Important Questions (2 mark): Size And Location - Class 9 MCQ

India is the seventh largest country with the second population of the world. Russia is the largest country India got the seventh position with 3287263 km² area.

The land mass of India has an area of 3.28 million square km. India’s total area accounts for about 2.4 per cent of the total geographica area of the world. From the Figure 1.2 it is clear that India is the seventh largest country of the world. India has a land boundary of about 15,200 km and the total length of the coast line of the mainland including Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep is 7,516.6 km.

Lakshadweep is a tropical archipelago of 36 atolls and coral reefs in the Laccadive Sea, off the coast of Kerala, India. Not all of the islands are inhabited, and only a few are open to visitors (permits required). Kavaratti, one of the more developed islands, is home to dozens of mosques, including the ornately decorated Ujra Mosque, as well as Kavaratti Aquarium, showcasing regional fish, shark and coral species. 

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, one of the seven union territories of India, are a group of islands at the juncture of the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.

The territory is 150 km (93 mi) north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated from Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) by the Andaman Sea. It comprises two island groups, the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands, separated by the 10degN parallel, with the Andamans to the north of this latitude, and the Nicobars to the south (or by 179 km). The Andaman Sea lies to the east and the Bay of Bengal to the west.

The 8° 4' latitude passes through the Southern most point of the Indian mainland which is Kanyakumari.

As far as the Indian mainland is concerned, the Eastern most longitude of our country is 97degree 25' East and the Western most longitude of our country is 68degree 7' East.

The Eastern most longitude lies in the state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Western most longitude lies in the state of Gujarat.

To avoid this confusion a longitude passing through the midpoint of 68degree 7' East (western most longitude) and 97degree 25' East (eastern most longitude) is taken as the standard prime meridian of India.

Tropic of Cancer is the northerly circle of the latitude on the Earth at an angle of 23.43 degree north to the equator, at which the Sun appears to be directly overhead at its culmination. It is also called as the Northern Tropic.

The Tropic of Cancer passes through 8 states in India including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Mizoram, and Tripura. The Indian city that is closest to the Tropic of Cancer is Mayapur, West Bengal which is located at 23.438degree N 88.392degree E, only 0.0012055degree  away from the Tropic of Cancer.

However, Tropic of cancer does not divide India into equal halves. The center of India is at a latitude of approximately 21.15degree N, near northern Maharashtra.

The longitudinals extent of India is 68°7 E and 97° 25 E. 
implications-
1) The longitudinal extent affects the local time for different states in our country.
2) since 30° meridian or pass from east to west and earth takes two hours to cover them so there is the time lag of two hours as we move from east to west

India lies wholly in the northern and eastern hemispheres. The main land of India extends from 8^o 4' 28" N to 37^o 17' 53" N latitudes and from 68o 7' 53" E to 97^o 24' 47" E longitudes. The latitudinal and longitudinal extent of India is approximately the same i.e. 30º.

 During the last five decades, India has achieved multi- faceted social economic progress during the last five decades. It has moved forwarddisplaying remarkable progress in the field of agriculture, industry, technology and overall economic development.

Dadra and Nagar haveli is situated in Maharashtra and in western coast of India. Chandigarh is in Northern part of India, Andaman islands are on eastern side of india and Pondicherry is situated in eastern coast as well.

India comprises 28 States and 8 Union Territories.

States are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Union Territories are Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Ladakh and Puducherry.

The Mumbai port in Maharashtra is the port closest to Suez Canal. With the opening up of Suez Canal the distance between Europe and India got reduced which resulted into large scale trade between the two continents.

Since Antiquity, India had been communicating and trading with various countries all over the world. One of the famous routes of trade is the legendary Silk route which stretched from China, through India and Central Asia, all the way to the middle East and Eastern Europe and was an important crossroads for trade and exchange of culture and languages.

India States such as Gujrat and South india also had import sea links with Oman, Bahrain, Sirlanka and Maldives, not to mention Burma and Thailand.

In more modern Times, the Mughals built the GT road, always known as Grant Trunk road,which connected Bangladesh all the way to modern Afghanistan and was an important trading route

The Indian landmass has a central location between East and West Asia. India is a southward extension of the Asian continent. The trans Indian Ocean routes which connect the countries of Europe in the West to the countries of East Asia provide a strategic central location to India. The Deccan peninsula protrudes into the Indian Ocean, thus helping India  to establish close contact with West Asia, Africa and Europe from the Western coast and South-East and East Asia from the Eastern coast. No other country has a long coastline on the Indian Ocean as India has. Thus, India's eminent position in the Indian Ocean justifies the naming of an ocean after it.  

From Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh there is a time lag of two hours. Hence, time along the Standard Meridian of India (82degree 30' E) passing through Mirzapur (in Uttar Pradesh) is taken as the standard time for the whole country.

Kanyakumari is located at the southern tip of India So, there we find the least difference in duration between day time and night time.

India measures 3,214 km (1,997 mi) from north to south and 2,933 km (1,822 mi) from east to west.
 It has a land frontier of 15,200 km (9,445 mi) and a coastline of 7,516.6 km (4,671 mi).
India's borders run a total length of 15,106.70 km (9,386.87 mi).

The correct option is Option B.
In India, the Tropic of Cancer passes through eight states namely Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram. It does not pass through the State of Odisha.
 

Goa is smallest state of India with area of 3,702 km² (1,429 sq mi).

Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, is a 124-year-old city and the largest hub in Mizoram with almost 25% of the State's population confined in the city alone.

Lakshadweep was established by "coral wall". and the Western Ghats was can't have enrichment soil. many areas were covered by "coral wall" and many of islands of the Arabian sea were created by. "coral wall"

Tropic of Cancer is the imaginary line at 23.50 degree North of the Equator. In India Tropic of Cancer passes through 8 states. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.

Kanyakumari is the southernmost point of the Indian mainland and is located at the confluence of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. It is a district in the state of Tamil Nadu.

In 1656, the Portuguese Ceylon (It was the name given to the territory on Ceylon, modern-day Sri-Lanka, controlled by the Portuguese Empire between 1597 and 1658) was conquered by the Dutch East India Company, and the name eventually turned to "Comorin" and was called Cape Comorin during British rule in India. The city was later renamed Kanyakumari by the Indian government and the Government of Madras

Kanyakumari at 8degree4′41″N and 37degree32′28″E is the southernmost tip of the Indian mainland, while the southernmost point in India is Indira Point on Great Nicobar Island.

 The mainland stretches from Latitude 8^o4' North to 37^o6' North and from Longitude 68^o7' East to 97^o25' East. The southernmost point in the Indian Territory, (in Great Nicobar Islands) is the Indira Point (6^o45' North), while Kanya-kumari, is the southernmost point of Indian mainland. Tropic of Cancer crosses the country at 23^o30' North dividing the country into almost two equal parts.

Palk Strait is a strait which connects Sri Lanka and the Tamil Nadu state of India. It connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with the Palk Bay and then with the Gulf of Mannar in the southwest.

Kanyakumari is the place which is situated on the conjugation point of three major seas. 

The place situated on the confluence of three seas is also known as ‘Triveni Sangam’. Kanyakumari is surrounded by the seas on three sides like – Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean, and Arabian Sea, making it a mesmerizing beauty of earth.

This causes a time lag of 2 hrs from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh to avoid confusion and to have a standard time for reference, The 82.30'Eastern Longitude has been taken as the standard time for the whole country.