Geography is considered to be a key subject for general studies due to their broad syllabus. Because Geography also includes other subjects like Environment, Economics, Political science, and other subjects.
In this context, you will get general information about the geography of India Which is important for the examination point of view. You can also download pdf with given below download link.
A Brief Introduction of Geography of India for Exam Perspective
Indian geography is very special and diverse. India's geological structure includes the rock of the ancient periods to new periods. The northern part of India is part of AngaraLand while Peninsular India is a part of Gondwana Land.
Due to the diversity of physical structure, there is a variety in the living conditions of climate, vegetation, living organisms, and people living in different regions in India.
We know that geography is a study of relations between the Earth's surface and Huma. So we learn two parts in the geography of India, The first is Physical geography and second Human geography.
In the physical parts, we study landforms,(such as mountains, plateaus, plains,etc.) climate, vegetation, river, etc.
While in Human Geography we study the political parts like states of India, resources, population, industry, Transportation, settlement, and relations between Earth and humans, etc.
Location and magnitude of India on the Globe
India is the 7th largest country in the world, which is located in the northern hemisphere of the South Asia continent. Location of India on the globe is between 8° 4' to 37 ° 6' Northern Latitude and 68° 7' to 97 ° 25' Eastern Longitude.
82° 30' Eastern Longitude is India's standard timeline which is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead from GMT. This line passes nearly Naini(Allahabad) in India.
The cancer line (23°30' N) passes between the middle part of India, which divides India into two parts - Northern India and the peninsular part of the south.
India's north-south length is 3214 km while east to west wide is 2933 km. Thus, the total area of India is 32,87,263 square kilometers, which is 2.42% of the entire world area. India's terrestrial border is 15200 km and the aqueous boundary is 7516 km.
Physical Features of India
The physical structure of India is full of variations. India is the land of high mountains, mighty rivers, extensive plains and forests, elaborate plateaus, beautiful hills, beautiful waterfalls, and fresh beaches.
11% of the total area of India is mountainous, 18% hills 28% plateaus, and 43% of the land area are plain. India is generally divided into four physical regions on the basis of relief features:
Mountain region of Northern part
Peninsular plateaus and hills
The Great Northern Plains
Coastal Plains and Islands
1. Mountain region of Northern part
In the northern part of India, the Himalayan mountain range is expanded in approximately 5 lakh square kilometers. This mountain range is divided into three parts -
Himalayan mountain ranges
Trans-Himalayas and
Mountains of Purvanchal.
Himalayan mountain ranges
The Himalayas, which is a new folded mountain range, is the longest mountain chain of India. The total East to West length of the Himalayas is 2400 km while the average width is 400 km.
Due to building in different periods Himalaya Mountain range is divided into three parts Which extend from Jammu Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh.
The Greater Himalayas
Central Himalayas and
Shivalik
There are so many highest mountains of the world situated in the Himalayas range like Mount Everest, Nanda Devi, Naga Parvat, Kanchenjunga, etc.
Trans-Himalayas
Trans Himalaya is situated in Northern sites of Greater Himalaya in which Karakoram, Pirpanjal, Ladakh, and Jaskar are four main mountain ranges. K2 is the highest mountain peak that is situated in the Karakoram range.
Mountains of Purvanchal
It is spread in North-east states of India between the Myanmar and India boundary, which are known as Hills of Purvanchal.
Naga hill, Patkai Bum, Mizo hill, Garo, Khasi, and Jayantiya are the main hills of Purvanchal Hill. Dafabam (4578 m) and Saramati (3926 m) are the highest peaks of Purvanchal.
Clarification of The Himalayas has been also done by 'Sidni Burad' on the basis of regions. He divided it into four parts.
Punjab Himalaya 560 km between the Sindhu and Sutlej rivers.
Kumaun Himalaya 320 km between the Sutlej and Kali rivers.
Nepal Himalaya 800 km between the Kali and Tista rivers.
Asam Himalaya is 720 km between the Tista and Dihang rivers.
2. Peninsular plateaus and hills
The intense plateau spread over 16 million sq km is made of the rocks of the Archean group, which are one of the ancient rocks in the world.
Due to being more ancient, many hills, and mighty rivers, these plateaus have been divided into several parts. Peninsular India includes the Deccan Plateau, Malwa, Bundelkhand, Karnataka, Telangana Plateau.
