Paragraph on India: Location, Size and Political Divisions!
The Indian subcontinent is a distinct geographical unit which is separated from the rest of Asia by a chain of high mountains in the north, north-east and north-west. It has been the home of one of the ancient civilisation, i.e., the Indus Valley Civilisation.
At present, the Indian subcontinent consists of the republics of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. The India subcontinent is inhabited by people of varying languages and diverse cultures.
India-Location and its Size:
India lies in the south of Asia at the head of Indian Ocean between 8°4′ and 37°6′ North latitudes and 68°7′ and 97°25′ East longitude. It lies entirely to the north of the equator. The north south extent of India is exactly 3,214 km. It spreads from the snow- covered Himalayas in the north to the southernmost tip at Kanyakumari. It is about l/12th of the earth’s circumference and the east west extent is exactly 2,933 km.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
India is the seventh largest country of the world. It’s area is about 3.28 million sq.km. It covers about 2% of the total area of the world. The land frontier of India covers a length of about 15,200 km. The northern border with China lies along the lofty Himalayan Ranges. Bhutan and Nepal, border the Northern Plains.
The western border with Pakistan passes through the lowlands for a greater part of its length. Our border with Bangladesh lies in the lowland which is a part of Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta and our eastern border with Myanmar passes through forested mountains. The coastline along the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal is about 6,100 km. in length.
Political Divisions:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The republic of India is a union of states. It consists of 28 states and 7 union territories. India is a sovereign, socialist, democratic republic with parliamentary system of government. The legislative powers are shared between parliament and state legislatures. The states have been demarcated on linguistic basis and the Union Territories are small in size and are administered by the union government directly.