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The Indian subcontinent lies in the northern hemisphere
between latitudes 8 degrees and 38 degrees North and
longitudes 68 degrees and 97 degrees East.
The mainland has four main regions:
1. The Great Mountain zone
2. Indo-Gangetic Plain
3. The Desert region
4. The Southern Peninsula.
Mountain ranges include Aravallis and Vindhyas in Central
India and Western and Eastern Ghats. Main rivers include
Ganges, Jamuna, Indus and Brahmaputra.
Neighbouring Countries:
India is bound in the -
Northwest by Afghanistan and Pakistan,
North by China, Bhutan, and Nepal,
East by Burma and Bangladesh, and,
Southeast by Sri Lanka.
Time:
Greenwich Mean Time plus 5:30 hours
Climate:
India's climate can be generally classified under Tropical
Monsoon Type.
There are four distinct seasons:
1. Winter (January to February)
2. Summer (March to May)
3. Rainy Southwestern Monsoon (June to September)
4. Post-Monsoon (October to December)
Status:
Socialist Sovereign Democratic Republic.
Capital:
New Delhi (estimated population 8,375,188).
Other Cities:
Mumbai (est. pop. 12,571,720);
Kolkata (est. pop. 10,916,272);
Delhi (est. pop. 8,375,188);
Chennai (est. pop. 5,361,468);
Hyderabad (est. pop. 4,280,261);
Bangalore (est. pop. 4,086,548); and,
Ahmedabad (est. pop. 3,297,655).
Population:
Over a Billion – Year 2000 estimate.
Main Languages:
Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Gujarati, Urdu, Bengali, Telugu,
Assamese, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya,
Sanskrit, Sindhi.
Official Language:
Hindi with English as the associate language.
Main Religions:
Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity.
Exports:
Exports have shown a positive growth trend. Commodities
whose export has been increasing over the years include
- marine products, sports goods, gems and jewellery,
chemical and allied products, engineering goods, textiles
and handicrafts.
Imports:
Imports include fertilizers, newsprint, petrol and petroleum
products, edible oil. The other principal imports consist
of pearls, precious and semi-precious stones, machinery,
medicinal and pharmaceutical products, organic and inorganic
chemicals, coal, coke and briquettes, artificial resins
etc.
Main Industries:
Machinery and transport equipment, iron and steel, fabrics
and garments, cement, chemicals, petroleum, food processing
Main Crops:
The agricultural crops of India are of two types:
1. Food Crops: rice, wheat, bajra, maize, grams.
2. Cash Crops: sugarcane, cotton, jute, tobacco, tea,
coffee, rubber.
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