The geography of India describes the geographic features of India, a country in South Asia. India lies largely on the Indian Plate, the northern portion of the Indo-Australian Plate, whose continental crust forms the Indian subcontinent. The country is situated north of the equator between 8°4' and 37°6' north latitude and 68°7' and 97°25' east longitude.[2] It is the seventh-largest country in the world, with a total area of 3,166,414 square kilometres (1,222,559 sq mi).[3] India measures 3,214 km (1,997 mi) from north to south and 2,933 km (1,822 mi) from east to west. It has a land frontier of 15,200 km (9,445 mi) and a coastline of 7,517 km (4,671 mi).[4]
On the south, India projects into and is bounded by the Indian Ocean – in particular, by the Arabian Sea on the southwest, the Laccadive Sea to the south, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. The Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar separate India from Sri Lanka to its immediate southeast, and the Maldives are some 400 kilometres (250 mi) to the southwest. India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, some 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) southeast of the mainland, share maritime borders with Burma, Thailand and Indonesia. Kanyakumari at 8°4′41″N and 77°32′28″E is the southernmost tip of the Indian mainland, while the southernmost point in India is Indira Point on Great Nicobar Island.[4]India's territorial waters extend into the sea to a distance of 12 nautical miles (13.8 mi; 22.2 km) from the coast baseline.[5]
The northern frontiers of India are defined largely by the Himalayan mountain range, where the country borders China, Bhutan, and Nepal. Itswestern border with Pakistan lies in the Punjab Plain and the Thar Desert. In the far northeast, the Chin Hills and Kachin Hills, deeply forested mountainous regions, separate India from Burma. On the east, its border with Bangladesh is largely defined by the Khasi Hills andMizo Hills, and the watershed region of the Indo-Gangetic Plain.[clarification needed]
The Ganges is the longest river originating in India. The Ganges-Brahmaputra system occupies most of northern, central, and eastern India, while the Deccan Plateau occupies most of southern India. Kangchenjunga, on the border between Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim, is the highest point in India at 8,598 m (28,209 ft) and the world's 3rd highest peak. Climate across India ranges from equatorial in the far south, to alpine in the upper reaches of the Himalayas.
Mountains
A great arc of mountains, consisting of the Himalayas, Hindu Kush, and Patkai ranges define the northern Indian subcontinent. These were formed by the ongoing tectonic collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. The mountains in these ranges include some of the world's tallest mountains which act as a natural barrier to cold polar winds. They also facilitate the monsoon winds which in turn influence the climate in India. Rivers originating in these mountains, flow through the fertile Indo–Gangetic plains. These mountains are recognised by biogeographers as the boundary between two of the Earth's great ecozones: the temperate Palearctic that covers most of Eurasia and the tropical and subtropical Indomalaya ecozone which includes the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Indonesia.
India has eight major mountain ranges having peaks of over 1,000 m (3,281 ft)
- The Himalayan range is considered as the world's highest mountain range, with its tallest peak Mt. Everest (8,848 m) on the Nepal–China border.[10]They form India's northeastern border, separating it from northeastern Asia. They are one of the world's youngest mountain ranges and extend almost uninterrupted for 2,500 km (1,553 mi), covering an area of 500,000 km2 (193,051 sq mi).[10] The Himalayas extend from Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Arunachal Pradesh in the east. These states along with Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Sikkim lie mostly in the Himalayan region. Numerous Himalayan peaks rise over 7,000 m (22,966 ft) and the snow line ranges between 6,000 m (19,685 ft) in Sikkim to around 3,000 m (9,843 ft) in Kashmir. Kanchenjunga—on the Sikkim–Nepal border—is the highest point in the area administered by India. Most peaks in the Himalayas remain snowbound throughout the year. The Himalayas act as a barrier to the frigid katabatic winds flowing down from Central Asia. Thus, North India is kept warm or only mildly cooled during winter; in summer, the same phenomenon makes India relatively hot.
- The Karakoram is situated in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. It has more than sixty peaks above 7,000 m (22,966 ft), including K2, the second highest peak in the world 8,611 m (28,251 ft). K2 is just 237 m (778 ft) smaller than the 8,848 m (29,029 ft) Mount Everest. The range is about 500 km (311 mi) in length and the most heavily glaciated part of the world outside of the polar regions. The Siachen Glacier at 70 km (43 mi) and the Biafo Glacier at 63 km (39 mi) rank as the world's second and third-longest glaciers outside the polar regions.[11] Just to the west of the northwest end of the Karakoram, lies the Hindu Raj range, beyond which is the Hindu Kush range. The southern boundary of the Karakoram is formed by the Gilgit, Indus and Shyok rivers, which separate the range from the northwestern end of the Himalayas.
