Size:
Total land area in India - 2,973,190 square kilometers. Total area, including territorial seas, claimed is 3,287,590 square kilometers.

Topography of India:
Three main geological regions: Indo-Gangetic Plain and Himalayas, collectively known as North India; and Peninsula or South India. Ten physiological regions: Indo-Gangetic Plain, northern mountains of the Himalayas, Central Highlands, Deccan or Peninsular Plateau, East Coast (Coromandel Coast in south), West Coast (Konkan, Kankara, and Malabar coasts), Great Indian Desert (known as Thar Desert in Pakistan) and Rann of Kutch, valley of the Brahmaputra River in Assam, northeastern hill ranges surrounding Assam Valley, and islands of Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.

Climate in India:
Climate varies significantly from Himalayas in north to tropical south. Four seasons: relatively dry, cool winter December to February; dry, hot summer March to May; southwest monsoon June to September when predominating southwest maritime winds bring rains to most of country; and northeast, or retreating, monsoon October and November.

Society in India

Population:
936,545,814 estimated in July 1995, with 1.8 percent annual growth rate. About 74 percent in rural areas in 1991; high population density--284 persons per square kilometer national average, major states more than 700 persons per square kilometer; 100 persons or fewer per square kilometer in some border states and insular territories. Bombay (officially renamed Mumbai in 1995) largest city, with 12.6 million in 1991; twenty-three other cities with populations of more than 1 million.

Health: In 1995 life expectancy for men 58.5 years, for women 59.6 years; infant mortality rate 76.3 per 1,000 live births. Malaria, filariasis, leprosy, cholera, pneumonic plague, tuberculosis, trachoma, goiter, and diarrheal diseases all occur. In 1991 primary health centers, subcenters, and community health centers at local levels included more than 10,000 hospitals, 24,000 dispensaries, and 811,000 beds.

Education: Twelve-year education system; mandatory primary and middle levels, optional secondary education; high drop-out rate even at compulsory levels. System supervised by Department of Education, part of Ministry of Human Resource Development. National adult literacy rate 52.2 percent in 1991 (male 63.9 percent, female 39.4 percent). More than 180 universities, some 500 teacher training colleges, and several thousand other colleges.

Religion: Most (82 percent) observe Hinduism; 12.1 percent Muslim, 2.3 percent Christian, 1.9 percent Sikh, 0.8 percent Buddhist, 0.4 percent Jains, 0.4 percent other, 0.1 percent not identified.

Language: Official language Hindi; English also has official status. For use in certain official capacities, constitution recognizes eighteen Scheduled Languages- Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Four major language families include officially 112 "mother tongues," each with 10,000 or more speakers; thirty-three languages spoken by 1 million or more persons. Total number of languages and dialects varies depending on source and how counted; between 179 and 188 languages and between forty-nine and 544 dialects have been tabulated; census respondents in 1961 provided names for 1,652 different "mother tongues."

Ethnic Groups: Indo-Aryan 72 percent, Dravidian 25 percent, Mongoloid and other 3 percent. Caste system, although no longer sanctioned by government, prevails. Some 16 percent listed as members of Scheduled Castes, 8 percent as members of Scheduled Tribes.

Temperature averages in India; units are in degree Celsius.Summer lasts between March and June in most parts of India. Temperatures exceed 40 °C (104 °F) during the day. The coastal regions exceed 30 °C (86 °F) coupled with high levels of humidity. In the Thar desert area temperatures can exceed 45 °C (113 °F).

Summer is followed by the southwest monsoon rains that provide most of India with its rainfall. The rain-bearing clouds are attracted to the low-pressure system created by the Thar Desert. The official date for the arrival of the monsoon is 1 June, when the monsoon crosses the Kerala coast. The southwest monsoon splits into two arms, the Bay of Bengal arm and the Arabian Sea arm. The Bay of Bengal arm moves northwards crossing northeast India in early June. It then progresses eastwards, crossing Delhi by June 29. The Arabian Sea arm moves north-wards and deposits much of its rain on the windward side of Western Ghats. By early July, most of India receives rain from the monsoons.

The monsoons start retreating by August from northern India and by October from Kerala. This short period after the retreat is known as the retreat of the monsoons and is characterised by still weather. By November, winter starts setting in the northern areas.

Winters start in November in northern India and late December in southern India. Winters in peninsula India see mild to warm days and cool nights. Further north the temperature is cooler. Temperatures in some parts of the Indian plains sometimes fall below freezing. Most of northern India is plagued by fog during this season.

The highest temperature recorded in India was 50.6 °C (123.08 °F) in Alwar in 1955. The lowest was −45 °C (−49 °F) in Kashmir. Recent claims of temperatures touching 55 °C (131 °F) in Orissa have been met with some scepticism by the Indian Meteorological Department, largely on the method of recording of such data.

India's unique geography and geology strongly influence its climate; this is particularly true of the Himalayas in the north and the Thar Desert in the northwest. The Himalayas act as a barrier to the frigid katabatic winds flowing down from Central Asia. Thus, North India is kept warm or only mildly cooled during winter; in summer, the same phenomenon makes India relatively hot. Although the Tropic of Cancer—the boundary between the tropics and ubtropics—passes through the middle of India, the whole country is considered to be tropical.

