Contemporary India - IESS101 PDF

The T\ r\ opic of Cancer (23° 30\'N) divides the\ country\ into almost two equal parts. To the\ southeast and southwest of the mainland, lie\ the Andaman and Nicobar islands and the\ Lakshadweep islands in Bay of Bengal and\ \ Arabian Sea respectively. Find out the extent\ of these groups of islands...

The T\ r\ opic of Cancer (23° 30\'N) divides the\ country\ into almost two equal parts. To the\ southeast and southwest of the mainland, lie\ the Andaman and Nicobar islands and the\ Lakshadweep islands in Bay of Bengal and\ \ Arabian Sea respectively. Find out the extent\ of these groups of islands from your atlas.\ S\ IZE\ The land mass of India has an area of 3.28\ million sq\ uare\ k\ m\.\ \ India™s total area\ accounts\ for about 2.4 per cent of the total geographical\ I\ ndia is one of the ancient civilisations in the\ world. It has achieved multi-faceted socio-\ economic progress during the last five\ decades\. It has moved forward displaying\ remarkable progress in the field of\ agriculture, industry, technology and overall\ economic development. India has also\ contributed significantly to the making of\ world history.\ L\ OCATION\ India is a vast country. L\ ying entir\ ely in the\ Northern hemisphere (Figure 1.1) the main\ land extends between latitudes 8°4\'N and\ 37°6\'N and longitudes 68°7\'E and 97°25\'E.\ I\ NDIA\ Œ S\ IZE\ \ AND\ L\ OCA\ TION\ Figur\ e 1.1 :\ India in the W\ orld\ Ł\ The southernmost point of\ the Indian UnionŒ ‚Indira Point™ got submerged under\ the sea water in 2004 during\ the\ Tsunami.\ 180°W\ 150°120°90°60°30°W0°\ 180°E\ 150°\ 120°\ 90°\ 60°\ 30°E\ INDIAN\ OCEAN\ Antartica\ 75°N\ 60°\ 30°\ 15°N\ 0°\ 15°S\ 45°\ 60°\ 75°S\ PACIFIC\ OCEAN\ ATLANTIC\ OCEAN\ PACIFIC\ OCEAN\ Africa\ Asia\ 45°\ Europe\ North\ America\ South\ \ America\ Australia\ 30°\ 1 CONTEMPORARY INDIA-I\ 2\ area of the world. From Figure 1.2 it is clear\ that India is the seventh largest country of\ \ the world.\ India has a land boundary of\ about 15,200 km and the total length of the\ \ coas\ t\ line 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.\ Look at Figure 1.3 and note that 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.\ Ł\ W\ hy 82°30\'E has been selected as the\ S\ tandard\ M\ eridian of India\ ?\ Ł\ Why is the difference between the durations\ of day and night hardly felt at Kanniyakumari\ \ but not so in Kashmir?\ I\ NDIA\ \ AND\ \ THE\ W\ ORLD\ The Indian landmass has a central location\ between the East and the W\ est Asia. India is a\ southward extension of the Asian\ c\ ontinent. The\ trans Indian Ocean routes\ ,\ which connect the\ countries of Eur\ ope in the W\ est and the\ countries of East Asia\ ,\ provide a strategic central\ location to India. Note that the Deccan Peninsula\ \ protrudes into the Indian Ocean, thus helping\ \ India to establish close contact with W\ est Asia,\ Africa and Europe from the western coast and\ with Southeast and East Asia from the eastern\ coast. No other country has a long coastline on\ \ the Indian Ocean as India has and indeed, it is\ \ India™s eminent position in the Indian Ocean\ ,\ which justifies the naming of an Ocean after it.\ Figur\ e 1.2 : Seven Lar\ gest Countries of the W\ orld\ Sour\ ce :\ United Nations Demographic Y\ ear Book 2015\ Since the opening of the\ Suez Canal in 1869, India™s distance from Europe\ has been reduced by 7,000 km. INDIA Œ SIZE AND LOCATION\ 3\ Figure 1.3 :\ India : Extent and Standard Meridian CONTEMPORARY INDIA-I\ 4\ Figur\ e 1.4 :\ India on Inter\ national Highway of T\ rade and Commer\ ce\ Ł The number of Union Territories\ along the western and eastern coasts.\ Ł Area-wise which is the smallest and which is\ \ the largest state?\ \ Ł T\ he states which do not have an international\ border or lie on the coast.\ \ Ł\ Classify the states into four groups each\ having common frontiers with\ \ (i) Pakistan, (ii) China, (iii) Myanmar\ , and\ (iv) Bangladesh.\ India shares its land boundaries with\ Pakistan and Afghanistan in the northwest,\ China (T\ ibet), Nepal and Bhutan in the north\ and Myanmar and Bangladesh in the east.\ \ Our southern neighbours across the sea\ consist of the two island countries, namely\ India™s contacts with the W\ orld have\ continued through ages but her relationships\ \ through the land routes are much older than\ her maritime contacts. The various passes across\ the mountains in the north have provided\ passages to the ancient travellers\ ,\ \ w\ hile the\ oceans restricted such interaction for a long time.\ These routes have contributed in the\ exchange of ideas and commodities since\ \ ancient times. The ideas of the\ Upanishads\ and the\ Ramayana\ , the stories of\ Panchtantra\ ,\ the Indian numerals and the decimal system\ thus could reach many parts of the world. The\ sp\ i\ ces, muslin and other merchandise were\ taken from India to different countries. On the\ \ other hand, the influence of\ G\ reek sculpture,\ and the architectural styles of d\ o\ me and\ minar\ ets\ fr\ om W\ est Asia can be seen in\ different parts of our country.\ I\ NDIA\ ™\ S\ N\ EIGHBOURS\ India occupies an important strategic position\ in South Asia. India has 28 states and Eight\ \ Union Territories (Figure 1.5).\ Before 1947, there were two\ types of states in India\ Š\ the provinces and the\ Princely states. Provinces were ruled directly by\ British officials\ ,\ who were appointed by the\ Viceroy. Princely states were ruled by local,\ \ hereditary rulers, who acknowledge\ d\ so\ ve\ r\ eignity\ in return for local autonomy. INDIA Œ SIZE AND LOCATION\ 5\ Figure 1.5 :\ India and Adjacent Countries\ Sri Lanka and Maldives. Sri Lanka is\ separated from India by a narrow channel\ \ of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf\ \ of Mannar\ ,\ while Maldives Islands ar\ e situated\ to the south of the Lakshadweep Islands.\ India has had strong geographical and\ historical links with her neighbours. Look\ \ at the physical map of Asia in your atlas,\ \ and note how India stands apart from the\ rest of Asia\.\ \ School Bhuvan, NCER\ T is a portal pr\ oviding map-based lear\ ning to bring awar\ eness\ among the students about the country™s natural resources, environment and their role in sustainable\ development. It is an initiative of Bhuvan\ Š\ NRSC/ISRO based on NCER\ T syllabus. Y\ ou can explor\ e\ various maps of India related to the secondary stage on https://bhuvan-app1.nrsc.gov.in/mhrd\_ncert/ CONTEMPORARY INDIA-I\ 6\ 1.\ Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.\ (i)\ The Tropic of Cancer does not pass through\ (a)\ Rajasthan\ (c)\ Chhattisgarh\ (b)\ Odisha\ (d)\ Tripura\ (ii)\ The easternmost longitude of India is\ \ (a)\ 97° 25\' E\ (c) 77° 6\' E\ (b)\ 68° 7\' E\ (d) 82° 32\' E\ (iii)\ Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar\ , W\ est Bengal and Sikkim have common\ frontiers with\ (a)\ China\ (c)\ Nepal\ (b)\ Bhutan\ (d)\ Myanmar\ (iv)\ If you intend to visit Kavarati during your summer vacations, which one of\ the following Union Territories of India you will be going to\ (a)\ Puducherry\ (c)\ Andaman and Nicobar\ (b)\ Lakshadweep\ (d)\ Daman and Diu\ (v)\ My friend hails from a country which does not share land boundary with\ \ India. Identify the country.\ (a)\ Bhutan\ (c) Bangladesh\ (b)\ Tajikistan\ (d) Nepal\ 2\ Answer the following questions briefly.\ (i)\ Name the group of islands lying in the Arabian Sea.\ (ii)\ Name the countries which are larger than India.\ (iii)\ Which island group of India lies to its south-east?\ (iv)\ Which island countries are our southern neighbours?\ 3\ The sun rises two hours earlier in Arunachal Pradesh as compared to Gujarat\ in the west but the watches show the same time. How does this happen?\ 4\ The central location of India at the head of the Indian Ocean is considered of\ great significance. Why?\ M\ AP\ S\ KILLS\ 1.\ Identify the following with the help of map reading.\ (i)\ The island groups of India lying in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.\ (ii)\ The countries constituting Indian subcontinent.\ (iii)\ The States through which the Tropic of Cancer passes.\ (iv)\ The northernmost latitude in degrees.\ (v)\ The southernmost latitude of the Indian mainland in degrees.\ (vi)\ The eastern and the western-most longitude in degrees.\ (vii)\ The place situated on the three seas.\ (viii)\ The strait separating Sri Lanka from India.\ (ix)\ The Union Territories of India.\ P\ ROJECT\ /A\ CTIVITY\ (i)\ Find out the longitudinal and latitudinal extent of your state.\ (ii)\ Collect information about the ‚Silk Route™. Also find out the new\ developments, which are improving communication routes in the regions of\ high altitude.\ E\ XERCISE