GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA

Location: India lies in south Asia, between Pakistan, China and Nepal. To the north it is bordered by the world's highest mountain chain (The Himalyas), where foothill valleys cover the northernmost of the country's 28 states. Further south, plateaus, tropical rain forests and sandy deserts are bordered by palm fringed beaches.

Topography and Geography

Geographic coordinates: 20 00 N, 77 00 E

Total Area: 3,287,590 km2,

land area: 2,973,190 km

Size: Total land area in India -  2,973,190 square kilometers. Total area, including territorial seas, claimed is 3,287,590 square kilometers.

Land boundaries: Total 14,103 km, Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km

Coastline: 7,000 km

Climate: Alpine to temperate, which varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north. Tempratures vary. From months of April – June temperature goes as high as 44 – 49 deg C. Monsoons begin during middle of June to August, when temperatures vary from 32 – 38 deg C. September brings in pleasant weather and November to February temperature fall to coldest varying from 2 – 10 Deg C in Northern India.  

Terrain: Varies from Himalayas to flat river valleys.

Capital:  New Delhi

Federal States: India consists of 28 states, namely, Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad), Arunachal Pradesh (Itanagar), Assam (Dispur), Bihar (Patna), Chhattisgarh (Raipur), Goa (Panaji), Gujarat (Gandhinagar), Haryana (Chandigarh), Himachal Pradesh (Shimla), Jammu and Kashmir (Srinagar), Jharkhand (Ranchi), Karnataka (Banglore), Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram), Madhya Pradesh(Bhopal), Maharashtra(Mumbai), Manipur(Imphal), Meghalaya (Shillong), Mizoram(Aizawl), Nagaland (Kohima), Orissa (Bhubneshwar), Punjab (Chandigarh), Rajasthan (Jaipur), Sikkim (Gantok), Tamil Nadu (Chennai), Tripura (Agartala), Uttaranchal (Dehradoon), Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow), West Bengal (Kolkata).

Union Terrritories: Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Port Blair), Chandigarh (Chandigarh), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (Silwasa),  Daman and Diu (Daman), Delhi (Delhi), Lakshadweep (Kavaratti), Pondichery (Pondicherry).

(Note: within brackets are the capitals cities of the respective states.)

Other major cities: Mumbai (formerly Bombay); Kolkata (formerly Calcutta); Chennai, (formerly Madras); Bangalore; Hyderabad; Ahmedabad; Pune, Agra, Ajmer, Amritsar, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Jammu, Srinagagar, Shimla, Jaipur, Lucknow,Ludhiana, Nagpur, Kanyakumari, Mussorie, Nainital, Panipat, Panji, Patiala, Patna, Ranchi, Varanasi, Vishakhapatnam etc.

Major Ports: Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Cochin, Mumbai (Bombay), JNP, Kandla, New Mangalore, Murmugao, Pradip, Tuticorin, Vashakhapatnam – View location map

Medium Ports: Medium Ports: Bedi Bunber, Bhawnagar, Calicut, Cuddalore, Gopalpur, Kabinada, Karwar, Magdolla, Mandavi, Navlakhi, Nagapattinam, Okha, Porbandar, Ratangiri, Rodi, Salaya, Sikka, Trivandram. View location map

Natural resources:  Coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone

Education: Twelve-year education system; mandatory primary and middle levels, optional secondary education; high drop-out rate even at compulsory levels. System supervised by Department of Education, part of Ministry of Human Resource Development. National adult literacy rate 52.2 percent in 1991 (male 63.9 percent, female 39.4 percent). More than 180 universities, some 500 teacher training colleges, and several thousand other colleges.

Religion: Most (82 percent) observe Hinduism; 12.1 percent Muslim, 2.3 percent Christian, 1.9 percent Sikh, 0.8 percent Buddhist, 0.4 percent Jains, 0.4 percent other, 0.1 percent not identified.

Language: Official language Hindi; English also has official status. For use in certain official capacities, constitution recognizes eighteen Scheduled Languages- Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Four major language families include officially 112 "mother tongues," each with 10,000 or more speakers; thirty-three languages spoken by 1 million or more persons. Total number of languages and dialects varies depending on source and how counted; between 179 and 188 languages and between forty-nine and 544 dialects have been tabulated; census respondents in 1961 provided names for 1,652 different "mother tongues."

Ethnic Groups: Indo-Aryan 72 percent, Dravidian 25 percent, Mongoloid and other 3 percent. Caste system, although no longer sanctioned by government, prevails. Some 16 percent listed as members of Scheduled Castes, 8 percent as members of Scheduled Tribes.

FARM PRODUCE: India is blessed with a wide variety of climates and  types of soil, which permit the growing of many unique earthy roots, precious woods, aromatic spices, exotic flowers, balsamic resins and scented grasses. Practitioners of Ayurveda (the traditional Indian system of medicine dating to at least 1000 BC) were well acquainted with the uses to which these plants could be put and prescribed them to treat the emotional, mental and physical ailments of the people. Sandalwood, agarwood, spikenard, vetiver, saffron, cinnamon, jasmine, rose, coriander and ginger were but a few of the aromatic plants recognized by them as being plants possessing pleasing fragrant charm as well as being plants therapeutic value. These plants and many others were used in food preparations, medicinal formulas, massage oils, cosmetics, natural sandalwood-based perfumes called attars, incense, floral wreaths and unguents, each of which served some special function in promoting the well-being of the people. There is hardly any aspect of Indian life, be it political, social, economic or religious that has not been profoundly influenced by these plants. 

A person interested in India’s botanical treasures will find there are many fascinating worlds to discover throughout the country. Flower markets, ayurvedic pharmacies and hospitals, traditional perfume houses, incense stores and manufacturers, essential oil and attar distilleries, botanical gardens and parks, temples, spice shops and marriage ceremonies are all good places to experience the diverse ways in which the wonderful jewels of the natural world permeate Indian life.

Approximate Population of main Cities:  
New Delhi (pop. 12.8 million, 2001 census).
Mumbai, formerly Bombay (16.4 million);
Kolkata, formerly Calcutta (13.2 million);
Chennai, formerly Madras (6.4 million);
Bangalore (5.7 million);
Hyderabad (5.5 million);
Ahmedabad (5 million);
Pune (4 million).

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