Why this chapter matters for UPSC: Location, extent, neighbours, physical divisions, islands and rivers are the spatial base for every other GS1 geography topic, and they feed GS2 and GS3 questions on borders, coasts and maritime security. In the rationalised 2023-24 edition this chapter is Chapter 6, "Our Country – India", with the same content (the old Chapter 6 on landforms was dropped).

Contemporary hook: India's coastline is no longer 7,516.6 km. The National Hydrographic Office, with the Survey of India, has re-assessed it at 11,098.81 km (Ministry of Earth Sciences, PIB, 4 December 2025). The coast did not grow; it was measured again by a newer method. Answers that quote the old figure should now give both.

🧠 First Principles — Read This First

NCERT describes India as a country of vast geographical expanse. The lofty Himalayas bound it in the north. The Arabian Sea in the west, the Bay of Bengal in the east and the Indian Ocean in the south wash the shores of the Indian peninsula, a piece of land surrounded by water on three sides.

Within that frame the chapter builds four ideas:

  • Location and size. India lies in the Northern Hemisphere. The Tropic of Cancer (23°30′N) passes almost halfway through it. Its area is about 3.28 million sq km.
  • Time. India spans about 29° of longitude, so the Sun rises about two hours earlier in Arunachal Pradesh than in Gujarat. One meridian, 82°30′E, sets Indian Standard Time.
  • Neighbours and divisions. Seven countries share land borders with India, and Sri Lanka and Maldives lie across the sea. For administration India is divided into States and Union Territories, formed mainly on the basis of language.
  • Diversity of land. Mountains, the Great Indian Desert, the Northern Plains, the Peninsular Plateau, the coastal plains and two groups of islands make up India's physical divisions. NCERT notes that in this diversity we find unity, reflected in traditions that bind us as one nation.

PART 1 — Quick Reference

India at a Glance

FeatureNCERT Class VILater or more precise figure
AreaAbout 3.28 million sq km3.28 million sq km, 2.4% of the world's land; seventh largest country (NCERT Class XI)
North–south extentAbout 3,200 km (Ladakh/Kashmir to Kanyakumari)3,214 km (NCERT Class XI)
East–west extentAbout 2,900 km (Arunachal Pradesh to Kachchh)2,933 km (NCERT Class XI)
Latitudes (mainland)8°4′N to 37°6′NSouthern boundary extends to 6°45′N in the Bay of Bengal (NCERT Class XI); the southernmost point, Indira Point, was submerged in the 2004 tsunami (NCERT Class IX)
Longitudes68°7′E to 97°25′E (about 29°)—
Standard Meridian82°30′EPasses through Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh) (NCERT Class IX); IST = UTC + 5 h 30 min
Coastline—7,516.6 km for the mainland with the island groups (NCERT Class IX), re-assessed to 11,098.81 km (PIB, 4-Dec-2025)
Land borderSeven neighboursAbout 15,200 km (NCERT Class IX); 15,106.7 km is the sum of MHA's figures below
States and UTs29 States and 9 UTs (2020-21 print); 28 States and 8 UTs (2023-24 edition)28 States and 8 Union Territories
Population"More than one hundred twenty crores since 2011", second after ChinaCensus 2011: 1,21,08,54,977; UNFPA's mid-2023 estimate put India (1,428.6 million) above China (1,425.7 million)

India's Land Neighbours (Ministry of Home Affairs)

CountryBorder lengthRuns along
Bangladesh4,096.7 kmWest Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram
China3,488 kmArunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, UT of Ladakh
Pakistan3,323 kmGujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, UT of Jammu & Kashmir, UT of Ladakh
Nepal1,751 kmUttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim
Myanmar1,643 kmArunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram
Bhutan699 kmSikkim, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh
Afghanistan106 kmUT of Ladakh

Across the sea to the south lie the island neighbours Sri Lanka and Maldives. Sri Lanka is separated from India by the Palk Strait (NCERT).

