontiers with the neighbouring countries are mostly natural and historically determined.
iii. The nearest neighbour in the south across the sea is Sri Lanka, which is separated from India through a narrow channel called the Palk Strait.
iv. The Eight Degree Channel forms the boundary between Lakshadweep (India) and Maldives.
v. It is through the mountain passes, situated at high altitude in the Himalayas, that India is linked to Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Sinkiang region of China and Tibet.
vi. Flanked by the Himalayan mountains, lies the independent Himalayan kingdom of Nepal to our north.
vii. East of Nepal lies the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, which is bound to India by a special treaty.
viii. The eastern boundaries along Myanmar are guarded by the off-shoots of the Himalayas.
ix. India’s western boundary with Pakistan is a superimposed artificial boundary dividing the people, who belong to the same ancestry.
x. The India-Bangladesh boundary, about 3900 km long, allows a large number of infiltrators from Bangladesh to enter the north-eastern states.
Political Divisions:
At the time of Independence in 1947, India was divided into 562 small princely states. India became a Democratic Republic on 26 January, 1950, and was named officially as the Republic of India. The State Reorganisation Commission, set up in 1953, suggested the division of India (for administrative convenience) into 14 States and 6 Union territories, on linguistic basis.
The Union Territories are small scattered areas in the Union of India, which are centrally administered. The states and the Union territories were reorganised a number of times depending upon the political, economic, administrative, social and cultural needs of the country. Today, India is divided into 28 states and 7 Union territories (including the National Capital Territory of Delhi).
i. Rajasthan is the largest and Goa is the smallest state with respect to area.
ii. Uttar Pradesh is the largest and Sikkim is the smallest state with respect to population (as per census of 2001).
iii. Seventeen states have common land- boundary with the neighbouring countries. Find out their names.
iv. Seven states in the north-eastern part of India are called the Seven Sisters. Find out their names.
India in the Oriental World:
i. India has developed great economic and cultural contacts with the outside world.
ii. In ancient days, the Babylonians, the Egyptians and the Phoenicians carried maritime trade with India through the Arabian Sea.
iii. The opening of the Suez Canal in the nineteenth century has brought the countries, of the southern Europe and North Africa especially those around the Mediterranean Sea, very close to India.
iv. Our contacts across the land frontiers are older than our maritime contacts.
v. Passes and valleys in the mountains offered passages to the travellers in ancient times.
vi. Mongols, Turks, Arabs and Iranians came as conquerors and settled down here, which resulted in the intermingling of races and cultures.
Strategic Significance of India:
i. India stands at the head of the Indian Ocean, commanding trade routes in all directions.
ii. The Indian Ocean is the only ocean in the world which is named after a country.
iii. The Indian Ocean bridges the gap between the east and the west.
iv. No other country in this region has as long a coastline as India.
v. Most of the air-routes between Europe, west Asia and Africa in the west and East Asia, southeast Asia, Japan and Australia in the east pass through India.
vi. India thus commands a strategic position on the globe in respect to trade as well as social and cultural interaction.
The Physical Features:
i. India shows a great diversity in its relief.
ii. In the north lie the high young fold mountains with snow-capped peaks, large glaciers, deep gorges and roaring waterfalls.
iii. The flat and featureless Northern Plains, drained by the mighty rivers like the Ganga, Brahmaputra and their numerous tributaries, is situated to the south of the high mountains.
iv. The vast sandy desert, located towards the west of the Northern Plains, is characterised by sand dunes and inland drainage.
v. Towards the south is the plateau region whose topography is dominated by flat-topped summits, residual ranges and broad river valleys.
vi. The peninsular plateau tapers to the south and is surrounded by the coastal plains of varying width along its eastern and western borders.