INDIA: Facts & Data

 

India

Area- 3,287,263 Km²(7th largest Country) 

1. Russia   2. Canada   3. China   4. US  5. Brazil   6. Australia   7. India   8. Argentina

Official Language- Hindi and English

State & UT- 28 States and 8 UT

Number of Districts- 766(2023) 

Capital- New Delhi(Part of Delhi city/UT) established by George V(Delhi Durbar, 1911) 

Prior to 1911, Capital was Calcutta. 

Architect of New Delhi- Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker

North-South extent(Latitude extent)- 37°6'(N) to 6°44'(S) 

Northern Most Point(Administered by India)- Indira Col(35°67', Part of Siachen glacier), Ladakh

Southern Most Point- Indira Point(6°44'), Great Nicobar Island

Southern Most Point(Mainland)- Cape Comorin(8°06'), TN

Kashmir to Kanyakumari- 3200 Km

East-West extent(Longitude extent)- 97°25'(E) to 68°7'(W)

Eastern Most Point- 97°25', Arunachal Pradesh

Western Most Point- Sir Creek(68°7'), Gujarat

Kutch to Arunachal Pradesh- 2900 Km

Tropic of Cancer(23°5' Latitude)- Passes through 8 Indian states. 

(West to East) 

Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram

Duncan Passage- Separate South Andaman from Little Andaman

10° Channel(10° Latitude)- Separate Andaman island from Nicobar island

9° Channel(9° Latitude)- Separate Main Lakshadweep archipelago from Minicoy(Lakshadweep) 

8° Channel(8° Latitude)- Separate India(Minicoy) from Maldives

6° Channel(6° Latitude)- Separate India(Great Nicobar) from Indonesia

Total Land Boundary(Border Area)- 15107 Km

Border Countries- 7 Countries

Bangladesh(4096 Km) > China > Pakistan > Nepal > Myanmar > Bhutan > Afghanistan(106 Km) 

Border State & UT- 16 States + 2 UT(J&K, Ladakh) 

Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura

States with 3 international border- Sikkim, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh + Ladakh(UT) 

Coast Line- 7517 Km

Mainland Coastal Line- 5423 Km

Island Coastal Line- 2094 Km

Coastal States & UT- 9 Costal States + 4 UT

A&N(UT) > Gujarat > Andhra Pradesh > TN > Maharashtra > Kerala > Odisha > Karnataka > West Bengal > Lakshadweep(UT) > Goa > Puducherry(UT) > Daman & Diu(UT) 

New Moore Island- Claimed by both India and Bangladesh, a sandbar landform off the coast of the Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta region. First emerged in 1970 after cyclone Bhola. It keeps on emerging and disappearing. 

International Headquarters

Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure(CDRI)- New Delhi

CDRI was launched in 2019 at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, New York

International Solar Alliance(ISA)- Gurugram

ISA was launched in 2015 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Paris

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City(GIFT City)- Gandhinagar, Gujarat

GIFT International Financial Services Centre (GIFT IFSC)- Established in 2015 (in SEZ of GIFT City) 

Information Fusion Center- Indian Ocean Region(IFC-IOR)- Gurugram, Haryana

Launched in Dec 2018, in the wake of rising piracy in Indian Ocean. It monitors White Shipping(Commercial ships) activities in Indian ocean region. 

Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping(CUNPK) - New Delhi

Training center established by Indian Army for UN peacekeepers

Integrated Simulator Complex(ISC) - Kochi, Kerala at Southern Naval Command

Naval training centre for officers from different countries

Scientific Observatory

Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory(LIGO India)- Hingoli, Maharashtra

Part of international project LIGO to detect gravitational wave. 

4 LIGO detector-  1. Louisiana, USA     2. Washington, USA    3. Hingoli, India     4. Kagra, Japan

India based Nutrino Observatory(INO)- Theni, TN

Graphene Innovation Centre- Thrissur, Kerala

Space Center(ISRO, India) 

1962- Indian National Committee for Space Research(INCOSPAR) was established under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) by Jawaharlal Nehru 

15 Aug 1969- Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO) was founded under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) by Vikram Sarabhai

 1972- Department of Space(DoS) was established. ISRO was transferred from DAE to DoS. 

1975- first Indian satellite Aryabhatta was launched from USSR

1979- Bhaskara Satellite launched from USSR

1979- Development of satellite launch vehicle and launch of Rohini satellite failed

1980- Rohini 1 was successfully launched from India

1993- Launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle(PSLV) 

Chandrayaan-1 and Mars mission was accomplished using PSLV. 

