Indian - Location, Size and Extent

Location:

• India is a very large country. It is situated in the southern part of the Asian continent.
• India's latitudes range from 8°4'N to 37°6'N, and its longitudes range from 68°7'E to 97°25'E. As a result, India is located in the northeastern hemisphere.
• The Tropic of Cancer (23° 30'N) divides the country almost evenly. Thus, half of the country south of the Tropic of Cancer is in the Tropical region, while the other half north is in the Sub-tropical region.

Size and Extent: 

• The land mass of India has an area of 3.28 million square km. It is the world's seventh-largest country. India's total area accounts for approximately 2.4 per cent of the world's total geographical area.
• India's north-south extent is 3,214 km, stretching from Indira Col in Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari in the south.
• The east-west extension is 2933 kilometres long, stretching from Rann of Kutch in Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh in the east.
• Pygmalion Point or Indira Point (6°45'N latitude) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is the country's southernmost point. During the 2004 Tsunami, it was submerged under seawater. Cape Comorin is the southernmost point of India's mainland (Kanyakumari).
• Indira Col is the northernmost point.

Indian Standard Time (IST):

• The longitudinal difference between Gujarat in the west and Arunachal Pradesh in the east is approximately 30°.
• Because Arunachal Pradesh is to the east, its sunrise will be about two hours earlier than that of Gujarat, which is to the west.
• To avoid these discrepancies, Indian standard time is used. The standard time in India is the local time of the central meridian.
• The central meridian of India is located at 82°30' E longitude. It passes through Mirzapur, near Allahabad, and roughly cuts the country in half in terms of longitude.
• The IST is 5.30 hrs ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).