The latitudal and longitudal extent of India is 30° but north-south extent is bigger than east-west extent. Explain.
Answers
Answer:
The latitudinal extent of India is 6 Degree 45 Minutes North to 37 Degree
6 Minutes North
The latitudinal extent of India’s Mainland is 8 Degree 4 Minutes North to
37 Degree 6 Minutes North
Its implications are-
i. The tropic of cancer (23 Degree 30 Minutes North) divides
India into nearly two equal parts. The southern half lies in
the hot tropical zone whereas the northern half lies in the
warm temperate/ sub tropical zone.
ii. Temperature generally decreases with increasing latitude.
The tropical part (peninsular India) of India being near to the
equator has warm and tropical climatic conditions with no
distinct winter. The sub tropical part (northern India) has a
more or less extreme climate i.e. hot summers and cold
winters. This variation in climate from warm Kerala to cold
Kashmir is mainly due to large latitudinal extent.
iii. The difference in the duration of day and night also
increases from South to North. It is less than one hour
difference (about 45 minutes) at Kanyakumari but reaches
nearly 5 hours in the extreme north of Kashmir.
The longitudinal extent of India is 68 Degree 7 minutes East to 97 Degree 25
Its implications are-
i. India’s longitudinal extent places it almost in the middle of
ii. The longitudinal extent of India is about 30 Degrees for every
the eastern hemisphere. It occupies the south central
peninsula of Asia at the head of the Indian Ocean.
15 Degrees of longitudinal difference, there is a
corresponding time difference of one hour. As a result of this
variation, Arunachal Pradesh is nearly 2 hours ahead of
Gujarat in local time. In order to avoid this difference of 2
hours, 82 Degree 30 Minutes longitude has been selected as
the standard meridian of India. This meridian gives the
Indian Standard Time (IST) and passes through Mirzapur near
Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh
2. Discuss the advantages of the central location of India at the head of the
Indian Ocean in the Indian Subcontinent.
i. India is surrounded by three water bodies, Arabian Sea in the West,
ii. Since India lies at the head of the Indian Ocean, it is favorably located
iii. India has been able to establish close, cultural and commercial
iv. India occupies the south central peninsula of the world’s largest and
Bay of Bengal in the East and Indian Ocean in the South. Oceanic sea
routes such as the Suez route, Cape of Good Hope route pass through
the Indian Ocean.
on the world’s highway of trade and commerce both to its East and
West. It has the largest coastline (about 7500 km) on this ocean.
contacts with countries of the east and west.
most populous continent, Asia. India’s contact with the outside world
has continued through the ages.
3. Why is North- South extent of India larger than its East- West extent even
though the latitudinal and longitudinal extent in degrees is about 30
India’s East- West extent which is 2933km which is nearly 300km
shorter than its North- South extent of 3214km. This difference is due
to- The latitudes are equidistant but longitudes converge to the poles.