General information
Indian 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
Map references: Asia
Area: total: 3,287,590 sq km land: 2,973,190 sq km water: 314,400 sq km
Area - comparative: 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 contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone:
200 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, 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
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber
94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected
agreements
Geography - note: dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes
|
|
Last modified: 2005-11-13, 18:26:46
|
|
