India-Size and Location
Grade IX
Glossary
1. / Subcontinent: A big geographical unit which stands out distinctly from the rest of the continent.
2. / Tropic Of Cancer: An imaginary circle running along the earth’s surface at an angular distance of 23 degrees 30’ from the equator to its north. Running parallel to the Equator, it marks the northern limit of the Tropical Zone.
3. / Standard Meridian of India: The Meridian of 82 degrees 30’ east whose local time serves as the standard time for the whole of the country.
4. / Local Time: Time of the place determined by the mid- day Sun.
5. / Standard Time: The local time taken as the time for the whole of the country.
6. / Indian Standard Time: The local time along the Standard Meridian of India which serves as the Standard Time for the whole of India. It is 5 hours and 30minutes ahead of the Greenwich Time.
7. / Indian Mainland: The stretch of the continuous landmass extending from Jammu and Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh.
8. / Indian Union: Federation of India comprising of 28 states and 7 Union Territories.
9. / Peninsula: The landmass bounded by the sea on the three sides.
10. / Latitudes: These are the imaginary circles running parallel to the equator.
11. / Longitudes: A longitude is the angular distance of a place east or west of Prime Meridian.
12. / Oriental World: The countries included in the South-East, South and East Asia.
13. / Tropical Zone: The area or the region lying between 23 degree 30’N and 23 degrees 30’S latitudes.
14. / Subtropical Zone: The area or the region, extending from 23 degrees 30’N to 66 degrees 30’ N in the Northern Hemisphere and from 23 degrees 30’Sto 66 degrees 30’S in the Southern Hemisphere.
15. / Landlocked: It is the term often used for the states and the countries completely surrounded by the land and no coastline.
16. / Pastoral Nomads: They constitute a community of the people who move along with their cattle and the other animals from one place to another in search of the water and the pasture.
17. / Strait: A narrow passage of water connecting two larger water bodies.
Important Questions with their answers
1. / Differentiate between Local Time and Standard Time
Answer / Local Time / Standard Time
(i) / Local time is the time of the longitude. / The local time of the central longitude of a country assumed to be of the whole country is termed as standard time.
(ii) / Local time within the country varies from one longitude to another. / Standard time remains the same throughout the country on all the longitudes.
(iii) / The local time of the western most tip and the eastern most tip of India varies by two hours / The local time of 82 degrees 30’E (Indian Standard Meridian) is the standard time of India (IST)
2. / Which are the states having the common frontiers with (i) Pakistan (ii) China (iii) Myanmar (iv) Bangladesh
Answer / Pakistan: Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat
China: Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh
Myanmar: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram
Bangladesh: Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, West Bengal
3. / Give the reason: Why is India often referred to as a subcontinent?
Answer / The reasons are:
1. India is the seventh largest country of the world. That is why; it is often called a subcontinent. It is 6 times bigger than France, 9 times the size of Germany, and 23 times larger than Bangladesh.
2. India forms major part of the continent of Asia, separated from the rest of the Asian continent by the natural features such as the mountains and the rivers. It has its own separate climatic characteristics and a distinct cultural identity.
4. / “Tropic of Cancer runs almost halfway through the country.” What does this imply?
Or
Explain why Ahmedabad and Kolkata are able to see the noon sun exactly overhead twice a year but not Delhi?
Or
Ahmedabad will see the sun overhead twice in a year. Give reasons
Answer / The Tropic of Cancer runs almost halfway through India. By it India is divided into two separate climatic zones. While the southern parts of India lie within the tropics and are hotter than the northern parts, the latter (Northern part) belongs to the sub-tropical or warm tropical zones of the Northern Hemisphere. While the areas lying to the north of the Tropic of Cancer will never have the mid-day sun over-head while in the areas to the south of the Tropic of Cancer the Sun will be exactly overhead twice a year.
As Delhi lies to the North of the Tropic of Cancer so it is not able to see the noon sun exactly over head twice a year. On the other hand, as both Kolkata and Ahmedabad lies to the south of the Tropic of Cancer so they are able to see the noon sun exactly over head at least twice a year.
