CHAPTER - 01
INDIA SIZE AND LOCATION
India is an ancient civilisation but now it is a developing nation. It has shown remarkable progress in various fields.
Location
- India lies entirely in the Northern Hemisphere.
- India’s mainland extends between
latitudes, and
longitudes.
- The Tropic of Cancer
divides India into two almost equal parts.
- The island groups of Lakshadweep and Andman & Nicobar are also part of India.
Size
- Covering an area of 3.28 million square kilometres, India’s total area is 2.4% of the total geographical area of the world.
- India is the world’s seventh largest country with a land boundary of about 15,200 km, with total length of the coastline being 7,516.6 km.
- India’s east-west extent appears to be smaller than the north-south extent.
- India’s latitudinal and longitudinal extent is about 30 degrees.
- India’s standard time is based on 82.30 degrees E meridian, which passes near Mirzapur in UP.
- Latitudinal extent influences duration of the day and night.
India and the World
- The Indian landmass is centrally located between West and East Asia.
- The trans Indian ocean routes connect countries in the west and counties in the east.
- India’s protruding Deccan Peninsula helped India to establish close contacts with West Asia, Africa and Europe, South-east and East Asia.
- India’s contacts with the world via land routes are much more than her maritime contacts.
- India is the only nation which has a ocean named after it.
- India has contributed a lot to the world in forms of ideas, philosophies (Upanishads, Ramayana, Panchtantra) and mathematics (Indian numerals and decimal system).
- In exchange, India’s architecture was influenced by Greek sculpture and architectural styles from West Asia.
India’s Neighbours
- India has an important position in South Asia and has 29 States and 7 Union Territories.
- India shares its boundaries with Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan.
- The southern neighbours across the sea consist of the two island countries, namely Maldives and Sri Lanka.
- Shri Lanka is separated from India by Pak Strait, a narrow strip of sea.
- India always have and had strong geographical and historical links with her neighbours.
- India stands apart from the rest of Asia.
Question 1:. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) The Tropic of Cancer does not pass through
(a) Rajasthan
(b) Orissa
(c) Chhattisgarh
(d) Tripura
Answer : (c) Orissa
(ii) The easternmost longitude of India is
(a) 97° 25′ E
(b) 68° 7′ E
(c) 77° 6′ E
(d) 82° 32′ E
Answer:(a) 97°25′E
(iii) Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim have common
frontiers with
(a) China
(b) Bhutan
(c) Nepal
(d) Myanmar
Answer : (c) Nepal
(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
(b) Lakshadweep
(c) Andaman and Nicobar
(d) Diu and Daman
Answer : (c) Lakshadweep
(v) My friend hails from a country which does not share land boundary with
India. Identify the country.
(a) Bhutan
(b) Tajikistan
(c) Bangladesh
(d) Nepal
Answer: (b) Tajikistan
Question 2 Answer the following questions briefly.
i).Name the group of islands lying in the Arabian sea.
Answer: (i)Lakshadweep
ii).Name the countries which are larger than India.
Answer: ii) Russia, Canada, China, USA, Brazil and Australia
iii).Which island group of India lies to its south-east?
Answer: (iii) Andaman and Nicobar group of islands.
iv).Which island countries are our southern neighbours?
Answer: (iv) Maldives, Sri Lanka.
Question 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?
Answer : The longitudinal gap between Arunachal Pradesh and Gujarat is about 30°. Due to this, there is time lag of about two hours between these states. Since Arunachal Pradesh is in the east hence the sun rises earlier here; compared to in Gujarat. The Indian Standard Time is taken from the time of Standard Meridian of India and hence the watches show the same time in both the states
Question 4 The central location of India at the head of the Indian Ocean is considered of great significance. Why?
Question 5. 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.
Answer Lakshadweep
(ii) The countries constituting Indian Subcontinent.
Answer (ii) Countries which make the Indian subcontinent are Pakistan in the north-west, India at the core, Nepal in the north, Bhutan in the north-east and Bangladesh in the east.
(iii) The states through which the Tropic of Cancer passes.
Answer : (iii) Tropic of Cancer passes through the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.
(iv)The northernmost latitude in degrees.
Answer (iv) 37°6′ N
v).The southernmost latitude of the Indian mainland in degrees.
Answer:(v)ans 8°4′ N
(vi) The eastern and the western most longitude in degrees.
Answer: (vi) Western – 68°7′ E, Eastern – 97°25′ E
(vii) The place situated on the three seas.
Answer: (vii) Kanyakumari
(viii) The strait separating Sri Lanka from India.
Answer:(viii) The Palk Strait.
(ix) The Union Territories of India.
Answer:(ix) Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Delhi, Lakshadweep, Puducherry (Pondicherry).
