India Geography and Location

India's Strategic Location

• India's central location in the Indian Ocean allows it to establish close contact with West Asia, Africa, and Europe from its western coast, and with Southeast and East Asia from its eastern coast.
• No other country has a long coastline on the Indian Ocean like India, which justifies the naming of an Ocean after it.

Impact of Suez Canal

• The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 reduced India's distance from Europe by 7,000 km.

India's Size and Boundaries

• India is the seventh largest country in the world in terms of area.
• India has a land boundary of about 15,200 km.
• The total length of the coastline of the mainland, including Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep, is 7,516.6 km.

Time Zones and Standard Meridian

• The Standard Meridian of India is 82°30'E, which passes through Mirzapur (in Uttar Pradesh).
• Time along the Standard Meridian is taken as the standard time for the whole country due to the time lag of two hours from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh.
• The latitudinal extent of India influences the duration of day and night, with a significant difference between southern and northern parts of the country.

Geographic Features

• India is bounded by the young fold mountains in the northwest and northeast.
• The country begins to taper south of about 22° north latitude and extends towards the Indian Ocean, dividing it into the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on the east.
• The latitudinal and longitudinal extent of the mainland is about 30°.

Test your knowledge of India's geography, including its size, land boundaries, coastline, and Standard Meridian. Learn why the duration of day and night varies across different regions of India.