Mountains
A great arc of mountains, composed of the Himalaya, Hindu Kush, and Patkai ranges, define the Indian subcontinent. These mountains were formed by the ongoing tectonic collision of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate which started some 50 million years ago. These mountain ranges are home to some of the world's tallest mountains and act as a natural barrier to cold polar winds. They also facilitate the monsoons winds drive climate in India. Rivers that originate in these mountains provide water to the fertile Indo-Gangetic plains. These mountains are recognised by biogeographers as the boundary between two of the earth's great ecozones; the temperate Palearctic that covers most of Eurasia, and the tropical and subtropical Indomalaya ecozone that includes the Indian subcontinent extending into Southeast Asia and Indonesia. Historically, these ranges have also served as barriers to invaders.

India has nine major mountain ranges having peaks of over 1,000 m (3,281 ft). The Himalayas are the only mountain ranges to have snow-capped peaks. These ranges are:

Aravalli Range
Eastern Ghats
Himalayas
Patkai
Vindhya Range
Western Ghats (Sahyadri)
Satpura Range
Karakoram
Kunlun

Indo-Gangetic plain
The Indo-Gangetic plains are large floodplains of the Indus and the Ganga-Brahmaputra river systems. They run parallel to the Himalaya mountains, from Jammu and Kashmir in the west to Assam in the east, draining the states of Punjab, Haryana, parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The plains encompass an area of 700,000 km² (270,000 mile²) and vary in width through their length by several hundred kilometres. Major rivers that form a part of this system are the Ganga (Ganges) and Indus River along with their tributaries; Beas, Yamuna, Gomti, Ravi, Chambal, Sutlej and Chenab.
The great plains are sometimes classified into four divisions:

The Bhabar belt- This is adjacent to the foothills of the Himalayas and consists of boulders and pebbles which have been carried down by the river streams. As the porosity of this belt is very high, the streams flow underground. The bhabar is generally narrow about 7-15 km wide.

The Terai belt- This belt lies next to the bhabar region and is composed of newer alluvium. The underground streams re-appear in this region. The region is excessively moist and thickly forested. It also receives heavy rainfall throughout the year and is populated with a variety of wildlife.

The Bangar belt- It consists of older alluvium and forms the alluvial terrace of the flood plains. In the Gangetic plains, it has a low upland covered by laterite deposits.

The Khadar belt- It lies in lowland areas after the Bangar belt. It is made up of fresh newer alluvium which is deposited by the rivers flowing down the plain.

The Indo-Gangetic belt is the world's most extensive expanse of uninterrupted alluvium formed by the deposition of silt by the numerous rivers. The plains are flat and mostly treeless, making it conducive for irrigation through canals. The area is also rich in ground water sources.

The plains are one of the world's most intensely farmed areas. Crops grown on the Indo-Gangetic Plain are primarily rice and wheat, grown in rotation. Other crops include maize, sugarcane and cotton. Also known as the Great Plains, the Indo-Gangetic plains rank among the world's most densely populated areas.

The Desert
The Thar Desert (also known as the Great Indian Desert) is a hot desert that forms a significant portion of western India. Spread over four states in India—Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat it covers an area of 208,110 km² (80,350 mile²). The desert continues into Pakistan as the Cholistan Desert. Most of the Thar Desert is situated in Rajasthan, covering 61% of its geographic area. Most of the desert is rocky, with a small part of the extreme west of the desert being sandy.

The origin of the Thar Desert is uncertain. Some geologists consider it to be 4,000 to 10,000 years old, whereas others state that aridity began in this region much earlier. The area is characterised by extreme temperatures of above 45 °C (113 °F) in summer to below freezing in winters. Rainfall is precarious and erratic, ranging from below 120 mm (4.72 inches) in the extreme west to 375 mm (14.75 inches) eastward. The lack of rainfall is mainly due to the unique position of the desert with respect to the Aravalli range. The desert lies in the rain shadow area of the Bay of Bengal arm of the southwest monsoon. The parallel nature of the range to the Arabian Sea arm also means that the desert does not receive much rainfall.

The soils of the arid region are generally sandy to sandy-loam in texture. The consistency and depth vary according to the topographical features. The low-lying loams are heavier and may have a hard pan of clay, calcium carbonate or gypsum. Due to the low population density, the effect of the population on the environment is relatively less compared to the rest of India.

Climate
The climate of India is comprised of a wide range of weather conditions across a vast geographic scale and varied topography, making generalisations difficult. Based on the Köppen system, India hosts six major climatic subtypes, ranging from arid desert in the west, alpine tundra and glaciers in the north, and humid tropical regions supporting rainforests in the southwest and the island territories. Many regions have starkly different microclimates. The nation has four seasons: winter (January–February), summer (March–May), a monsoon (rainy) season (June–September), and a post-monsoon period (October–December).