PART 2 — Concepts & Narrative

Location and Time

Key Term

Tropic of Cancer (23°30′N): passes almost halfway through India; NCERT Class IX says it divides the country into almost two equal parts. It passes through eight States: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram (Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Ministry of Environment, 2025); NCERT Class IX's own exercise expects that it does not pass through Odisha. Jharkhand marks the line at Ukrid village near Ranchi (Jharkhand Tourism).

Standard Meridian of India (82°30′E): the longitude whose local time is taken as Indian Standard Time. Because local time changes by four minutes for every degree of longitude, India's 29° spread means the Sun rises about two hours earlier in the east (Arunachal Pradesh) than in the west (Gujarat).

Eastern or western hemisphere? NCERT asks which hemisphere India belongs to. Lying wholly east of the Prime Meridian, between 68°7′E and 97°25′E, India is in the eastern hemisphere.

NCERT notes that large countries that stretch far from east to west do not have a single standard time: the USA has seven time zones and Canada six. India has kept one (see ch. 2 for how IST was chosen).

The northern extent. NCERT's 37°6′N is the northern limit of India's territory on the official map. When the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were created on 31 October 2019, the Leh district of Ladakh was defined to include the 1947 districts of Gilgit, Gilgit Wazarat, Chilhas and the Tribal Territory, and the Survey of India's maps show it so (Ministry of Home Affairs, PIB, 2-Nov-2019). This is also why the Ministry of Home Affairs lists India's 106 km border with Afghanistan as running along the Union Territory of Ladakh.

States and Union Territories

India is divided into States and Union Territories for administration; Delhi is the national capital, and the States were formed mainly on the basis of languages (NCERT). NCERT's 2020-21 print says "29 States and 9 Union Territories", a figure that never existed at one time: it mixes two changes of 2019. Under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the State of Jammu and Kashmir became two Union Territories on 31 October 2019, leaving 28 States. Under the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Act, 2019, two UTs became one from the appointed date of 26 January 2020 (PIB). The rationalised 2023-24 edition gives the current count: 28 States and 8 Union Territories. (The 2020 print's appendix also lists Hyderabad as the capital of Andhra Pradesh, out of date: the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 made Hyderabad the common capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh only for a period not exceeding ten years.)

Physical Divisions (NCERT)

Explainer

1. The Himalayas. Standing as sentinels in the north; "Himalaya" means the abode of snow. Three main parallel ranges:

  • Great Himalaya or Himadri, the northernmost, with the world's highest peaks;
  • Middle Himalaya or Himachal, to its south, with many popular hill stations;
  • Shiwalik, the southernmost range.

NCERT Class IX adds that the Himalayas form an arc of about 2,400 km, from 400 km wide in Kashmir to 150 km in Arunachal Pradesh. Its table of the highest Himalayan peaks lists, under India, Kanchenjunga (8,598 m), Nanga Parbat (8,126 m), Nanda Devi (7,817 m), Kamet (7,756 m) and Namcha Barwa (7,756 m); Mt Everest (8,848 m) is listed under Nepal. Kanchenjunga's height also appears as 8,586 m in Akashvani's 2025 report of the NIMAS "Har Shikhar Tiranga" expedition; Everest's re-measured height, announced jointly by China and Nepal on 8 December 2020, is 8,848.86 m. Its map exercise asks students to mark K2, Kanchenjunga and Nanga Parbat on the map of India.

2. The Northern Indian Plains. South of the Himalayas; generally level and flat; formed by alluvial deposits of the Indus, the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and their tributaries. Fertile land explains the high concentration of population. NCERT Class XI gives their size: about 3,200 km east to west and 150–300 km wide.

3. The Great Indian Desert. In the west: dry, hot and sandy, with very little vegetation.

4. The Peninsular Plateau. South of the plains; triangular, with highly uneven relief and numerous hill ranges and valleys.

