India is a vast country with enormous geographical variations. The features that make Indian geography unique are - its mountain ranges, valleys, desert regions, tropical rain forests, fertile plains, dry plateaus, coastal areas etc.
India's total land mass is 2,973,190 square kilometers and is divided into three main geological regions: the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the Himalayas, and the Peninsula region. The Indo-Gangetic Plain and those portions of the Himalayas within India are collectively known as North India. South India consists of the peninsular region, often termed simply the Peninsula. On the basis of its physiographic, India is divided into ten regions: the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the northern mountains of the Himalayas, the Central Highlands, the Deccan or Peninsular Plateau, the East Coast (Coromandel Coast in the south), the West Coast (Konkan, Kankara, and Malabar coasts), the Great Indian Desert (a geographic feature known as the Thar Desert in Pakistan) and the Rann of Kutch, the valley of the Brahmaputra in Assam, the northeastern hill ranges surrounding the Assam Valley, and the islands of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Several major rivers, including the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Indus, flow through India. Arising in the northern mountains and carrying rich alluvial soil to the plains below, these mighty rivers have supported agriculture-based civilizations for thousands of years.
By area, India is the seventh largest country in the world. It consists of twenty-eight states and seven Union Territories. Area covered by India is 3.3 million sq. kms. Regarding the location of India, it lies in the northern hemisphere. The Indian mainland measures 3214 kms from north to south between extreme latitudes and about 2933 kms from east to west between extreme longitudes. Its land frontier is approximately 15200 kms.
India lies between 8º4' and 37º6' north of the Equator. Surrounding the country is the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south. In the neighborhood of India lie Bangladesh (in east), Pakistan (in west), Nepal (in north-east), China (in north-east) and Sri Lanka (in south). Separating India from Sri Lanka is the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Straits. Also a part of India is the Andaman and Nicobar Island in the Bay of Bengal and the Lakshwadeep in the Arabian Sea.
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