| Location | Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan |
| Geographic coordinates | 20 00 N, 77 00 E |
| Map references | Asia |
| Area | total: 3,287,263 sq km land: 2,973,193 sq km water: 314,070 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly more than one-third the size of the US |
| Land boundaries | total: 13,888 km border countries (6): Bangladesh 4142 km, Bhutan 659 km, Burma 1468 km, China 2659 km, Nepal 1770 km, Pakistan 3190 km |
| Coastline | 7,000 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
| 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 |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,586 m lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m mean elevation: 160 m |
| Natural resources | coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), antimony, iron ore, lead, manganese, mica, bauxite, rare earth elements, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land |
| Land use | agricultural land: 60.5% (2018 est.) arable land: 52.8% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 4.2% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 3.5% (2018 est.) forest: 23.1% (2018 est.) other: 16.4% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 667,000 sq km (2012) |
| Total renewable water resources | 1,910,900,000,000 cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Natural hazards | droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes volcanism: Barren Island (354 m) in the Andaman Sea has been active in recent years |
| Geography - note | dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes; Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in the world, lies on the border with Nepal |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
