Location and Extent India is situated on the western fringe of the Indian Ocean. It lies midway between South East Asia and the South West Asia. India shares its land frontiers with Pakistan, China, Nepal and Bhutan.
India is surrounded by water bodies on three sides, i.e., Bay of Bengal in the southeast, Indian Ocean in the south and Arabian Sea in the Southwest. The tropic of Cancer passes alomst through the middle of the Country and divides it in two halves - the topical zone in the south and sub - tropical in the north.
| Latitude | The mainland extends from 804' N to 3706' N. |
| Longitude | It extends from 6807' E to 97025' E. |
Physical Features of India India occupies a major part of South Asia; 73.4 percent of the area.
The Indian subcontinent ahs five clearly defined physiographic divisions :
1. The Northern Mountain Wall;
2. The Plains of Northern India;
3. The Peninsular Plateau;
4. The Caostal Plains; and
5. The Islands. The Northern Mountain Wall The northern mountain wall is known as the Himalayan Range. The Himalayas consist of three parallel ranges, which are clearly distinguished on the basis of their height
i. Himadri
ii. The Himachal
iii. The Shiwallik Range
Other Features of the Himalayas i. Doons
ii. Bhabhar Areas
iii. Terai
iv. Khadar and Bhangar
The Plains of Northern India The plains of Northern India include the lowlands of the three major rivers - the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahaputra together with their tributaries. The river Indus has its source in the Kailash Range, about 100 km north of Mansarovar lake. It has five tributaries, namely Jhelum, Chenab, Rave, Sutlej and Beas. The Ganga rises in the Gangotri glacier in the Himalayas. The main tributaries of Ganga are Yamuna, Son, Ramganga, Ghaghra, Gomti, gandak, Kosi and Mahananda. The Brahmaputra river rises in Tipet near lake Mansarovar and flows eastwars as Tsangpo. In Assam, the river Brahmaputra is joinde by numerous streams namely, the Dihang, Dibang and Lohit. Its other tributaries are Tista, Dhansun and Manas.
Sub- Division of Plains On the basis of regional characteristics, the Great plains can be sub- divided into the following areas :
The Punjab Plains
The Rajasthan Plains
The Ganga Plains
The Brahmaputra Plains
The Peninsular Plateau The Peninsular Plateau is the largest and the oldest of all the physiographic divisions. Its north - west limit is marked by the Aravali range and its northern extreme has the raised Bundelkand Plateau.
The plateau land can be divided as follows :
1. The Central Plateaus : The upland of Central India with Ganga to its north has the Kaimur - Maikal range to its east, the Aravalis and the Kutch ot its west, and the Vindhya and Satpura ranges to its south.
2. The Eastern Plateaus : These lies to the north - east of the Malwa Plateau.
3. The Kathiawar and Kutch : These peninsulas are joined to the peninsular plateaus by Gujarat Plains.
4. The Deccan Plateau : The Deccan Plateau is triangular in shape and is India's largest plateau. It occupies land between the Western and the Eastern Ghats and the south of the Mahadeo, Maikal and Satpura ranges.
5. The Northeastern Plateau : It is an extension of the main Peninsular plateau and comprises the Maghalaya plateau consisting of the Garo, khasi and Jaintia hills.
The Caostal Plains The Deccan Plateau has a coastal strip in the east and in the west, which are know as coastal plains. They run along the coastline of the peninsula from the Rann of Kutch in the west to the Ganga - Brahmaputra delta in the east. The Western Coastal plains lie on the coastal strip along the Arabian Sea and west of the Western Ghats while the Eastern Coastal plains lie between the Bay of Bengal and the Eastern Ghats.
Western Coastal Plains
Western Coastal Plains include the following :
Gujarat Plains
The Kutch Peninsula
The Kathiawar Peninsula
The konkan Coast
The Kanara Coast
The Malabar Coast
Islands
Besides the mainland, India has two groups of islands, i.e, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a group of more than 300 islands out of which 260 are uninhabited.
The Lakshadweep Islands
Lakshadweep consists of a group of 36 islands of which only 11 are inhabited and located about 20 to 40 km off kerala coast.