India Geography

India is a subcontinent of Asia, lying on the Indian Plate, a major tectonic plate that was once part of the Eurasian Plate. Its official name is the Republic of India. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast; it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

The Indian subcontinent is a peninsula, bounded by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Indian Ocean in the south. The subcontinent's varied topography consists of the Deccan Plateau, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the Himalayas, and the Thar Desert. The Indian peninsula is separated from mainland Asia by the Himalyas, which also serve as the country's natural boundary with Tibet.

The Deccan Plateau is a large plateau that covers much of central and southern India. It is bounded by the Satpura and Vindhya ranges to the north, the Arabian Sea to the west, the Western Ghats to the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal to the east. The plateau includes the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The Indo-Gangetic Plain is a large plain that covers much of northern India, extending from the Himalayas in the north to the Vindhya Range in the south. It is bounded by the Indus River in the west and the Ganges River in the east. The plain includes the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and parts of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Haryana.

The Himalayas are a large mountain range that runs through the northern part of India. They are bounded by the Tibetan Plateau to the north and the Indo-Gangetic Plain to the south. The Himalayas include the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Nepal.

The Thar Desert is a large desert that covers parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab in northwestern India. It is bounded by the Aravalli Range to the north and the Indo-Gangetic Plain to the south.