India

Lying entirely in the northern hemisphere, the mainland extends between latitude 8 degree 4' and 37 degree 6' north, longitudes 68 degree 7' and 97 degree 25' east and measures about 3,214 km from north to south between the extreme longitudes. It has a land frontier of about 15,200 km. The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, is 7,516.6 km.

Physical Background- Countries having a common border with India are Afghanistan and Pakistan to the north-west, China, Bhutan and Nepal to the North, Myanmar to the east and Bangladesh to the east of West Bengal. Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrow channel of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.

Physical Features- The mainland comprises four regions, namely, the great mountain zone, plains of Ganga and the Indus, the desert region and the southern peninsula.
The Himalayas comprise three almost parallel ranges interspersed with large plateaus and valleys, some of which, like the Kashmir and Kullu valleys, are fertile, extensive and of great scenic beauty. Some of the highest peaks in the world are found in these ranges. The high altitudes admit travel only to a few passes, notably the Jelep La and Nathu La on the main Indo-Tibet trade route through the Chumbi Valley, north east of Darjeeling and Shipki La in the Sutluj valley, north-east of Kalpa (Kinnaur). In the east, between India and Myanmar and India and Bangladesh, hill ranges are much lower. Garo, Khasi, jaintia and Naga Hills, running almost east-west, join the chain to Mizo and Rkhine Hills running north-south.

The plains of Ganga and the Indus, about 2,400 km long and 240 to 320 km broad, are formed by basins of three distinct river systems- the Indusm the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. They are one of the world's greatest stretches of flat alluvium and also one of the most densely populated areas on the earth.
The desert region can be divided into two parts- the great desert and the little desert. The great desert extends from the edge of the Rann of Kuchch beyond the Luni river northward. The whole of the Rajasthan-Sind frontier runs through this. The little desert extends from the Luni between Jaiselmer and Jodhpur up to the northern wastes.

The Peninsular Plateau is marked off from the plains of the Ganga and the Indus by a mass of mountain and hill ranges varying from 460 to 1220 meters in height. Prominent among these are the Aravalli, Vindhya, Satpura, maikala and Ajanta. the Peninsula is flanked on the one side by the Eastern Ghats where average elevation is about 610 metres and on the other by the Western Ghats where it is generally from 915 to 1220 metres, rising in places to over 2,440 metres.