Geography

This physical map of India is from Ezilon.com

India is located in South Asia and boarders the countries of Burma, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, China, and Pakistan.  India protrudes south into the Indian Ocean, helping to define the western boundary of the Bay of Bengal, and the eastern boundary of the the Arabian Sea. Although India is a part of the greater land mass of Asia, it is considered to be its own subcontinent as the country resides on a separate tectonic plate that is moving north into the Eurasian plate.  This movement is responsible for the formation of the Himalayas, the tallest mountain range in the world.  India is the 7th largest country in the world with a total land mass of approximately 3 million sq km, slightly larger than 1/3 of the size of the United States.  The physical geography is defined by it's low lying coastal areas, high central plateaus, and the towering Himalayas in the north.  Several large rivers crisscross the subcontinent, the most prominent of which being the Ganges River that originates in the southern Himalayas and flows into the Bay of Bengal via Bangladesh.