special about Geography of India

India is said to occupy (like many other countries) the strategic position in the world map.

Some of the reasons are:

      It has a central location between East and West Asia. 

      The trans Indian Ocean routes which connect the countries of Europe in the West and the countries of East Asia provide a strategic central location to India.

     The Deccan Peninsula protrudes into the Indian Ocean, thus helping India to establish close contact with West Asia, Africa and Europe from the western coast and with Southeast and East Asia from the eastern coast.

In detail:

Significance of Location: Barring the plateau of Baluchistan (which form part of Pakistan), the two great ranges of Sulaiman and Kirthar cut it off from the west. Along the north, the great mountain wall formed by the Hindukush, Karakoram and the Himalayas, which is difficult to cross, cuts it off from the rest of the continent. Similarly, the southward of-shoots of the Eastern Himalayas separate it from Russia. The tropical monsoon climate of India, which ensures a fair supply of moisture and forms the basis of farming in India, is also a result of its location in the southern part of Asia. Since the opening of Suez Canal (1867) India’s distance from Europe has been reduced by 7,000km. It thus bridges the space between the highly industrialized nation of the west and the semi-arid, and south-western Asia and the most fertile and populated regions in the south-east and far-east countries.

The Trans Himalayas or Tibetan Himalayas: The largest glaciers are Hispar and Batura (over 57 km long) of Hunza Valley and Biafo and Baltaro (60 km long) of Shigar Valley. The Siachen of Nubra Valley is the longest with a length of over 72 km.The Purvachal or the Eastern Hills: In the east after crossing the Cihang gorge the Himalayas bend towards south forming a series of hills running through Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and eastern Assam and form the boundary between India and Burma. Brahmaputra rivers divide Himalayas into three sections: the main Himalayas, the northwest Himalayas and the southeast Himalayas.  The main Himalayas running from the Pamir Plateau in the northwest to Arunachal Pradesh in the southeast are the youngest mountains in the world.  The highest peak of the word, the Mount Everst(8,884m, named after Sir George Everst).  There are about 140 peaks  in the Himalayas whose elevation is more than the Mount Blanc (4,810m),the highest peak of the Alps. The three mountain ranges: the Himadri in the north(the greater Himalayas)the Himachal in the middle(the lesser Himalayas) and the Siwalik(the Outer Himalayas),facing thr palins of India.  The Himadri is of grat elevations (6,000m) which remains covered with everlasting snows.  The Siwalik have some flat-floored structural valleys knowns as duns.  Dehradun is well-known. Between the Himadri and the Himachal are some broad synclincal valleys. We also classify them as Punjab Himalayas, Kumayun, Assam Nepal and Northern.

Significance of Himalayas: (i) Physical Barriers (ii) Birthplace of Rivers (iii) Influence on climate (iv) Flora and Fauna (v) Mineral Resources (vi)  Economic Resources (vii) Tourist

II  The Great Northern Plains:

Lies between the great Himalayas in the North and the plateau of Peninsular India in the south. Nearly 2400 km long around 250-320 km broad, the most extensive plan indeed. It is said that this region was once a vast depression, filled with silt – brought down by the three Himalayas River, namely the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra and their numerous tributaries. It contains some of the richest soils. The bhangar refers to the upland formed by deposition of older alluvium in the river beds and the Khadar are lowlands formed by deposition of detritus of new alluvium in the river beds.

Bhabar and Terai: Includes those regions where the Himalayas and other hilly regions join the plains. Coarse sand and pebbles are deposited. Bhabar lands are narrower in the east and extensive in the western and north-western hilly. Water converts large areas along the river into swamps known as Terai.

The Western or Rajasthan Plains: are known as Marusthali of Thar and the adjoining Bagar areas to the west of Aravalli. Luni whose water is sweet in the upper reaches and saltish by the time is reaches the sea. The several salt lakes in the region such as the Sambhar, Degana, Kuchaman and Didwana; from which table salt is obtained. In most of the region shifting sand dunes occur.

The Punjab-Haryana Plain: These plains owe their formation to the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi rivers. Many low lying flood plains (called bets) are found here. The Bari Doab between Ravi and Beas rivers, the Bist Doab between the Beas and Sutlej and the Malwa plain are relatively more fertile plain.

The Ganga Plain: The Ganga-Yamuna Doab comprising the Rohilkhand and the Avadh Plain is the tile area that is drained by the tributaries of Ganga.

The North Bengal Plains: the Plains extending from the foot of Eastern Himalayas to the northern limb of Bengal basin cover an area of 23,000km2.

Brahmaputra Plains: This is a low level plain, rarely more than 80km broad, surround by High Mountain on all sides except on the west.

Significance of the Great Plains: Riverine region, Fertile soil, favorable climate, flat surface, constructions of roads, extensive system of irrigation.

The Peninsular Plateau: oldest structure of the Indian subcontinent whose slow and steady movement towards north and north-east has been responsible for creation of the Himalayas and the Northern Plains in place of the Tethys sea of geological time. It is marked of from the Indo-Gangetic plain by the mountain and hill ranges such as the Vindhyas, the satpura, and Mahadeo, Maikal, and Sarguja ranges with the average height is usually divided into two major subdivisions with the Narmada valley as the line of demarcation. The region north of the Narmada valley is known as the Central Highlands and in south of the Narmada valley lies the Deccan Plateau.