Along with plateaus, there are so many hills present in these regions. In which the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Vindhyan, Satpura, and Nilgiri are the main hills.
3. The Great Northern Plains
A big plain situated between the Himalayas and the Peninsular Plateau is known as the Great Northern Plain.
It is constructed by Indus, Ganga, and Brahmaputra rivers, which is an example of the new structure. This vast plain is spread over 7.5 lakh square kilometers of land in India. The expanse of this plain is in the west, from Punjab to the east, Assam, in approximately 2400 km, whose width is 100-500 km.
Approximately 1.75 lakh sq km in the western part of the plain, a big desert has been developed mostly in Rajasthan due to low rainfall, which is known as the Thar Tropical Desert.
4. Coastal Plains and Islands
India's coastal plain is the result of the action of the sea and the deposit of the rivers. These fields are divided into eastern and western parts. The width of the eastern coast is more than the west coast, due to the low slope and Delta construction.
The total number of Indian islands is 247, which is 204 is located in the Bay of Bengal and others are located in the Arabian Sea. But mainly in India, there are two islands - Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep, which is a group of many islands.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands situated in the Bay of Bengal while Lakshadweep is the Arabian sea.
Thus, we see that despite its various physical divisions, India is a single geographical region. It has its own special features that separate it from the rest of the Asian continent.
Due to the different Physical structure of India has impacted on Indian society and culture, agriculture, business, industry, transport, etc. Therefore regional disparity is found in one region to another in India.
Rainy and Evergreen Rivers of India
Rivers have played an important role in India since ancient times. India's ancient civilization, the Indus Valley civilization developed in the river valleys.
Agricultural work also started in river valleys and all the major cities of ancient times till now have been developed on the banks of rivers, due to the availability of infrastructure in these areas. The importance of rivers in India is even more religious because rivers are considered holy in Hinduism.
Indian rivers provide a livelihood for portable water, cheap transport, electricity(River valley project), fertile soil, and people to a large number of people across the country.
On the basis of origin, Rivers of India have been divided into four parts-
Exit from the Himalayas
Exit from Western Ghats / Sahyadri
Exit from the Aravali Mountains
Rivers emerging from the intermediate plateau
Exit from the Himalayas
The main source of water supply in Himalayan rivers is Himalayan glaciers and rainfall, due to which water flows in these rivers remain forever. Ganga, Yamuna, Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra are the major rivers in this region. The river Ganges is the largest river in India, which is 2500 km long.
Exit from Western Ghats / Sahyadri
Rivers coming out of the Western Ghats are divided into two parts, one flowing towards the west and the other towards the East.
Almost all the rivers flowing towards the west are small, which fall into the Arabian Sea, these rivers form an Estuary while rivers flowing eastwards from the Delta.
The source of water in the rivers coming out of these areas is also accompanied by lakes along with rainwater. The major rivers of this region are the Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Bhima, etc.
Exit from the Aravali Mountains
The source of water in the rivers coming out of this part is rainwater. Chambal, Luni, and Banas are the main rivers in this region.
Rivers emerging from the intermediate plateau
The main rivers of this region are Sone river, Mahanadi, Narmada, Tapti and Betwa river. Rainwater is the main source of water in these rivers, but some Rivers have water sources also lakes.
India's Rivers follow the shield, due to which fall in two regions the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
Rivers falling in the Arabian Sea are formed Estuaries due to steep slopes, while the river falling in the Bay of Bengal builds delta due to the low slope.
The Sundarbans delta built by the river Ganga is the largest delta in the world, which is in the Bay of Bengal.
Type of Soils Which find in India
Due to being an agricultural country, the soil is one of the main resources of India.
Due to differences in the Rock Structure and Climates of entire parts in India, so different types of soils are developed in different geographical regions.
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| Soil of India |
On the basis of structure and chemical characteristic the Soils of India are divided into 8 sections by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR):
Type of soil & Area in %
Alluvial Soils (22.16)
Black Soils (29.69)
Red Soils (28.00)
Laterite Soils (2.62)
Arid Sandy Soils (6.13)
Saline soils (1.29)
Bio Soils (2.17)
Forest or Mountain Soils (7.94)
Variable Climate of India
The climate of India is a predominantly tropical monsoon climate. But due to the influence of large geographical areas, more Latitudinal expansions, and physical structures, India is found in tropical climates to temperate climatic conditions.
The interior and central part of India experiences a continental type of climate. In these areas, the summers are very hot and the winter very cold because they are far from the influence of the sea. The coastal regions have an equable climate all year round. They have very little variation in summer and winter temperatures.
The southern part of India lies near the Equator and so it remains hot throughout the year. Some Places in India receive heavy rainfall while others remain dry. It snows heavily in certain areas, while others are hot as a desert.
On the basis of temperature, rainfall, and humidity, Koppen has divided the Indian climate into 6 sub-territories. On the basis of temperature, monsoon, and variation, the Indian climate is generally divided into four seasons:-
Summer Season -
March to mid-June
Winter Season -
From mid-December to February
Rainy Season -
From mid-June to September
Autumn or Retreating monsoon season -
From October to mid-December
The natural vegetation of India
As a result of the huge diversity in the Indian climate, the different types of natural vegetation have been developed in different climatic regions of India.
The vegetation of India generally emulates rainfall, but due to height on the natural vegetation of the Himalayas, there is a greater effect of temperature declines.
Thus, the development of India's vegetation has the effect of both climate and relief. On the basis of climate Indian vegetations can be divided into the following vegetation regions:
Tropical Evergreen Rain Forest
The Tropical Deciduous Forest or The Monsoon Forest
The Mountain Forest
The Semi Desert and Desert Vegetation
The Tidal Forest
The vegetation of the Himalayan Region
The Economical Resources and Development of India
Resources play an important role in developing the economy in any country. India has been rich from the perspective of resources since ancient times, But due to pressure on the limited resources of the growing population, there is a shortage of resources in India, but even today, in many significant natural resources, India is self-dependent.
The major resources of India could include Minerals, Water, Forest, Agriculture, Trade, Industry, Transportation, and Population, which are more helpful in the economic development of India.
Mineral resources in India
As a point of view of the mineral resources, India is considered to be a rich Country. But the mineral resources of India are not evenly distributed. The chief mining states of India are Jharkhand, Orisa, WB, MP, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra.
Metallic and Nonmetallic minerals like Coal, Iron-ore, Mica, Manganese, Bauxite, Limestone, Gypsum, Chromite, etc are found here in sufficient quantities.
India is self-dependent in Coal, Limestone, Dolomite, Copper, Gold, Zircon, etc. In which India occupies an important position in some minerals production, like Iron-ore, Mica, Marble, Manganese, Bauxite. And India also exports some Important minerals.
While Mineral Oil, Nikel, Tin, Graphite, Cobalt, Silver, etc are found in low quantities. For these minerals, India has been dependent on other countries.
Major Minerals and Mines
Water Resources in India
Water is an important resource for the economic development of the country. You know that water is mostly used in Irrigation, Industry, Drinking, and hydro-power.
India is an Agricultural Country and It has also a huge population, so water resources are more valuable to economic development and life.
Nature is gifted to India by various sources of water, like surface water (Rivers, Pounds, Lakes), Underground waters, and Rainy water.
690 billion cubic meters surface waters and 433 billion cubic meters underground waters are available in India. Thus, the total 1123 billion cubic meters usable waters are available for various works. We are using 50% of available waters today. In Which Industries use more water after Irrigation.
Forest Resources of India
Forests are more important for balancing the environment. Forests cover approximately 22.81% of the land of the total geographical area of India. Forests found in India are 3% coniferous and 97% broadleaf fall forest.
The forest resources of India are not evenly distributed. One side where forests are covered about 86% of Andaman and Nicobar then second side forest cover only 3% in Haryana. On the basis of geographical regions forests have distributed in India.
Himalaya region - 19%
Great plain region - 5%
Peninsular plateau and hills - 56%
Western ghats & coastal region - 10%
Eastern ghat and coastal region - 10%
Agriculture in India
India is predominantly an agricultural country. Nature has endowed it with rich agricultural resources. India grows a large number of crops as it possesses a wide variety of Soil, Climate, water resources, irrigation facilities, and long growing season and large area under cultivation.
Agriculture is considered to be the backbone of the Indian economy. About 60% of the working population in India is engaged in the cultivation of land.
India has the second-largest population in the world which depends on agriculture for livelihood. It also provides raw materials for leading industries like cotton, tea, oilseeds, sugar cane, etc.
Due to diversity in climate, India grows all types of crops like Warm, subtropical, and temperate crops. On the basis of different crop seasons, Crops are divided into three different types:
Rabi - Wheat, Barley, Pulses, etc.
Kharif - Rice, Maize, Millets, Cotton, Jute, etc.
Zayada - Vegetables and Fruits of the summer season.
India has about 46% of agricultural land of the total area, in which it grows 75% food crops and 25% Aerial Crops. Rice, Wheat, Jowar, Bajra are the main food crops while Tea, Coffee, Cotton, Sugar cane, etc are the main aerial crops of India.
Patterns of Land-use in India
India has 2.42% of the land in the world. The total geographical area of India is 32.88 crore hectares, but data is available only 93% of land uses.
The land use pattern of India is affected by physical, social, and economical conditions. Due to heavy rainfalls, Andaman and Nicobar, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Lakshadweep have covered dense forests. While UP, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana Covered cultivation land due to Fertile land and huge population.
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| Land use pattern of India |
India possesses many kinds of land, but only the proper and wise use of land can lead to the development and prosperity of the country.
India has used land in different ways. The land has been used in India for cultivation, forests, grazing lands, industries, houses, roads, etc.
Cultivation and forests covered about 60% of land in India. Land use patterns of India is given below:
Industries of India
Though agriculture is still the main occupation of most of the Indian people, yet in the present years, India has made great progress in the industrial area.
The development of industries have been started in India from the second five-year plan and It is developed rapidly in seventy years. In the present time, the contribution rate of the industry in GDP is approximately 30% in the Indian economy.
On the basis of capital and production Indian industries have been divided into three groups, which include different types of heavy and light products.
Large Industries - Iron & Steel, Textile, Cement, Sugarcane, Aluminium, Engineering, Refinery, etc.
Small Industries - Dairy, Bicycle, spare parts, Soap-making, etc.
Cottage Industries - Handloom and Grocery products.
As a geographical view industry can be divided on the basis of raw material.
Mineral-based industries
Agro-based industries
The Industries are dependent on raw materials and it is not evenly distributed in India. So industries have developed in that region where their more raw materials are available for it. physical and climate conditions are also responsible for establishing an industry.
A large number of key industries are situated in the states of India Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orisa, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh.
Transportation of India
Transportation is an important and helpful resource for the development of the country. So transportation is also known as the lifelines of the country.
India has rapidly developed transportation after Independence. The present transportation system of the country comprises several modes of transport including Road, Rail, Waterway, Pipeline, Airways.
Road transport of India
Indian roadways are the world's second-biggest road network. India has 83% of roads of the total way of transportation. According to available data, India's total road lengths are 60 lakh kilometers, in which 71,000 km of roads are included in National Highway (NH). NH 7 (2369 km) is the longest Highway of India while NH 47-A(6 km) of Kerala is Smallest.
The total length of national highways is around 2% but it carries 45% of the total road traffic.
Some Important National Highway
NH 1 - Delhi to Amritsar
NH 2 - Delhi to Kolkata
NH 3 - Agra to Mumbai
NH 4 - Thane to Madras
NH 5 - Kolkata to Chennai
NH 6 - Mumbai to Kolkata
NH 7 - Varanasi to Kanyakumari
NH 8 - Delhi - Jaipur - Mumbai
NH 15 - Amritsar - Jaisalmer - Kandla
NH 17 - Mumbai to Cochi
NH 31 - Patna to Guwahati
The Government of India has also started a new project for a long route, which is known as Golden quadrilateral, North-south Corridor, and East-west Corridor.
Golden quadrilateral: Under this plan, 5846 km of roads have been developed, which is connecting India's four biggest metropolitan Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata.
North-south Corridor: Connecting Srinagar (J&K) to Kanyakumari (Tamilnadu).
East-west Corridor: Connecting Silchar (Assam) to Porbandar (Gujarat)
Rail transport in India
The Indian railway system is the largest in Asia and the 4th largest (after the United States, Russia, and China) in the world. Indian railways spread over a route length of about 67,000 km. Railway was started in 1853 in India between Mumbai and Thane (34 km).