5. / State the implications of the longitudinal extent of India.
Answer / The Implications are:
1. Because of her vast east-west extent India is quite close to East Asian countries on the eastern side and to West Asian countries on the western side. Thus, have close relation both with East Asian and West Asian countries.
2. Because of her vast east-west or the longitudinal extent India is quite near to Japan, Australia and other countries of the East and also to Africa, Europe and the other countries of the west. As such she can have good commercial and the cultural relations with all the countries of the world. America lies equidistant to India whether from the eastern or western side.
6. / Account for the two hours of the time difference between the two – eastern and the western extremities of India.
Or
When the Sun has already risen in Arunachal Pradesh, it is still dark in Gujarat. Why?
Answer / India is situated between 68 degrees 7’ E to 97 degrees 25’E longitudes as such the longitudinal extent of India is about 30 degrees. It means that the sun rises (30 x 4= 120 minutes) or two hours earlier in the easternmost part of India (Arunachal Pradesh) than in the western most part (Gujarat or Rajasthan).In other words we can say that if it is 8am in Arunachal Pradesh it will be in 6 am in Gujarat or when the sun has already risen in Arunachal Pradesh it is dark in Gujarat.
Earth takes 4 minutes to rotate through one degree of longitude and the sun rises earlier in the east than in the west, so if the longitudinal extent of India is 30 degrees the time lag between eastern most to the western most parts of the country. Thus the sun will rise two hours earlier in the eastern most part of India than in the western part.
7. / Why do we need a standard meridian for India? Explain
Or
The sun rises 2 hours earlier in the eastern parts of Arunachal Pradesh as compared to Gujarat in the west but the watches/clocks show the same time. How does this happen?
Answer / The time difference between two east- west extremes is 2 hours. Therefore, to set the time and not follow the local time of each time 82 degrees 30’ East Meridian has been taken as Standard Meridian of India.
8. / Describe how the geographical features of the country have fostered unity and homogeneity in the Indian society.
Answer / India is separated from the rest of Asia in the north by Himalayas and its eastern and western off-shoots and by the sea in its remaining three sides. This has helped India to develop its own culture, religion and prosper economically.
9. / Why is the difference between the duration of day and night hardly felt in Kanyakumari but it is not so in Kashmir?
Answer / Kanyakumari lies in the south are nearer to the equator than Kashmir which lies in the northern most part of the country. Days and nights are almost of the equal duration on the equator but as we go away from it the difference between day and night goes on increasing. As Kanyakumari is nearer to equator and Kashmir is far from it so the difference between the duration of the day and night is hardly felt at Kanyakumari but it is not so in Kashmir. The difference between the duration of Day and night is about 45 minutes but the difference in Kashmir is about 4 to 5 hours.
10. / What are the implications of the Great North-South extent of our country?
Or
What is the latitudinal extent of India? What are its implications?
Answer / The effects are:
1. The southern parts of India get more insulation (or heat from the sun than northern parts )
2. The difference between the duration of day and night would be lesser in the southern parts of India as compared to the northern parts
11. / Where do you think that the sun rays would be direct on the Great Nicobar Islands or on Jammu and Kashmir state?
Answer / The sun always shines vertically on the Equator as such nearer a place to the equator, the hotter it would be, because the Great Nicobar islands are nearer to the equator as compared to Jammu and Kashmir so that the sun’s rays would be more direct on the Nicobar islands than on Jammu and Kashmir. On the other hand the sun’s rays would be more oblique or slanting on the northern frontiers of India and thus, they would bring lesser amount of heat to these areas.
Thus, it may be noted that the Great Nicobar Islands lie quite nearer to the equator where the sun’s rays are always vertically overhead while Jammu and Kashmir state is situated much beyond the Tropic of Cancer where the sun’s rays are never vertically overhead.
12. / The latitudinal and the longitudinal extent of India are 30 degrees but north-south extent is bigger than the east –west extent. Explain
Answer / The latitudinal extent of India is 37degree 6 minutes to 8 degrees 4 minutes which is approximately 30 degrees and the longitudinal extent is 97 degrees 25 minutes to 68 degrees 7 minutes which is also approximately 30 degrees. Therefore, both are equal. In terms of kilometers the average distance of 1 degree latitude is about 111km which remains same everywhere but the distance of the 1 degree longitude is 100 km at the equator and 0 at the pole thus it is assumed to be 100 km on an average.
