India’s Land and Water Frontiers
India’s Land and Water Frontiers
Major Physiographic Divisions of India
Introduction
India is the seventh largest country in the world and second largest country in Asia. It is separated by the Himalayas from the rest of the continent. India accounts for about 2.4 % of the total area of the world with an area of 32,87,263sq.km. many of the India states are larger than several countries of the world.
India’s Land and Water Frontiers
India shares its 15,200 km long land frontier with Pakistan and Afghanistan in the
north-west, China, Nepal and Bhutan in the north and Bangladesh and Myanmar in the east.
India’s longest border is with Bangladesh(4156 km)while the shortest border is with Afghanistan.(106 km) About 6,100 km long coastline of India is washed on three sides of the country by the Indian Ocean and its two arms namely the
Arabian sea in the west and the Bay of Bengal in the east. The total length of the coast line of India including the islands is 7,516.6 km. India and Sri Lanka are separated by a narrow and shallow sea called Palk Strait.
India and the World
The Indian land mass has a central location between, the East and the West Asia and the southward extension of the Asian continent.The trans Indian ocean routes which connect the countries of Europe in the west and the countries of East Asia provide a strategic central location to India. Thus it helps India to establish close trade contact with West Asia, Africa and Europe from the western coast and with South East, east Asia from the eastern coast.
India: A Subcontinent
India along with the countries of Myanmar,Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka is called a subcontinent.
This region possesses a distinct continental characteristics in physiography, climate, natural vegetation, minerals, human resources etc.
Hence India is known as ‘subcontinent’.
Location and Extent
India extends from 8°4 'N to 37°6 'N latitudes and 68°7 'E to 97°25 'E longitudes. Hence India is located in the north Eastern hemisphere
The southern most point of the country is Pygmalion Point or Indira Point (6°45'N
latitude) located in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The southern most point of main land of India is Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari).The northern point is Indira Col.
The north-south extent of India is 3,214km and it extends from Indira Col in Jammu
and Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. The east-west extension is 2933 km and it stretches from Rann of Kutch (Gujarat) in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east. The Tropic of Cancer (23°30’ N) passes through the middle of the country dividing it into two halves as northern temperate and
southern tropical lands.
Indian Standard Time (IST)
The longitudinal difference between Gujarat in the west and Arunachal Pradesh in
the east is about 30°.Since Arunachal Pradesh is towards east,it will have sunrise about two hours earlier than the sunrise at Gujarat which is in the west.In order to avoid these differences, Indian standard time is calculated. The local time of
the central meridian of India is the standard time of India. India’s central meridian
is 82°30’ E longitude. It passes throughMirzapur and roughly bisects the country in
terms of longitude. The IST is 5.30 hrs aheadof Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
India has been politically divided into 28 states and 9 union territories for
administrative convenience.
Major Physiographic Divisions of India
The majestic Himalayan peaks in the north, the beautiful beaches in the south,
the great Indian desert in the west and the breathtaking natural heritage in the east make India a geographically vibrant, colourful and truly incredible country.
There is a varied nature of physiographic divisions in India. Though the country has many landforms based on the major differences, it isdivided into the following five physiographic divisions:
1. The Northern Mountains
2. The Northern Plains
3. The Peninsular plateau
4. The Coastal Plains
5. The Islands
பத்தாம் வகுப்பு சமூக அறிவியல் பொது தேர்வு 2025 எதிர்பார்க்கும் இந்திய வரைபடம்
Keywords
0 கருத்துகள்