India is one of the most culturally rich, and secularly dynamic nations of the world. Also known as Hindustan, Bharat, the Republic of India, India is the 7th largest country across the globe.
With a unique geographical location and entity, the country preaches democracy, equality, fraternity, and integrity as its grounding principles.
This article discusses the Indian Geography and fundamental attributes of India. In it, we are going to chart the geographical location such as latitudes, longitudes, and time zones.
Besides, it also gives a highlight into its surrounding neighboring counties. And finally, it shall deal with its states, union territories, and international territorial borders.
Indian Geography – Location, Latitude, Longitude, Time Zone
Located in the northern hemisphere, the mainland of India stands 8 degrees 4 minutes N, and 37 degrees 6 minutes N in latitude. On the other hand, the longitudinal dimensions of the country are 68 degrees 7 minutes N, and 97 degrees 25 minutes N.
Nex, with a total size of 3.28 million square km, India occupies around 2.5% of the total geographical space around the globe.
It’s total land boundary ranges to 15, 200 km while it’s coastline extends along with a distance of 7,516.6 km.
The country observes an Indian Standard Time (IST) Zone with a time offset of UTC +05:30.
India and its Neighbours
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The Indian mainland shares neighborhood with the following countries. These countries are:
- Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east
- Sri-Lanka to the south-east
- Maldives to the south-west
- China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north
- Afghanistan and Pakistan to the north-west
Important Traits and Characteristics of India
- The name India is derived from the Indus River in the north-west.
- Our country India derives its name from the Indus river flowing in the north-western part of the country.
- It is the largest democracy in the world
- The highest cricket ground is built in the Indian district of Chail, Himachal Pradesh
- India witnessed the invention of chess
- India developed the zero and decimal value system in 100 B.C and 5 A.D respectively.
- The country has the largest number of post offices in the world
- Chakra, an Indian, developed the Ayurvedic School of medicine around 2500 years ago
- India was the pioneer source of diamond across the Globe until 1896
- Aesthetics such as yoga and martial arts initiated in India around 5,000 years ago
- India has the history of having the first female President (Smt. Prathibha Patil) and the first female Prime Minister (Smt. Indira Gandhi).
Indian Geography – Indian States and their Positions
India features as a grand house of 28 states and 8 union territories. The capital of India is Delhi. A detailed list of states and their capitals is as follows:
| Name of the State | Capital of the State |
| Andhra Pradesh | Hyderabad |
| Arunachal Pradesh | Itanagar |
| Assam | Dispur |
| Bihar | Patna |
| Jharkhand | Ranchi |
| Chattisgarh | Raipur |
| Goa | Panaji |
| Gujarat | Gandhinagar |
| Haryana | Chandigarh |
| Himachal Pradesh | Shimla |
| Jammu Kashmir | Jammu in winter and Srinagar in summer |
| Karnataka | Bengaluru |
| Kerala | Thiruvananthapuram |
| Madhya Pradesh | Bhopal |
| Maharashtra | Mumbai |
| Manipur | Imphal |
| Meghalaya | Shillong |
| Mizoram | Aizawl |
| Nagaland | Kohima |
| Odisha | Bhubaneshwar |
| Punjab | Chandigarh |
| Rajasthan | Jaipur |
| Sikkim | Gangtok |
| Tamil Nadu | Chennai |
| Telangana | Hyderabad |
| Tripura | Agartala |
| Uttarakhand | Dehradun |
| Uttar Pradesh | Lucknow |
| West Bengal | Kolkata |
A detailed list of Indian union territories and their capitals is as follows:
| Name of the Union Territory | Capital |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Port Blair |
| Chandigarh | Chandigarh |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | Silvassa |
| Delhi | New Delhi |
| Ladakh | Leh |
| Lakshadweep | Kavaratti |
| Puducherry | Puducherry |
| Jammu and Kashmir | Jammu in winter and Srinagar in summer |
The Indian States and their International Borders
Many Indian states share borders with their neighboring countries. These states include:
- Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Gujarat, and Rajasthan: shares borders with Pakistan
- Jammu and Kashmir (POK region): shares borders with Afghanistan
- Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand: shares borders with Nepal
- Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim: shares borders with China
- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim, and West Bengal: shares borders with Bhutan
- West Bengal, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Assam: shares borders with Bangladesh
- Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland: shares borders with Myanmar
In addition to the above, the Indian ocean shares its sea borders with Sri Lanka and Maldives.
Conclusion
Indian Geography in terms of location, culture, and heritage is unmatchable with any other country in the world. A land of multiple religions, castes, and tribes, it perpetuates sovereignty and secularism to its fellow citizens.
Besides, as a constitutional Republic, the country is massively diverse in its cultural and traditional practices. It constitutes numerous ethnic groups, languages, and festivals. In fact, India also features as the origin house of religions such as Buddhism and Jainism.
In other words, the country encompasses high intellectual generosity and fervor. It has furnished ground-breaking discoveries in the field of astronomy, mathematics, architecture, music, fine arts, etc. And with this, it has procured a unique position for itself as well as its fellow citizens.
This has ultimately led the world to discern India’s status as a strong, culturally dynamic, and one of the globally acclaimed countries on Earth.
As a result, we exist as active parts and parcels of this dynamic country. In short, we the citizens of India should be proud of our Nationality.