Therefore, in kilometers the latitudinal extent is :
30 x 111 km = 3330 km approximately and
In kilometers the longitudinal extent is:
30 x 100 km = 3000 km
The difference of both the extents is:
3330 – 3000 = 330 km
This explains that the north- south or the latitudinal extent of India is bigger than the east- west extent or the longitudinal extent.
Multiple Choice Questions:
1. / India completely lies in :
(a) / Northern and the Eastern hemisphere / (b) / Southern and the western hemisphere / (c) / Northern and western hemisphere / (d) / Southern and eastern hemisphere
2. / Standard meridian of India is located at:
(a) / 82 degrees 32 minutes East / (b) / 82 degrees 30 minutes East / (c) / 82 degrees 32 minutes West / (d) / 82 degrees 30 minutes West
3. / The easternmost longitude of India is:
(a) / 97 degrees 25 minutes East / (b) / 77 degrees 6 minutes East / (c) / 68 degrees 7 minutes East / (d) / 82 degrees 32 minutes East
4. / The state of India having the longest coastline on the east coast is:
(a) / Tamil Nadu / (b) / Andhra Pradesh / (c) / Orissa / (d) / Jharkhand
5. / The latitudinal and the longitudinal extent of India is:
(a) / 30 degrees / (b) / 33 degrees / (c) / 66 degrees / (d) / 60 degrees
6. / Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal , and Sikkim have the common frontiers with:
(a) / China / (b) / Nepal / (c) / Bhutan / (d) / Myanmar
7. / Which of the given countries does not share the land boundary with India?
(a) / Bhutan / (b) / Bangladesh / (c) / Tajakistan / (d) / Myanmar
8. / Kavarati is situated in:
(a) / Puducherry / (b) / Andaman and Nicobar islands / (c) / Lakshadweep / (d) / Daman
9. / One of India’s southern neighbours are :
(a) / Mauritius / (b) / Maldives / (c) / Lakshadweep / (d) / Thailand
10. / Which of the following is the southernmost latitude of India?
(a) / 8 degrees 4 minutes North / (b) / 6 degrees 4 minutes South / (c) / 6 degrees 4 minutes North / (d) / 8 degrees 4 minutes South
11. / Which one of the following water bodies separate Sri Lanka from India?
(a) / Palk Strait and Gulf of Khambat / (b) / 10 degrees channel and Gulf of Khambat / (c) / Gulf of Mannar and 10 degrees Channel / (d) / Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar
12. / India’s contact with the outside world has continued since ages by the means of: / (b) / (c) / (d)
(a) / Land routes / (b) / Sea routes / (c) / Air routes / (d) / All of these
13. / Tropic of Cancer does not pass through:
(a) / Orissa / (b) / Chattisgarh / (c) / Tripura / (d) / Rajasthan
14. / Indian state separating Nepal and Bhutan is:
(a) / Sikkim / (b) / Meghalaya / (c) / Assam / (d) / Nagaland
15. / State with the longest coastline on the west coast:
(a) / Karnataka / (b) / Kerala / (c) / Maharashtra / (d) / Gujarat
16. / If you intend to visit Kavarati during your summer vacations, one of the following Union Territories of India you will be going to:
(a) / Pondicherry / (b) / Lakshadweep / (c) / Andaman and Nicobar islands / (d) / Daman and Diu
17. / My friend hails from a country which does not share a land boundary with India:
(a) / Bhutan / (b) / Bangladesh / (c) / Nepal / (d) / Tajakistan
18. / Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie to the :
(a) / North-west of the main land / (b) / South-west of the mainland / (c) / South east of the mainland / (d) / Northeast of the mailand
19. / The land mass of India has an area of :
(a) / 4.28 million sq km / (b) / 3.28 million sq km / (c) / 5.28 million sq km / (d) / 6.28 million sq km