GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA

INDIA AT A GLANCE

India, the seventh largest country of the world, accounts for about 2.4% of the total world area. It is bounded by the great Himalayas and other snowy mountains in the north. The country stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, narrows down and ends into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the East and the Arabian Sea on the West.

Location
India lies on the Northern Hemisphere between parallels of latitude 37o6’ and 8o4’ North and between the Meridians of longitude 68o7’ E and 97o25’ East.

Dimensions
The land area covered by Indian mainland is 32, 87,780 Sq Kms. It measures about 3214 Kms from North to South and 2933 Kms from East to West. The length of the Indian coastline is 7615 Kms. It is bounded by Arabian Sea in the West, the Indian Ocean in the South and the Bay of Bengal in the East. The coastline of India is not indented and the sea on the coast is not very deep. The Western coast is rocky while the Eastern coast is shallow. Therefore, India does not have many good harbours. Only Mumbai and Goa are natural harbours while all the other are artificial.

Population
India is the second largest country in the World in terms of population. According to the 2001 census, the population of India was about 10287 crore (16.87% of the World population). The number of males in 2001 was 53.13 crore while the number of females was 49.57 crore. The density of population in India is about 324 persons per square km. The life expectancy is 64 years and the present literacy rate in 2005 was 65.38 percent.

Neighbours
To the North of the country lie China, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan. The East of the country is surrounded by Myanmar and Bangladesh. Towards the West of India lies Pakistan and in the South, the Indian mainland is surrounded by Sri Lanka.

INDIAN AGRICULTURE
India primarily has an agrarian economy. About 2/3rd of the population is engaged in agricuture and it provides livelihood to about 60% of the population. About 43% of the total land area in India is under agricultural cultivation. It is the second largest contributor to the national income, and accounted for 16% of the national income.

Major Soil Types
The major types of soil found in India are:

i. Alluvial Soil – Alluvial soil is formed due the deposition of particles such as silt, gravel and sand by the rivers in the plains. It is the most fertile soil form found in India and is generally found in regions of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Haryana and parts of West Bengal. This soil type facilitates the cultivation of cereals, pulses, sugarcane and wheat.

ii. Black Soil - Also known as the cotton soil, this soil type is rich in iron, lime and alluminium. It covers 30 percent of the total area of the country. Black soil is generally found in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and facilitates the cultivation of cotton, wheat, oil seeds and tobacco.

iii. Red Soil – This soil is red in colour because of the presence of Iron oxides. It is mainly found in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa and Chattisgarh and facilitates the cultivation of wheat, millets, potato and chillies.

iv. Laterite Soil – Laterite soil is highly leached and the least fertile soil type found in India. It is mainly found in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and facilitates the cultivation of tea, coffee, and cashew nut.

Largest Producers of Major Food Crops

Crops		State
Rice	1	West Bengal
	2	Punjab
Wheat	1	Uttar Pradesh
	2	Punjab
Maize	1	Madhya Pradesh
	2	Andhra Pradesh
Total Coarse Cereals	1	Maharashtra
	2	Karnataka
Total Pulses	1	Madhya Pradesh
	2	Uttar Pradesh
Total Foodgrains	1	Uttar Pradesh
	2	Punjab
Groundnut	1	Gujarat
	2	Tamil Nadu
Rapessed & Mustard	1	Rajasthan
	2	Uttar Pradesh
Soyabean	1	Madhya Pradesh
	2	Maharashtra
Suflower	1	Karnataka
	2	Andhra Pradesh
Total Oilseeds	1	Madhya Pradesh
	2	Maharashtra
Cash Crops Sugarcane	1	Uttar Pradesh
	2	Maharashtra
Cotton	1	Maharashtra
	2	Gujarat
Jute & Mesta	1	West Bengal
	2	Bihar
Potato	1	Uttar Pradesh
	2	West Bengal
Onion	1	Maharashtra
	2	Gujarat

MAJOR RIVERS OF INDIA
There are four major river routes found in India. These are:

1) Himalayan Rivers – The Himalayan Rivers are snow fed and have water throughout the year. During monsoon heavy rainfall in the Himalayan region causes frequent floods in these rivers. The major Himalayan rivers are:
• The Indus and its tributaries- Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.
• The Ganges and its tributaries- Yamuna, Chambal, Betwa, Sone, Ghagra, Gandak, Gomti etc.
• Brahmaputra and its tributary - Tista.

2) Peninsular Rivers - The Peninsular rivers are only rain fed and fluctuate in volume and a large number of streams dry up after monsoon. The major peninsular rivers are:
• Mahanadi
• Krishna
• Kaveri – known as the “Ganga of South India”.
• Godavari
• Narmada
• Tapi (also known as Tapti)

3) Coastal Rivers - The coastal rivers, especially on the West Coast, are short and have limited catchment areas. Most of these are non-perennial as well. Periyar, Mithi and Mandovi are major coastal rivers of India.
4) Rivers of the inland drainage basin - The rivers on the inland drainage basin consists of those in Western Rajasthan which are very few and short lived, like the Sambhar, which is lost in the desert sands, and the Loni that drains into the Rann of Kutch.

Major River Projects

Name of the Project	River	State
Bhakra Nangal Project	Satluj	Punjab
Damodar Valley Project	Damodar	Jharkhand
Farakka Barrage Project	Ganga	West Bengal
Hirakund Dam Project	Mahanadi	Orissa
Nagarjunasagar Project	Krishna	Karnataka
Tehri Dam Project	Bhilangana, Bhagirathi	Uttrakhand

INDIA’S MINERAL WEALTH

India has certain basic and useful minerals such as iron and coal. India is very rich in iron, coal, aluminium, limestone, manganese, titanium, thorium and mica but does not have large reserves of mineral oil, sulphur, lead and tin.

India is the largest producer of mica blocks and mica splittings, ranks third in the production of coal, fourth in iron ore, sixth in bauxite and manganese ore, tenth in aluminium and eleventh in crude steel.

1. Iron
Ranked fourth in the world in iron ore production, India has almost one-fourth of the world’s iron ore reserves. Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa are major iron bearing areas. Singhbhum (Jharkhand), Keonjhar, Bonai and Mayurbhanj (all Orissa) are areas with richest iron deposits in the world. The major iron ore mines are at Chanda, Bastar and Durg districts in Chhattisgarh.

2. Manganese
Ranked sixth in the world for production of manganese, India is a major exporter of manganese and possesses one-third of the world’s reserves. It is an important mineral used for the production of steel. A major portion of the deposits is found in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

3. Mica
India’s is the world’s largest producer of Mica. The majority of this product (almost 60%) comes from Jharkhand. Apart from Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are the major producers of Mica in the country. Since the domestic consumption is not very large most of the Mica produce
is exported.

4. Coal
Ranked third in the production of coal, 80 per cent of the coal is extracted from the mines in West Bengal and Jharkhand. Huge coal reserves exist in Rani Ganj (West Bengal) and Jharia (Jharkhand). Other coal bearing areas are in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

5. Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore which is mainly found in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. These are also the largest aluminium producing areas of the country.

Major Indian Industries and Industrial Regions
• Aircraft - Bangalore and Kanpur.
• Cement - Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
• Cotton Textile - Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
• Glass - Firozabad, Jabalpur, Amritsar, Ambala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
• Jute - West Bengal
• Leather - Kanpur, Batanagar, Dighaghat, Deonar, Chembur, Chennai, Agra, Coimbatore and Bangalore.
• Paper - Nepanagar, Pune, Saharanpur, Orissa, and Mumbai.
• Rail Engine and Coaches - Chittaranjan Locomotives Works at Chittaranjan, Diesel Locomotives at Varanasi, Rail Coaches at Integral Coach Factory at Perambur and Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala.
• Silk - Karnataka, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir.
• Sugar - Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Tamil Nadu.