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India

 
     
    • Location: 
      Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Pakistan 
     
    • Map references: 
      Asia 
     
    • Area: 
     
        total area: 
        3,287,590 km2 
     
        land area: 
        2,973,190 km2 
     
        comparative area: 
        slightly more than one-third the size of the US 
     
    • Land boundaries: 
      total 14,103 km, 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: 
     
        contiguous zone: 
        24 nm 
     
        continental shelf: 
        200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin 
     
        exclusive economic zone: 
        200 nm 
     
        territorial sea: 
        12 nm 
     
    • International disputes: 
      boundaries with Bangladesh and China; status of Kashmir with Pakistan; water-sharing problems with downstream riparians, Bangladesh over the Ganges and Pakistan over the Indus 
     
    • 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 
     
    • Natural resources: 
      coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone 
     
    • Land use: 
     
        arable land: 
        55% 
     
        permanent crops: 
        1% 
     
        meadows and pastures: 
        4% 
     
        forest and woodland: 
        23% 
     
        other: 
        17% 
     
    • Irrigated land: 
      430,390 sq km (1989) 
     
    • 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 rapidly growing population is overstraining natural resources 
     
        natural hazards: 
        droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms common; earthquakes 
     
        international agreements: 
        party to - Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea 
     
    • Note: 
      dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes