The
Country
India occupies a strategic position in Asia, looking
across the seas to Arabia and Africa on the west and
to Burma, Malaysia and the Indonesian Archipelago
on the east. Geographically, the Himalayan ranges
keeps India apart from the rest of Asia.
Location
India lies to the north of the equator between 8'
4' and 37° 6' north latitude and 68° 7' and
97° 25' east longitude. It is bounded on the south
west by the Arabian Sea and on the south east by the
Bay of Bengal. On the north, north east and north
west lie the Himalayan ranges. Kanyakumari constitutes
the southern tip of the Indian peninsula where it
gets narrower and narrower, loses itself into the
Indian Ocean.
Land
and Coastline
India measures 3214 km from north to south and 2933
km from east to west with a total land area of 3,287,263
sq km. It has a land frontier of 15,200 km and a coastline
of 7516.5 km. Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay
of Bengal and Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea are parts
of India.
Neighbours
India shares its political borders with Pakistan and
Afghanistan on the west and Bangladesh and Burma on
the east. The northern boundary is made up of the
Sinkiang province of China, Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan.
India is seperated from Sri Lanka by a narrow channel
of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.
Physiographic
regions
The mainland comprises seven regions. (1) Northern
Mountains including the Himalayas and the North Eastern
mountain ranges, (2) The Indo Gangetic plain, (3)
The Desert, (4) Central highlands and Peninsular plateau,
(5) East Coast, (6) West Coast, (7) Bordering seas
and islands.
Mountain
ranges
They are seven. The Himalayas, the Patkai
and other ranges bordering India in the north and
north east, the Vindhyas, which separate the Indo
Gangetic plain from the Deccan Plateau, the Satpura,
the Aravalli, the Sahyadri, which covers the eastern
fringe of the West Coast plains and the Eastern Ghats,
irregularly scattered on the East Coast and forming
the boundary of the East Coast plains.
Himalayas, the highest mountain system
in the world, is also one of the world's youngest
mountain ranges. It extends practically uninterrupted
for a distance of some 2500 km and covers an area
of about 500,000 sq km. It contains the world's highest
mountain peak, Everest and some ten peaks rising above
7,500 m. It appears to have risen as a result of a
collision between the drifting Indian (peninsular)
plate and the Tibetan plate of South Asia about 50
million years ago. The Himalayas reached their present
heights much later.
Patkai and allied mountain ranges
run along the Indo-Bangladesh-Burma border and may
collectively be called Purvachalor eastern moun-tains.
These ranges forming an arc must have come into existence
along with the Himalayas.
Aravalli range in north-western India
is one of the oldest mountain systems in the world.
The present Aravalli range is only a remnant of the
gigantic system that existed in prehistoric times
with several of its sum mits rising above the snow
line and nourishing glaciers of stupendous magnitude
which in turn fed many great rivers.
Vindhyan range traverses nearly the
whole width of Peninsular India a distance of about
1050 km with an average elevation of some 300 metres.
The Vindhyan range appears to have been formed by
the weathered products of the ancient Aravalli ranges.
Satpura range, another ancient mountain
system, extends for a distance of 900 km with many
of its peaks rising above 1000 metres. It is triangular
in shape, with its apex at Ratnapuri and two sides
running parallel to the Narmada and Tapti rivers.
Sahyadri, or Western Ghats, with an
average height of 1200 metres, is about 1600 km long
and runs along the western border of the Deccan Plateau,
from the mouth of the river Tapti to Kanyakumari,
the southern most point of India. It overlooks the
Arabian Sea, and catches the full force of the monsoon
winds, thus precipitating heavy rains on the West
Coast.
Eastern Ghats, bordering the East
Coast of India, is cut up by the powerful rivers into
discontinuous blocks of mountains. In its northern
parts between the Godavari and Mahanadi rivers it
rises to above 1000 metres.
The Desert region can be divided into
two parts-the great desert and the little desert.
The great desert extends from the edge of the Rann
of Kachchh beyond the Rajasthan-Sind Frontierruns
through this. The little desert extends from the Luni
between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur up to northern wastes.
Watersheds
There are mainly three water-sheds. Himalayan range
with its Karakoram branch in the north, Vindhyan and
Satpura ranges in Central India, and Sahyadri or Western
Chats on the West Coast. All the major rivers of India
originate in one or the other of these watersheds.
Rivers
The main rivers of the Himalayan group are the Indus,
the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. These rivers are both
snow-fed and rain-fed and have therefore continuous
flow throughout the year. Himalayan rivers discharge
about 70% of their inflow into the sea. This includes
about 5% from central Indian rivers. They join the
Ganga and drain into the Bay of Bengal.
The Indus, which the Aryans called
the Sindhu, has lent its name to India. Its valleys
on both sides have been the seat of a civilization.
This historic river has five major tributaries the
Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej.
These in turn have inspired the name Punjab (punj
= five & ab = river), the Land of Five Rivers.
The Indus rises from Mount Kailas in Tibet and traverses
many miles through the Himalayas before it is joined
by its tributaries in the Punjab. Thereafter it passes
into Sind (Pakistan) to fall into the Arabian Sea.
The Ganga, famous alike in legend
and history, is considered the most sacred river by
the Hindus. It covers, what is called the heartland
of India, which was the main centre of the ancient
Aryan culture. It rises near the glacier, Gangotri
in the Himalayas and flows through Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar and Bengal to fall into the Bay of Bengal. Gangaand
its tributaries Jamuna, Gornti, Garga, Sarda, Gandak,
Chambal, Son and Kosi, spread out like a fan in the
plain of India thus forming the largest river basin
in India, with an area, one quarter of the total area
of India.
The
Brahmaputra rising in western Tibet, flows for some
1300 km through the Himalayas, then turns south-west
and then south, joining the easternmost branch of
the Ganga the Padma and empties together with Ganga
into the Bay of Bengal. The rivers of Deccan denuding
their beds for long geological ages have developed
flat valleys with low gradients. The major Deccan
rivers are the Godavari, the Krishna, the Cauvery,
the Pennar, the Mahanadi, the Damodar, the Sharavati,
the Netravati, the Bharatapuzha, the Periyar, the
Pamba, the Narmada and the Tapti. These rivers are
entirely rain-fed with the result that many of them
shrink into rivulets during the hot season. The Deccan
rivers contribute about 30% of the total outflow in
India. Of this, the rivers that flow from west to
east account for 20% and those from east to west about
10%.
