Facts about India - Geography

Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan.

Geographic coordinates: 20 00 N, 77 00 E

Area:

-total: 3,287,590 sq km

-land: 2,973,190 sq km

-water: 314,400 sq km

-relative to: slightly more than one-third the size of the US

Land boundaries: -total: 14,103 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

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 (K2)

Natural resources: coal, iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land

Land use:

-arable land: 48.83%

-permanent crops: 2.8%

-other: 48.37%

Irrigated land: 558,080 sq km

Total renewable water resources: 1,907.8 cu km

Natural hazards: droughts; flash floods, as well as 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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