Location: India is located in Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between two countries Burma and Pakistan
Geographic coordinates: 200 N Latitude and 770 E Longitudes
Map reference: Asia
Total Area: 3,287,590 sq km
Land: 2,973,190 sq km
Water bodies spread: 314,400 sq km
Area - comparative: India's territorial area is slightly more than one-third of the size of the US
Land boundaries: 14,103 km
Border Countries: Bhutan 605 km; Burma 1,463 km; China 3,380 km; Nepal 1,690 km; Pakistan 2,912 km; Bangladesh 4,053 km
Coastline: 7,000 km
Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 Nautical Mile (NM)
Continental Shelf: 200 Nautical Mile (NM) or to the edge of the continental margin
Exclusive Economic Zone: 200 Nautical Miles (NM)
Territorial Sea: 12 Nautical Miles (NM)
Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate climate in the north
Terrain: Himalayas in north, upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, deserts in west, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges
Elevation extremes:
Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
Highest Point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m
Natural resources: iron ore, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromites, diamonds, petroleum, arable land, coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), manganese, natural gas, limestone
Land use: 56% of arable land
Permanent Crops: 1%
Permanent Pastures: 4% cover
Forests and Woodland: 23% cover
Other: 16% (1993 estimate)
Irrigated land: 535,100 sq km (1995/96 estimate)
Natural hazards: flash floods, severe thunderstorms are common; earthquakes, tsunami, droughts
Environment - current issues: soil erosion; overgrazing; desertification; deforestation; water pollution from raw sewage and runoff of agricultural pesticides; tap water is not available throughout the country; air pollution from industrial effluents and vehicle emissions; huge and rising population is overstraining natural resources leaving no resource bank for the future generations.
Environment - international agreements party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, and Ozone Layer Protection.
