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Tabular Data - Geography of India
| Location : |
Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan |
| Geographic Coordinates : |
20 00 N, 77 00 E |
| Map References : |
Asia |
| Area : |
total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km
water: 314,400 sq km |
| Area - Comparative : |
slightly more than one-third the size of the US |
| Land Boundaries : |
total: 14,103 km
border countries: 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 : |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
| 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 |
| Elevation Extremes : |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m |
| Natural Resources : |
coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land |
| Land Use : |
arable land: 54.4%
permanent crops: 2.74%
other: 42.86% (2001) |
| Irrigated Land : |
590,000 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Natural Hazards : |
droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes |
| 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; tap water is not potable throughout the country; huge and growing population is overstraining natural resources |
| Environment - International Agreements : |
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - Note : |
Dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes. |
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