Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Pakistan

Map references: Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area: 3,287,590 km2
land area: 2,973,190 km2
comparative area: slightly more than one-third the size of the US

Land boundaries: total 14,103 km, Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km

Coastline: 7,000 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or the edge of continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: boundaries with Bangladesh and China; status of Kashmir with Pakistan; water-sharing problems with downstream riparians, Bangladesh over the Ganges and Pakistan over the Indus

Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north

Terrain: upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north

Natural resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone

Land use:
arable land: 55%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 4%
forest and woodland: 23%
other: 17%

Irrigated land: 430,390 sq km (1989)

Environment:
current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; desertification; air pollution from industrial effluents and vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage and runoff of agricultural pesticides; huge and rapidly growing population is overstraining natural resources
natural hazards: droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms common; subject to earthquakes (a quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale occurred near Hyderabad killing several thousand people and causing extensive damage in late September 1993)
international agreements: party to - Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea

Note: dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes

NOTE: The information regarding India on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of India Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about India Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.