Key Points

The mainland of India extends from 8 degrees 4 minutes North latitude in the south near Kanniyakumari to 37 degrees 6 minutes North latitude in the north in Kashmir.

The southernmost boundary of the country extends up to 6 degrees 45 minutes North latitude in the Bay of Bengal, which corresponds to the Indira Point.

India's territory stretches from 68 degrees 7 minutes East longitude in Gujarat to 97 degrees 25 minutes East longitude in Arunachal Pradesh.

The actual distance from the northernmost to the southernmost extremity is 3,214 km, while the distance from east to west is 2,933 km.

The east-west distance is shorter than the north-south distance because the distance between two longitudes decreases towards the poles, whereas the distance between latitudes remains the same.

India's latitudinal spread places its southern part within the tropics and its northern part in the sub-tropical or warm temperate zone, causing large variations in climate and vegetation.

The longitudinal variation of nearly 30 degrees causes a time difference of almost two hours between the easternmost part (Arunachal Pradesh) and the westernmost part (Gujarat).

To maintain a uniform time, 82 degrees 30 minutes East longitude has been selected as the Standard Meridian of India, which determines the Indian Standard Time (IST).

Indian Standard Time is 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

With an area of 3.28 million square kilometers, India accounts for 2.4 percent of the world's land surface and is the seventh largest country in the world.

The coastline of mainland India is 6,100 km. The total geographical coast, including the island groups of Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep, is 7,517 km.

India's territorial limit extends towards the sea up to 12 nautical miles, which is about 21.9 km, from the coast.

India is part of a great geographic entity known as the Indian subcontinent, which also includes Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh.

India is located in the south-central part of the continent of Asia, bordering the Indian Ocean and its two arms, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.

Sri Lanka and Maldives are the two island countries located in the Indian Ocean that are India's neighbors.

Sri Lanka is separated from India by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait.