Indian Geographical Extent and Frontiers – UPSC Geography
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May 17, 2023
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In this article, We are going to readIndian Geographical Extent and Frontiersi.e. Geography of India for UPSC – IndianGeography Notes.
Indian Geographical Extent and Frontiers
India is a vast country, India is located entirely in the northern hemisphere; specifically in the south-central part of the continent of Asia, the mainland extends between latitudes 8°4’N and 37°6’N and longitudes 68°7’E and 97°25’E, area of the world.
As the 7th largest country in the world, India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which gives the country a distinct geographical entity.
India has a land boundary of about 15,200 km and the total length of the coastline of the mainland, including Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep, is 7,516.6 km.
India is bounded by the young fold mountains in the northwest, north, and northeast. South of about 22° north latitude, it begins to taper and extends towards the Indian Ocean, dividing it into two seas, the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on its east.
The latitudinal and longitudinal extent of the mainland is about 30°. Despite this fact, the east-west extent appears to be smaller than the north-south extent.
From Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh, there is a time lag of two hours. Hence, time along the Standard Meridian of India (82°30’E) passing through Mirzapur (in Uttar Pradesh) is taken as the standard time for the whole country. The latitudinal extent influences the duration of day and night, as one moves from south to north.
The Tropic of Cancer passes through eight states in India: Gujarat (Jasdan), Rajasthan (Kalinjarh), Madhya Pradesh (Shajapur), Chhattisgarh (Sonhat), Jharkhand (Lohardaga), West-Bengal (Krishnanagar), Tripura (Udaipur) and Mizoram (Champhai).
Size and Extent –
East-West Extent of Main Land India (Including Pak occupied Kashmir-POK):
68° 7′ east to 97° 25′ east longitude
South-North Extent of Main Land India:
8° 4′ north to 37° 6′ north latitude
Locational Extent:
8° 4′ N to 37° 6′ N latitude and 68° 7′ E to 97° 25′ East longitude.
The southernmost point of the country is the Pygmalion Point or Indira Point is located at 6° 45′ N latitude.
The north-south extent from Indira Col in Kashmir to Kanniyakumari is 3,214 km.
East-west width from the Rann of Kachachh to Arunachal Pradesh is 2,933 km.
With an area of 32,87,263 sq km, India is the seventh-largest country in the world.
India accounts for about 2.4 percent of the total surface area of the world.
The Tropic of Cancer passes through the middle of the country dividing it into two latitudinal halves.
The area to the north of Tropic of Cancer is nearly twice the area which lies to the south of it.
South of 22° north latitude, the country tapers off over 800 km into the Indian Ocean as a peninsula.
Coastline of India
India is a country that is surrounded by the sea on three of its sides. The coastal plains in India are along the west and east of the country. Extending up to 7516.6 km, the coastal plains in India are of two types:
Eastern Coastal Plains of India
Western Coastal Plains of India
Eastern Coastal Plains of India
The eastern coastal plains stretch from West Bengal in the north to Tamil Nadu in the south and pass through Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Deltas of the rivers Mahanadi, Krishna, Godavari, and Cauveri are present in the eastern coastal plain. The deltas are very fertile and productive for agriculture. Therefore, the delta of the River Krishna is called the ‘Granary of South India‘. The Eastern coast is again divided into three categories:
Utkal coast: Extending between the Chilika Lake and Kolleru Lake, they are much wider than the western coastal plains and undergo immense rainfall. Some of the crops that are cultivated here are rice, coconut, and banana.
Andhra coast: Extending between the Kolleru Lake and Pulicat Lake, the Andra coast forms a basin area for the Krishna and the Godavari rivers.
Coromandel coast: The Coromandel coast extends between Pulicat Lake and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. This Indian coastline remains dry in summer and receives rainfall during the winter due to the north-east monsoons.
Chilka lake and the Pulicat lake (lagoon) are the important geographical features of east coast.
Western Coastal Plains of India
Western Coastal Plains stretches from Kerala in the south to Gujarat in the north passing through Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra. The western coastal plains stretch for 1500 km north to south and its width ranges from 10 to 25 km. The West Continental Shelf is at its widest off the Bombay coast. This place is rich in oil. Along the Malabar Coast, there are many beautiful lagoons that make the place a tourist destination. The western coast is narrower than the eastern coast.
The western coast is further divided into four categories:
Kachchh and Kathiawar coast: Kachchh, formerly a gulf is formed by the deposition of silt by the Indus. The area of Kachchh is covered with shallow water during the monsoons and is divided into Great Rann in the north and Little Rann in the east. Whereas, Kathiawar is situated to the south of Kachchh.
Konkan coast: It extends between Daman in the north to Goa in the south. Rice and cashew are the two important crops of this region.
Kanada coast: It extends between Marmagaon and Mangalore and is rich in iron deposits.
Malabar coast: Extending between Mangalore to Kanyakumari, the Malabar coast is relatively broad. This region also consists of lagoons running parallel to the coast in southern Kerala.
Konkan coast = Maharashtra coast and Goa coast; Malabar Coast = Kerala and Karnataka coast.
Standard Time (Time Zone)
Every place on Earth is measured in terms of its distance east or west of the prime meridian (0 longitude) in Greenwich, London, United Kingdom. This is also the reference point for Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) with 1 hour per 15 degrees longitude.
For Example:
At 150 degrees west (or 150 W) longitude, the time should be 150 degrees divided by 15 degrees = 10 hours behind UTC, or UTC-10.
In India 820 30 E has been taken as the reference for Indian Standard Time (IST), which means India is ahead of UTC by 5hr and 30 minutes.
Indian Standard Meridian passes through Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
India, Tropical or Temperate Country?
The temperate part (north of Tropic of Cancer) is twice the area of tropical part.
But India has always been treated as a tropical country for two different reasons – physical and cultural.
Physical Geographical Reasons
The country is separated from the rest of Asia by Himalayas.
Its climate is dominated by the tropical monsoons and the temperate air masses are blocked by Himalayas.
Entire area south of the Himalayas is essentially tropical from climatic point of view: Although the night temperatures in Winter at several places in North India may come down to the level of those prevailing in temperate lands, yet clear skies and intense insolation raise the day temperatures to a tropical level.
Cultural Geographical Reasons
Settlements, diseases, agricultural and primary economic activities are all tropical in nature.
India’s Frontiers
Reference: Ministry Of Home Affairs
India has 15106.7 Km of land border running through 92 districts in 17 States and a coastline of 7516.6 Km [6100 km of mainland coastline + coastline of 1197 Indian islands] touching 13 States and Union Territories (UTs).
Barring Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Delhi, Haryana, and Telangana, all other States in the country have one or more international borders or a coastline and can be regarded as frontline States from the point of view of border management.
India’s longest border is with BANGLADESH while the shortest border is with Afghanistan.
The length of India’s land borders with neighboring countries is as under: