Geography of India, Climate, Rainfall, Agriculture

India has diverse geography with landscape varying from snow capped mountain ranges to desert, hills, plains and plateaus.

• Location:
  Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
• Geographic coordinates:
  20 00 N, 77 00 E
• Map references:
  Asia
• Area:
  

  • Total: 3,287,590 sq km
  • Land: 2,973,190 sq km
  • Water: 314,400 sq km
• Border countries:
  • Bangladesh 4,053 km
  • Bhutan 605 km
  • Burma 1,463 km
  • China 3,380 km
  • Nepal 1,690 km
  • Pakistan 2,912 km

• Coastline: 7,000 km
• Maritime claims:
  
  • Territorial sea: 12 nm
  • Contiguous zone: 24 nm
  • Continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
• Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
• Terrain: upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
• Elevation extremes:
  Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
  Highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m
• Natural resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land
• Land use:
  • arable land: 54.4%
  • permanent crops: 2.74%
  • other: 42.86% (2001)
  • Irrigated land: 590,000 sq km (1998 est.)
• Natural hazards: Droughts, Flash floods, Widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms, Earthquakes
• Environment:- current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; desertification; air pollution from industrial effluents and vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage and runoff of agricultural pesticides; tap water is not potable throughout the country; huge and growing population is overstraining natural resources

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