- The Patkai, or Purvanchal, are situated near India's eastern border with Burma. They were created by the same tectonic processes which led to the formation of the Himalayas. The physical features of the Patkai mountains are conical peaks, steep slopes and deep valleys. The Patkai ranges are not as rugged or tall as the Himalayas. There are three hill ranges that come under the Patkai: the Patkai–Bum, the Garo–Khasi–Jaintia and theLushai hills. The Garo–Khasi range lies in Meghalaya. Mawsynram, a village near Cherrapunji lying on the windward side of these hills, has the distinction of being the wettest place in the world, receiving the highest annual rainfall.[12]
- The Vindhya range runs across most of central India, extending 1,050 km (652 mi).[10] The average elevation of these hills is from 300 m to 600 m and rarely goes above 700 meters.[10] They are believed to have been formed by the wastes created by the weathering of the ancient Aravali mountains.[13] Geographically, it separates northern India from southern India. The western end of the range lies in eastern Gujarat, near its border with Madhya Pradesh, and runs east and north, almost meeting the Ganges at Mirzapur.
- The Satpura Range begins in eastern Gujarat near the Arabian Sea coast and runs east across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It extends 900 km (559 mi) with many peaks rising above 1,000 m (3,281 ft).[10] It is triangular in shape, with its apex at Ratnapuri and the two sides being parallel to the Tapti and Narmada rivers.[14] It runs parallel to the Vindhya Range, which lies to the north, and these two east-west ranges divide the Indo–Gangetic plain from the Deccan Plateau located north of River Narmada.
- The Aravali Range is the oldest mountain range in India, running across Rajasthan from northeast to southwest direction, extending approximately 800 km (497 mi).[15] The northern end of the range continues as isolated hills and rocky ridges into Haryana, ending near Delhi. The highest peak in this range is Guru Shikhar at Mount Abu, rising to 1,722 m (5,650 ft), lying near the border with Gujarat.[16] The Aravali Range is the eroded stub of an ancient fold mountain system.[17] The range rose in a Precambrian event called the Aravali–Delhi orogen. The range joins two of the ancient segments that make up the Indian craton, theMarwar segment to the northwest of the range, and the Bundelkhand segment to the southeast.
- The Western Ghats or Sahyadri mountains run along the western edge of India's Deccan Plateau and separate it from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The range runs approximately 1,600 km (994 mi)[14] from south of the Tapti River near the Gujarat–Maharashtra border and across Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu to the southern tip of the Deccan peninsula. The average elevation is around 1,000 m (3,281 ft).[14] Anai Mudi in theAnaimalai Hills 2,695 m (8,842 ft) in Kerala is the highest peak in the Western Ghats.[18]
- The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains, which have been eroded and vivisected by the four major rivers of southern India, the Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna, and Kaveri.[19]These mountains extend from West Bengal to Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, along the coast and parallel to the Bay of Bengal. Though not as tall as the Western Ghats, some of its peaks are over 1,000 m (3,281 ft) in height.[14] The Nilgiri hills in Tamil Nadu lies at the junction of the Eastern and Western Ghats. Jindagada Peak (1690 m), near Araku Valley of Andhra Pradesh, is the tallest peak in Eastern Ghats.
The Thar
The Thar Desert (also known as the deserts) is the world's seventh largest desert,[20] by others the tenth.[21] It forms a significant portion of western India and covers an area of about 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi) to about 238,700 km2 (92,200 sq mi).[20][22] The desert continues into Pakistan as theCholistan Desert. Most of the Thar Desert is situated in Rajasthan, covering 61% of its geographic area.
About 10 percent of this region comprises sand dunes, and the remaining 90 percent consist of craggy rock forms, compacted salt-lake bottoms, and interdunal and fixed dune areas. Annual temperatures can range from 0°C in the winter to over 50°C during the summer. Most of the rainfall received in this region is associated with the short July–September southwest monsoon that brings around 100–500 mm of precipitation. Water is scarce and occurs at great depths, ranging from 30 to 120 m below the ground level.[23] Rainfall is precarious and erratic, ranging from below 120 mm (4.72 inches) in the extreme west to 375 mm (14.75 inches) eastward. The soils of the arid region are generally sandy to sandy-loam in texture. The consistency and depth vary as per the topographical features. The low-lying loams are heavier and may have a hard pan of clay, calcium carbonate or gypsum.
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