<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: India<nl>Geography</hdr><body>
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<item><hi format=bold>Location:</hi> Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Pakistan
<item><hi format=bold>Area:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>total area:</hi> 3,287,590 km2
<item>• <hi format=ital>land area:</hi> 2,973,190 km2
<item>• <hi format=ital>comparative area:</hi> slightly more than one-third the size of the US
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<item><hi format=bold>Land boundaries:</hi> total 14,103 km, Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km
<item><hi format=bold>International disputes:</hi> boundaries with Bangladesh and China; status of Kashmir with Pakistan; water-sharing problems with downstream riparians, Bangladesh over the Ganges and Pakistan over the Indus
<item><hi format=bold>Climate:</hi> varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
<item><hi format=bold>Terrain:</hi> upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
<item><hi format=bold>Natural resources:</hi> coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone
<item><hi format=bold>Land use:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>arable land:</hi> 55%
<item>• <hi format=ital>permanent crops:</hi> 1%
<item>• <hi format=ital>meadows and pastures:</hi> 4%
<item>• <hi format=ital>forest and woodland:</hi> 23%
<item>• <hi format=ital>other:</hi> 17%
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<item><hi format=bold>Irrigated land:</hi> 430,390 sq km (1989)
<item><hi format=bold>Environment:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>current issues:</hi> deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; desertification; air pollution from industrial effluents and vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage and runoff of agricultural pesticides; huge and rapidly growing population is overstraining natural resources
<item>• <hi format=ital>natural hazards:</hi> droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms common; subject to earthquakes (a quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale occurred near Hyderabad killing several thousand people and causing extensive damage in late September 1993)
<item>• <hi format=ital>international agreements:</hi> party to—Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified—Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea
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<item><hi format=bold>Note:</hi> dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes