India has an area of about 3.28 million sq. km. The North-South extent from Kashmir to Kanyakumari is about 3,200 km. The East-West extent from Arunachal Pradesh to Kuchchh is about 2,900 km. The lofty mountains, the Great Indian Desert, the Northern Plains, the uneven plateau surface, the coasts and islands present form diverse landforms.

India is well-connected with South West Asia, Africa and Europe and North and South America through the Suez Canal and Cape of Good Hope. Suez Canal is an international highway of trade and commerce and India gets advantages of this highway, linking East with West.

For administrative purposes, the country is divided into 29 states and 7 Union Territories. Each state is further sub-divided into districts

82\(\frac { 1 }{ 2 } \)E is the standard meridian of India. The local time at this meridian is taken as the standard time for the whole country

Lakshadweep Islands are located in the Arabian Sea. These are coral islands located off the coast of Kerala. Corals are skeletons of tiny marine animals called Polyps. When the living polyps die, their skeletons are left. Other polyps grow on top of the hard skeletons, which grow higher and higher, thus forming the coral islands.

Island Groups of Indi: Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands are the two main island groups of India.
(i) Lakshadweep island groups are in the Arabian sea
(ii) The southerneast point of India is located in the Nicobar islands.
(iii) In the Bay of Bengal, the Andaman and Nicobar islands groups are situated.

The features of the Northern plains of India are:
(i) They are formed by the alluvial deposits of rivers and their tributaries
(ii) They extend from the Sutlej river in the West to the Brahmaputra in the East.
They are divided into three parts:
(i) Indus Plains
(ii) Ganga Plains
(ii) Brahmaputra Plains

The three peaks of the Himalayas are:
(i) Mount Everest
(ii) Godwin Austen, and
(iii) Kanchenjunga.
The three ranges of Himalayas are:
(i) The Greater Himalayas,
(ii) The Himachal Range, and
(iii) The Shiwalik Range.

To the West of the Western Ghats and the East of the Eastern Ghats lie the Coastal plains.
The Western coastal plains are very narrow. While, the Eastern coastal plains are much broader.
There are a number of East flowing rivers. The rivers Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri drain into the Bay of Bengal.

Lakshadweep islands are known as coral Islands because these are made up of coral reefs which are skeletons of tiny marine animals called polyps.

The Northern Indian plains are generally level and flat. These are formed by the alluvial deposits laid down by the rivers- the Indus, the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and their tributaries. These river plains provide fertile land for cultivation. Thar is the reason for high concentration of population in these plains.

The Sunderbans Delta.

Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The Andaman and Nicobar island group.

There are three neighbouring countries of India among seven countries named Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal which do not have access to any ocean or sea.