2001- Launch of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle(GSLV), but failed

2022- Launch of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle(SSLV), but failed. Successfully launched in 2nd trial in 2023

                               Source: ISRO

ISRO HQ- Bengaluru, Capital of Karnataka

UR Rao Satellite Center(URSC)- Bengaluru(Karnataka) 

Satellite making center(Integration of satellite+ satellite Launch vehicle) 

Vikram Sarabhai Space Center(VSSC)- Thiruvananthapuram(capital of Kerala) 

Satellite launch vehicle(Space Rocket) making center

Satish Dhawan Space Center(SDSC)- Sriharikota(at Pulicat Lake, Andhra Pradesh) 

Satellite launch center

National Remote Sensing Center(NRSC)- Hyderabad(Capital of Telangana) 

To receive and process satellite data. 

Important Locations

Majuli Island, Assam(Brahmaputra River)- Largest River island in the world

Keibul Lamjao National Park, Manipur(Loktak Lake)- Only floating national park in the world

42 World Heritage Sites- 34 are cultural sites, 7 are natural sites and one is mixed sites(2023 Addition- Shantinikatan, Hoysala Temple) 

80 Ramsar Sites- Highest in TN(16) 

Initiatives

Digi Yatra(2022)- 

Phase 1: Delhi, Bengaluru and Varanasi

Phase 2: Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune and Vijayawada

World Longest River Cruise(MV Ganga Vilas)- Started from Varanasi- Dibrugarh, Travelled more than 3200 Km and covered 27 river system(5 states of India and Bangladesh) 

 

India's first international cruise vessel(MV Empress)- Started from Chennai to Sri Lanka

World 1st CNG terminal (2022)- Bhavnagar, Gujarat

World 1st Palm leaf Manuscript Museum(2022)- Travancore, Kerala

Asia 1st Pathogen Reduction Machine(2022)- KGMU, Lucknow for removing blood impurities

India's Nano Fertilizer Plants- 1. Kalol, Gujarat(2022)           2. Phulpur, Prayagraj, UP(2022) 

India's 1st Amrit Sarovar- Rampur, UP(Mission amrit sarovar was launched on panchayati raj day 24 April 2022- 15 Aug 2023 to develop 1 lakh amrit sarovar) 

India's 1st State to adopt water budget- Kerala adopted water Budget in 2023

India's 1st State to adopt robotics framework- Telangana in 2023

India's 1st City to adopt Local SDG- Bhopal in 2023

India's 1st Digital Science Park- Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

India's 1st Li cell manufacturing Plant- Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh

India's largest Li ion battery plant- Prantij, Gujarat

India's 1st Carbon Neutral Panchayat- Palli Village, J&K

India's 1st fully solared village- Modhera Village, Gujarat

Asia’s 1st amphitheatre- Rang Ghar amphitheatre(of mid 18th century), Shivasagar, Assam

Asia’s largest bioplant- Lahargaga, Punjab

India's 1st Rural University- Chitrakoot Gramodya Vishwavijyalaya, Chitrakoot, MP(by Nanaji Deshmukh) 

India's 1st AI and Robotics Technology Park- ARTPARK, IISc, Bengaluru

India's 1st Medical City- Indrayani City, Pune, Maharashtra

India's 1st Air Force Heritage Center- Chandigarh

India's 1st UNESCO Global network of Learning Cities- Nilambur & Thrissur(Kerala) + Warangal(Telangana) 

India's 1st Dark Sky Reserve- Hanle(Ladakh) 

India's 1st State to introduced Welfare fund for MGNREGS worker- Kerala(Pension for above 60 MGNREGS workers) 

Biodiversity

Lavender capital of India- Bhaderwah, J&K

Asia's 1st Dolphins Research Center- Patna University, Bihar(2021) 

India's 1st Slender Loris Sanctuary- Kaduvr Sanctuary, TN(2023) 

India's 1st Dugong Conservation Reserve- Palk Bay, TN(2023) 

India's Largest Botanical Garden- Chengalpattu Botanical Garden, TN

India's Oldest Botanical Garden- Acharya Jagdis Chandra Bose India Botanical Garden, Howara, WB(1787) 

India's Largest city Forest- Saubhari Nagar Van, Sunrakh village, Vrindavan

India's Community Forest Rights inside A National Park- 1. Simplipal National Park, Odisha(2006) 

2. Kanger Ghati National Park, Chhattisgarh (2022) 

India's Largest Butterfly- Female Himalayan butterfly/Golden Birdwing(Troides aeacus)

Before this the title was held by Southern Birdwing(Troides minos)

World largest butterfly is female Alexandra's Birdwing(Ornithoptera Alexandrae) of Papua New Guinea. 

Lakes

Largest Freshwater Lake- Wular Lake (J&K)

Largest Brackishwater Lake- Chilika (Odisha)

Largest Saltwater Lake- Sambhar (Rajasthan)

Largest Artificial Lake- Gobind Ballabh Pant Sagar (UP)

Longest Lake- Vembanad (Kerala)

High Altitude Lake- Cholamu (Sikkim)