IAS Prelims (GS) preparation 2018
Day # 21 (April 13, 2017)
Topics of the day: Geography 9th NCERT chapter 1 key points
CHAPTER – 1
India lies entirely in the Northern hemisphere, the main land extends between latitudes 8°4'N and 37°6'N and longitudes 68°7'E and 97°25'E.
The Tropic 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.
The southernmost point of the Indian Union– ‘Indira Point’.
The land mass of India has an area of 3.28 million square km. India’s total area accounts for about 2.4 per cent of the total geographical area of the world.
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 coast 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 north east.
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.
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.