There is no denying the fact that compared to all other means of transport put together the railway has become far more valuable to our nation's economy. Railways are most useful for carrying heavy goods and huge passengers in India. For administrative efficiency, the Indian railways have been divided into 18 different zones.
Waterways of India
It is the cheapest mode of transportation. Waterways are primarily used for transporting heavy goods. Waterways of India have been divided into Internal waterways and Oceanic waterways.
Internal waterways:
India has got about 14,544 km of navigable waterways which comprise Rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks, etc. About 44 million tonnes of cargo is being moved annually by Inland waterways. India has six most useful national waterways (NW).
NW-1 - Allahabad - Haldia (1620 km)
NW-2 - Sadiya - Dhubari (891 km)
NW-3 - Kollam - Kottapuram (205km)
NW-4 - Kakinada - Marakkanam (1095 km)
NW-5 - Talcher - Dhamra(623 km)
NW-6 - Lakhipur - Bhanga(212 km)
Oceanic waterways:
The large coastal region of India has played vital roles in coastal and oceanic waterways. There are 13 major and about 180 small ports situated on the main coastal areas of India.
Kolkata - West Bengal
Mumbai - Maharashtra
Chennai - Tamilnadu
Kochi - Kerala
Vishakhapatnam - Andhra Pradesh
Paradip - Orissa
Tuticorin - Tamilnadu
Mormugao - Goa
Kandla - Gujarat
New Mangalore - Karnataka
Nahkasohva - Maharashtra
Annor - Tamilnadu
Port Blair - Andaman
Also View Major Sea Ports of India Map
The Airways of India
Airways was started in India from Allahabad to Naini as a postal service in 1911. All the airway companies were nationalized in 1953 and were put under two corporations namely - Indian Airlines and Air India.
Indian Airlines provides domestic services along with neighboring countries, while Air India provides international services. For this, there are many national and international Airports developed in India.
The Pipeline transport of India
The pipeline is the costly transportation. It has been developed in the limited region of India, which used mostly in Natural Oil and Gas transportation.
There are 5 major pipelines developed in India, from which transported natural gases, cured oil.
HBJ(Hajira - Bijapur - Jagdishpur) Gas Pipeline - 1750km.
Naharkatia - Noonmati - Barauni Oil Pipeline -1167km
Jamnagar-Loni LPG Pipeline - 1269 km
Kandla-Bhatinda Pipeline - 1331 km
Salaya - Koyali - Mathura Pipeline - 1256 km
The Ropeways new modes of transport
The ropeway is the most important transportation system which has been developed in hilly areas, where other transportation can be hard to develop.
Population of India
As a view of the population, India is the second-largest country in the world. There are 17.5% of the world population living in India. The five major states respectively Uttar Pradesh(16.51%), Maharashtra(9.28%), Bihar(8.6%), West Bengal(7.54%), and Andhra Pradesh(6.99%) included about 40% populations of India.
According to Census 2011 the total population of India is 1,21,0854977, in which 62,32,70,258 (51.47%) male and 58,75,84,719 (48.53%) are females. Uttar Pradesh is the highly populated state of India while Sikkim has the lowest population.
Major Points of Census - 2011
Yearly growth rate - 1.64%
Decadal growth rate - 17.7%
Population densities - 382 peoples per square kilometers.
Sex ratio - 943
Child sex ratio - 918
Literacy rate - 73 %
Urban population - 31.2%
States and their Capitals of India
India is the largest country in South Asia whose international land boundary is between 7 countries - China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Myanmar while countries related to aquatic boundaries, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia are prominent. As it is surrounded by natural boundaries, it is also known as the Indian sub-continent.
The Republic of India is a union of States. It consists of 28 states and 9 union territories for administrative convenience. These administrative units have been further divided into districts and tehsil etc.
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| The Geography of India |
India's seven states are coastal while two union territories Lakshadweep, Andaman Nicobar are islands.
Coastal States
Union territories
Disclaimer
This post provides a brief introduction about the geography of India because Indian geography can't explain in a few words due to their broad syllabus. But you can know more about Indian Geography from various sources like books, ebooks, the Internet, etc.
If you want to learn geography for general studies, you should start with the geography of India and the World with the maps, because it is more helpful to learn geography.
The Geography of India pdf Download
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