  • The Aravali hills, one of the oldest ranges of the world, border it on the north-west.
  • The Vindhyas and the Satpuras are its important ranges; the Narmada and Tapi flow through them as west-flowing rivers into the Arabian Sea.
  • The Western Ghats (Sahyadris) border it in the west and are almost continuous; the Eastern Ghats border it in the east and are broken and uneven.
  • It is rich in minerals such as coal and iron ore.

5. The Coastal Plains. West of the Western Ghats and east of the Eastern Ghats. The western coastal plains are very narrow; the eastern coastal plains are much broader, with east-flowing rivers (the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri) that form fertile deltas at their mouths. The Sundarban delta forms where the Ganga and Brahmaputra flow into the Bay of Bengal; NCERT calls it the world's largest delta.

6. The Islands.

  • Lakshadweep, in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Kerala, are coral islands: corals are the skeletons of tiny marine animals called polyps, which build up as new polyps grow on old skeletons. NCERT Class XI places them 220–440 km off the Kerala coast. NCERT Class IX notes they were earlier known as Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindive, and were named Lakshadweep in 1973.
  • The Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie south-east of the mainland in the Bay of Bengal: about 572 islands and islets (NCERT Class XI). Barren Island, in this group, has the only active volcano in India (NCERT Class XI); its current eruptive period began in December 2022 (see ch. 6).

The 2004 tsunami. NCERT asks readers to find out which group of islands was affected by the tsunami of 2004, and how people faced it. It defines a tsunami as a huge sea wave generated by an earthquake on the sea floor. NCERT Class IX records that Indira Point, the southernmost point of the Indian Union, "got submerged under the sea water in 2004 during the Tsunami".

Note

Where the peninsula's rivers go (NCERT Class XI). About 77% of India's drainage area is oriented towards the Bay of Bengal and 23% towards the Arabian Sea. Most peninsular rivers flow west to east; the Narmada and Tapi, which flow through rift valleys, are the exceptions. The Chambal, Sind, Betwa, Ken and Son rise in the northern part of the Peninsula but belong to the Ganga system. The Ganga itself is 2,525 km long.

[Additional] 7a. India's Land Borders: the Government of India Position

The China border is the longest of India's disputed frontiers. The Raksha Mantri's statement in the Lok Sabha on 15 September 2020 (PIB) sets out the Government's position:

  • "There is no commonly delineated Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the border areas between India and China."
  • "China continues to be in illegal occupation of approximately 38,000 sq. kms in the Union Territory of Ladakh."
  • "Under the so-called Sino-Pakistan 'Boundary Agreement' of 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq. km. of Indian territory in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to China."
  • "China also claims approximately 90,000 sq. kms. of Indian territory in the Eastern Sector of the India-China boundary in Arunachal Pradesh."

How it began. NCERT Class XII (Politics in India since Independence) records that China claimed the Aksai-chin area in Ladakh and much of Arunachal Pradesh (then NEFA); between 1957 and 1959 the Chinese occupied Aksai-chin and built a strategic road there, and in October 1962 China launched an invasion on both regions.

The Line of Control. The Simla Agreement, signed on 2 July 1972, provides: "In Jammu and Kashmir, the line of control resulting from the cease-fire of December 17, 1971 shall be respected by both sides without prejudice to the recognized position of either side."

Siachen. Operation Meghdoot was launched on 13 April 1984, when the Indian Army and Indian Air Force advanced to the Siachen glacier "to secure the heights dominating the Northern Ladakh region" (Ministry of Defence, PIB, 13-Apr-2024).

Galwan, 2020. The same statement records that the Chinese side created a violent face-off at Galwan on 15 June 2020, in which Col Santosh Babu and 19 soldiers made the supreme sacrifice.

Disengagement. Reporting the External Affairs Minister's statement in the Lok Sabha on 3 December 2024, Akashvani said disengagement had been achieved in eastern Ladakh step by step, culminating in the Depsang and Demchok areas.

