Question

Although the latitudinal and longitudinal extent of the mainland is about 30° the east , west extent appears to be smaller than the north south extent .why?

Answer 1

Though the latitudinal & longitudinal extent of India is about 30°, yet the north-south extent  is greater than the east-west extent because the distance between any 2 lines of longitude is maximum at the equator & it goes on decreasing as 1 moves north or south of the equator,whereas the distance between 2 lines of latitude remains the same.

Answer 2

It is because as we move towards the poles, the extent between two longitudes decreases, that means they come closer and closer. This is however not the case with latitudes.Therefore though the numerical difference between latitudes and longitudes of India is same, it covers more land from North to South as compared to from East to West.