India - Notes PDF

India - Notes Geography Copyright © 2014-2023 TestBook Edu Solutions Pvt. Ltd.: All rights reserved  Download Testbook App OUR COUNTRY: IND...

India - Notes Geography Copyright © 2014-2023 TestBook Edu Solutions Pvt. Ltd.: All rights reserved  Download Testbook App OUR COUNTRY: INDIA Units Covered Introduction: Size and location India: Climate, Vegetation and Wildlife Location and Extent India is the seventh largest country in the world and second largest country in Asia on the basis of area. 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 32,87,263 sq.km. Many of the Indian states are larger than several countries of the world. India in the world 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 southernmost point of the country is Pygmalion Point or Indira Point (6°45'N latitude) located in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The southernmost point of mainland India is Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari). The northernmost point is Indira Col (Siachen Glacier). Now, let us observe the longitudinal extent and its implications on the Indian people. From the values of longitude, it is quite discernible that there is a variation of nearly 30 degrees, which causes a time difference of nearly two hours between the easternmost and the westernmost parts of our country. While the sun rises in the northeastern states about two hours earlier as compared to Jaisalmer, the watches in Dibrugarh, Imphal in the east and Jaisalmer, Bhopal or Chennai in the other parts of India show the same time. India, like all other countries of the world, follows the local time of its relatively central meridian as the standard time for the whole country. For the convenience of all, each country chooses its standard meridian in a multiple of 7°30'. SUBJECT | Geography 1 of 7  Download Testbook App Accordingly, the standard meridian of India has been chosen to be 82°30' E. Size The size of India has endowed her with great physical diversity. It has the presence of lofty mountains in the north; large rivers such as Ganga, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Krishna, Godavari and Kaveri; green forested hills in northeast and south India; and the vast sandy expanse of Marusthali. It is bounded by the Himalayas in the north, Hindukush and Sulaiman ranges in the north-west, Purvanchal hills in the north-east and by the large expanse of the Indian ocean in the south, it forms a great geographic entity known as the Indian subcontinent. It includes the countries — Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and India. The Himalayas, together with other ranges, have acted as a formidable physical barrier in the past. Except for a few mountain passes such as the Khyber, the Bolan, the Shipkila, the Nathula, the Bomdila, etc. it was difficult to cross it. It has contributed towards the evolving of a unique regional identity of the Indian subcontinent. The north-central part of India is broad while the southern part tapers down towards the Indian Ocean in the south. Thus, the northern part of the Indian Ocean has been divided into two, by the sheer presence of the Indian Peninsula. The western part of the northern Indian Ocean is called the Arabian Sea while the eastern part is called the Bay of Bengal. Peninsular part of India extends towards the Indian Ocean. This has provided the country with a coastline of 6,100 km in the mainland and 7,517 km in the entire geographical coast of the mainland plus the island groups Andaman and Nicobar located in the Bay of Bengal and the Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea. Thus, India, as a country, is a physically diverse land providing an abundance of varied resources. India’s Latitudinal and Longitudinal Extent SUBJECT | Geography 2 of 7  Download Testbook App 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 of the 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 coastline 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- A Subcontinent India along with the countries of Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka is called a subcontinent. This region possesses distinct continental characteristics in physiography, climate, natural vegetation, minerals, human resources etc. Hence India is known as ‘subcontinent’. SUBJECT | Geography 3 of 7  Download Testbook App 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 the 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 through Mirzapur and roughly bisects the country in terms of longitude. The IST is 5.30 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Do You Know? The southernmost point of the Indian Union - 'Indira Point' was submerged in sea water during the tsunami in 2004. SUBJECT | Geography 4 of 7  Download Testbook App The states and union territories of India At one time, India had many small states. The Britishers were able to rule our country for a long time because of the disputes amongst the rulers of these states. India became free on 15 August, 1947 and Delhi was made its capital. At that time, 600 princely states were consolidated. For reasons of good administration, India was divided into 28 states and 8 union territories. The names of these states and their capitals are given below. S.no States Capitals 1 Andhra Pradesh Amaravati 2 Arunachal Pradesh Itanagar 3 Assam Dispur 4 Bihar Patna 5 Chhattisgarh Raipur 6 Goa Panaji 7 Gujarat Gandhi Nagar 8 Haryana Chandigarh 9 Himachal Pradesh Shimla 10 Jharkhand Ranchi 11 Karnataka Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) 12 Kerala Thiruvananthapuram 13 Madhya Pradesh Bhopal 14 Maharashtra Mumbai 15 Manipur Imphal 16 Meghalaya Shillong 17 Mizoram Aizawl 18 Nagaland Kohima 19 Odisha Bhubaneswar 20 Punjab Chandigarh 21 Rajasthan Jaipur 22 Sikkim Gangtok 23 Tamil Nadu Chennai 24 Telangana Hyderabad SUBJECT | Geography 5 of 7  Download Testbook App 25 Tripura Agartala 26 Uttar Pradesh Lucknow 27 Uttarakhand Dehradun, Gairsain (Summer) 28 West Bengal Kolkata S.no Union territories Capital 1 Andaman and Nicobar Islands Port Blair 2 Chandigarh Chandigarh 3 Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman Daman & Diu 4 Delhi New Delhi 5 Lakshadweep Kavaratti 6 Puducherry (Pondicherry) Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) 7 Jammu and Kashmir Srinagar (Summer), Jammu (Winter) 8 Ladakh Leh India and the World The Indian landmass has a central location between East and West Asia. India is a 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. Note that the Deccan Peninsula protrudes into the Indian Ocean, thus helping India to establish close contact with West 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. India’s contacts with the world 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 travelers, while the oceans restricted such interaction for a long time. These routes have contributed to 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 spices, muslin and other merchandise were taken from India to different countries. On the other hand, the influence of Greek sculpture, and the architectural styles of domes and minarets from West Asia can be seen in different parts of our country. SUBJECT | Geography 6 of 7  Download Testbook App Do You Know? Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, India’s distance from Europe has been reduced by 7,000 km. India’s Neighbours India occupies an important strategic position in South Asia. India has 28 states and Eight Union Territories. India shares its land boundaries with Pakistan and Afghanistan in the northwest, China (Tibet), 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 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 are situated to the south of the Lakshadweep Islands. India has had strong geographical and historical links with her neighbours. Do You Know? Before 1947, there were two types of states in India — 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 acknowledged sovereignty in return for local autonomy. India stands on top of the Indian Ocean which extends to the continents of Asia, Africa and Oceania and provides further links to other continents via the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. In the Indian subcontinent, India is the only country that shares its land border with each member country of the subcontinent. India is the seventh largest country in the world in terms of area but in population it is second only to China. There is a difference of two hours in local time between the eastern and western ends of India. This has been somewhat mitigated by adopting 82°30' East longitude as India's standard meridian for computing Indian Standard Time, which we follow through our clocks. SUBJECT | Geography 7 of 7