INDIAN GEOGRAPHY
India is the seventh largest and second most populous country of the world. It is a country of diversity. Its diversity is reflected in social, political as well as geographical realms. Indian stretches from the snow-capped Himalayas in the north to sun drenched coastal village of the south. It has humid tropical forests on the south-west coast and fertile Brahmaputra valley on the east and there is the Thar Desert in the West. It is lying entirely in the northern hemisphere. From north to south India stretches about 3214 km and from east to west it stretches 2933 km. Indian has a land frontier of about 15200 km. The total length of the coastline of the mainland is 7516.6 km. The southernmost point of the country is Indira point which is in the Andaman and Nicobar Island. Countries having a common border with India are Pakistan and Afghanistan to the north-west, Nepal, Bhutan and China to the north, Bangladesh to the east to the West Bengal and Myanmar to the east.
Geographically India can be categorized into four regions. The details of which are as follows:
- The Indo-Gangetic Plain: The plains of the Ganga and the Indus are about 2400 km long and 240 to 320 km broad. They are formed by basins of three distinct river systems- the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra.
- The great mountain zone:
- The desert region: This region may be categorized into two parts i.e. the great desert and the little desert.
- The Southern Peninsula: The peninsula is flanked on the one side by the Eastern Ghats where its elevation is generally 610 meters and on the other by the Western Ghats where its elevation is from 915 to 1220 meters.
River System
The river system of India can be categories into four groups i.e. i. Himalayan rivers, ii. Deccan rivers iii. Coastal rivers and iv. River of the inland drainage basin.
Important waterfalls of India
S. No. |
Name of Waterfall |
River |
| 1. | Jog | Sharavati
|
| 2. | Dhuandhar | Narmada |
| 3. | Yenna | Narmada |
| 4 | Shivsamudram | Cauvery |
| 5. | Hundru | Subarnarekha |
Important Lakes of India
S. No. |
Name of Lake |
State |
| 1. | Dal | Jammu & Kashmir |
| 2. | Wular | Jammu and Kashmir |
| 3. | Nagin | Jammu & Kashmir |
| 4. | Sāmbhar | Rajasthan |
| 5. | Pulicat | Tamil Nadu |
| 6. | Loktak | Manipur |
| 7. | Devtal | Uttarkhand |
| 8. | Chilka | Odisha |
| 9. | Didwana | Rajasthan |
| 10. | Vembanad | Kerala |
Climate
The climate of India is termed as tropical monsoon type. There are four main season in India. The details of which is following:
- The Winter Season/Cold weather : December to February
- The Summer Season/Hot weather: March to May
- The rainy Season : June to September
- Post Monsoon Period : October to November
Agriculture
Significance of agriculture may be imagined by the fact that this sector provides livelihood for about 56 per cent of the people of the country. Agriculture sector provides the bulk of wage goods needed by non-agriculture sectors and most of the raw materials for the industries sector.
Major Crops producing States in India
| S. No. | Crop | Important Producing States |
| 1. | Wheat | Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Rajasthan |
| 2. | Rice | West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh |
| 3. | Jawar | Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, |
| 4 | Ragi | Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir |
| 5. | Barley | Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana |
| 6. | Oilseeds | Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh |
| 7. | Groundnut | Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadh , Karnataka |
| 8. | Cotton | Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, |
| 9. | Cocoa | Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu |
| 10. | Tea | Asom, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala
|
| 11. | Jute | West Bengal, Bihar, Asom |