The Indus Waters Treaty. After the Pahalgam terror attack, the Cabinet Committee on Security decided on 23 April 2025 that the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 "will be held in abeyance with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism" (MEA). India reiterated on 20 March 2026 that the treaty remains in abeyance (Akashvani).

[Additional] 7b. The Coast and India's Maritime Zones

Key Term

Maritime zones are fixed by the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976, and India ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on 29 June 1995. Distances are measured from the baseline:

ZoneLimitWhat India has there
Territorial waters12 nautical milesSovereignty, as over land
Contiguous zone24 nautical milesEnforcement of laws such as customs and immigration
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)200 nautical milesRights over the resources of the sea and seabed
Continental shelfTo 200 nautical miles, or to the outer edge of the continental margin where it extends furtherRights over the seabed and subsoil

How big is India's EEZ? Official figures differ. The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (Ministry of Earth Sciences) gives "nearly 23,72,298 sq. km", about 2.37 million sq km, and calls it the 12th largest EEZ in the world; PIB's 2022 factsheet on the Deep Ocean Mission says it "spreads over 2.2 million sq. km". Quote the figure with its source.

UPSC Connect

The coast in current affairs

  • Coastline re-assessed. The National Hydrographic Office, in coordination with the Survey of India, re-assessed India's coastline from 7,516.6 km to 11,098.81 km (Ministry of Earth Sciences, PIB, 4-Dec-2025).
  • Bay of Bengal boundary with Bangladesh. An arbitral tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration delivered its award on 7 July 2014. Of a "relevant area" of about 406,833 sq km, it allocated about 106,613 sq km to Bangladesh and 300,220 sq km to India.
  • SAGAR to MAHASAGAR. The Prime Minister set out SAGAR, "Security and Growth for All in the Region", in Mauritius on 12 March 2015. Ten years later, again in Mauritius on 12 March 2025, he announced MAHASAGAR, "Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions", which "shall encompass the ideas of trade for development, capacity building for sustainable growth, and mutual security for a shared future" (PIB).

PART 3 — UPSC Integration

India's size and location explain its diversity: a 29° spread of longitude gives a two-hour gap in sunrise, and the Tropic of Cancer runs almost halfway through it. The physical divisions decide where people live (the dense Northern Plains), where minerals lie (the Peninsular Plateau) and how rivers behave (deltas on the east coast, estuaries for the Narmada and Tapi). The borders and the coast carry the chapter into GS2 and GS3: the India-China boundary, the Indus Waters Treaty, border management, the re-measured coastline, and maritime zones that give India rights far beyond its shore. Always pair a geographic fact with its official source and date.

Exam Strategy

Prelims traps:

  • Coastline: 7,516.6 km is the old figure; 11,098.81 km is the re-assessed one (PIB, 4-Dec-2025). Read which a question asks for.
  • Longest land border: Bangladesh (4,096.7 km), then China (3,488 km) and Pakistan (3,323 km) (MHA).
  • Afghanistan border (106 km) runs along the UT of Ladakh (MHA).
  • Southern boundary 6°45′N (in the Bay of Bengal; Indira Point, submerged in 2004) vs mainland tip 8°4′N (Kanyakumari).
  • Standard Meridian 82°30′E passes through Mirzapur (NCERT Class IX).
  • Tropic of Cancer crosses 8 States: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram; not Odisha.
  • Peaks (NCERT Class IX): Kanchenjunga 8,598 m is the highest peak its table lists under India; Everest (8,848 m) is in Nepal; K2 is marked on India's map.
  • 28 States and 8 UTs; NCERT's 2020 print "29 and 9" is out of date.
  • Western coastal plains narrow, eastern broad; east-flowing rivers form deltas, the Narmada and Tapi do not.
  • Lakshadweep = coral islands in the Arabian Sea; Andaman and Nicobar = Bay of Bengal, with Barren Island, India's only active volcano.
  • Maritime zones: 12 / 24 / 200 nautical miles, measured from the baseline.
  • Simla Agreement 2 July 1972 set the Line of Control from the ceasefire of 17 December 1971; Operation Meghdoot 13 April 1984 (Siachen).

