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 north Eastern 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 of the Tropic of Cancer 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 percent 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 kilometers 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).