Mains angle: Use the chapter's physical divisions as the skeleton of any "regional diversity" answer, and add the dated border and maritime facts for questions on security and the blue economy.

Practice Questions

Practice (UPSC-pattern, not past papers). Real UPSC questions on this chapter are listed in the PYQ box above.

Prelims:

  1. India shares its longest land border with:
    (a) China
    (b) Pakistan
    (c) Bangladesh
    (d) Nepal

  2. The Sahyadris are also known as:
    (a) the Aravali
    (b) the Western Ghats
    (c) the Himadri
    (d) the Eastern Ghats

  3. The Palk Strait lies between:
    (a) Sri Lanka and Maldives
    (b) India and Sri Lanka
    (c) India and Maldives
    (d) India and Myanmar

  4. Consider the following statements about India's maritime zones under the Maritime Zones Act, 1976:

    1. The territorial waters extend to 12 nautical miles from the baseline.
    2. The contiguous zone extends to 24 nautical miles from the baseline.
    3. The Exclusive Economic Zone extends to 200 nautical miles from the coastline.
      Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
      (a) 1 and 2 only
      (b) 2 and 3 only
      (c) 1 and 3 only
      (d) 1, 2 and 3

  5. Which of the following rivers originate in the northern part of the Peninsula but belong to the Ganga river system?

    1. Chambal
    2. Son
    3. Tapi
    4. Betwa
      Select the correct answer:
      (a) 1 and 3 only
      (b) 1, 2 and 4 only
      (c) 2, 3 and 4 only
      (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

  6. India's coastline, as re-assessed by the National Hydrographic Office with the Survey of India (2025), is about:
    (a) 7,517 km
    (b) 8,900 km
    (c) 11,099 km
    (d) 15,107 km

Mains:

  1. India's physical diversity has shaped the distribution of its population and resources. Discuss with reference to its major physical divisions. (150 words)

  2. "India's long coastline is both a resource and a responsibility." Discuss with reference to India's maritime zones and the re-assessment of its coastline. (150 words)

📦 Revision Capsule

Revision Capsule

Hard Facts

  • Area 3.28 million sq km (seventh largest); extent 8°4′N–37°6′N and 68°7′E–97°25′E; southern boundary 6°45′N.
  • Tropic of Cancer almost halfway through India; Standard Meridian 82°30′E; about two hours' difference in sunrise east to west.
  • Neighbours (MHA): Bangladesh 4,096.7, China 3,488, Pakistan 3,323, Nepal 1,751, Myanmar 1,643, Bhutan 699, Afghanistan 106 km; Sri Lanka and Maldives across the sea.
  • 28 States, 8 UTs; coastline 7,516.6 km → 11,098.81 km (re-assessed, 2025).
  • Physical divisions: Himalayas (Himadri, Himachal, Shiwalik), Northern Plains, Great Indian Desert, Peninsular Plateau, coastal plains, islands.

Core Concepts

  • Vast extent → diversity of climate, landforms and culture, with unity.
  • Rivers: east-flowing → deltas; Narmada and Tapi → rift valleys, Arabian Sea.
  • Borders and maritime zones extend the chapter into security and economy.

Confused Pairs

  • Himadri (Great) vs Himachal (Middle) vs Shiwalik (southernmost)
  • Lakshadweep (coral, Arabian Sea) vs Andaman and Nicobar (Bay of Bengal)
  • Western Ghats (continuous) vs Eastern Ghats (broken)
  • Territorial waters 12 nm vs contiguous zone 24 nm vs EEZ 200 nm

PYQ Pattern

  • Mains GS1 asked about the resources of India's coastline (2023) and why Western Ghats rivers form no deltas (2013); GS3 asked about border management (2016) and maritime security (2022); Prelims 2026 tested the Peninsular Block. See the PYQ box.

Sources

Sources