III The Central Highlands:

Old Aravalli Mountain on the west and the Vindhyas on the south. This region slopes northward to the Ganga plains. The western part of the Central highlands is known as the Malwa Plateau. The Central part has a number of small plateaus like those of Rewa, Baghelkhand and Bundlekhand. The eastern part of the Central Highlands comprises the Chotanagpur plateau.

The Deccan Plateau: The Deccan Plateau extends from the vindhyas to the southern tip of the Peninsula. This triangle plateau is at its widest in the north. The Vindhya Range and its eastern extension namely Mahadev hills Kaimuir Hills and Maikal Range from its northern edge. Western Ghats are known by different regional names such as the Sahyadris in Maharastra and Karnataka, the niligris in Tamil Nadu and Annamalai and the Cardamon hill along the Kerala and Tamil nadu border. The elevation of the ghats increases towards the south. The highest peak, Anaimudi (2,695 m) is in Kerala. The most important gap in the Western Ghats is the Palghat gap which links Tamil Nadu with Kerala. The Bhorghat and the Thalghat are other gaps lying in Maharastra state.

Eastern Ghats: These hills rise steeply from the Coromandel coastal plain. The Eastern Ghats are well developed in the region between the Godavari and Mahanadi rivers. The Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats converge in the Nilgiri hills. Dodda Betta (2,637 m) is the highest peak in the Nilgiri hills.

Significance of Peninsular Plateau: (i) Geological richness (ii) Sources of Irrigation and hydroelectricity (iii) Agricultural Resources (iv) Forest Resources (v) Rich Fauna

(vi) Cultural Influences.

The Coastal plains: The Peninsular plateau is bounded by coastal plains on the east and west. There is wide difference between the eastern and western coastal plain. The west coast is narrower but wet. East coast much wider but relatively dry. A number of river deltas occur on the east coast. The deltas of east coast from the ‘granary’ of the five southern states- Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Pondicherry. The western coastal  strips which have a large number of lagoons and back waters on other hand are noted for spices, areca nuts, coconuts palms etc.

Western coastal Plain: These lies between the Western Ghats and the Arabian seas and stretch from Kutch in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. The Gujarat plain is a broad and flat plain. The Kutch Peninsula, Gulf of Kutch, and the Gulf of Cambay. The Kathiawar Peninsula, also known as Saurashtra which lies to the south of Kutch, is also a plain level area except for some hills rising into Mount Girnar. Sun-divided regionally into the Konkan coast in Maharastra Canara coast in Karnataka and Malabar Coast in Kerala.

Eastern Coastal Plain: The eastern coastal low lands extend from the mouth of the Ganga to Kanyakumari. The northern half is called Northern Circars or Kalinga coast, while the southern half is known as the Coromandal coast. The border part is the Carnatic region, which is about 480 km wide. They are not suitable for harbours as their mouths being full of sit.

Significance of Coastal plains: (i) Harbours (ii) Specialized crops (iii) Fisheries and Navigation (iv) Economic Influence (v) Historical Importance

1.Bay of Bengal Islands: The Andaman & Nicobar group of islands are separated by 10 Degree channel. These islands have been formed by extension of tertiary mountain chain of Arakan Yoma. The Andaman group of island is divided into 3 major groups’ viz., North Andaman, Middle Andaman and south Andaman, collectively called Great Andamans. Little Andaman is separated from Great Andamans by Duncan passage. The Nicobar group of islands of which Great Nicobar is largest and southern most one. Saddle peak situated in Andaman Islands is the highest peak of Andaman & Nicobar group.

The Dhuliar peak is the highest peak of Nicobar group of islands.More habitable and different origin thanofArabian sea islands. Barran island is dormant volcano and Narcondam island is extinct volcano.

2) Lakshwadeep islands: Coral- and have fringing reefs. They are 25 small island groups. The island’s north is known as Amindivi and spot is Cannonore island. Extreme south is Minicoy islands which is largest

World War One

Causes of World War One

The causes of World War One are complicated and unlike the causes of World War Two, where the guilty party was plain to all, there is no such clarity. Germany has been blamed because she invaded Belgium in August 1914 when Britain had promised to protect Belgium. However, the street celebrations that accompanied the British and French declaration of war gives historians the impression that the move was popular and politicians tend to go with the popular mood.

Was much done to avoid the start of the war?

By 1914, Europe had divided into two camps.

The Triple Alliance was Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary.

The Triple Entente was Britain, France and Russia.

The alliance between Germany and Austria was natural. Both spoke the same language - German - and had a similar culture. In previous centuries, they had both been part of the same empire - the Holy Roman Empire.

 Austria was in political trouble in the south-east of Europe - the Balkans. She needed the might of Germany to back her up if trouble got worse. Italy had joined these countries as she feared their power on her northern border. Germany was mainland Europe's most powerful country - so from Italy's point of view, being an ally of Germany was an obvious move. Each member of the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria and Italy) promised to help the others if they were attacked by another country.

The Triple Entente was less structured than the Triple Alliance. "Entente" means understanding and the members of the Entente (Britain, France and Russia) did not have to promise to help the other two if they got attacked by other countries but the understanding was that each member would support the others - but it was not fixed.

France was suspicious of Germany. She had a huge army but a poor navy. Britain had the world's most powerful navy and a small army. France and Britain joining together in an understanding was natural.

Britain was also concerned about Germany because she was building up a new and powerful navy. The inclusion of Russia seemed odd when Russia was so far from France and Britain. However, Russia's royal family, the Romanovs, was related to the British Royal Family. Russia also had a huge army and with France on the west of Europe and Russia on the east, the 'message' sent to Germany was that she was confronted by two huge armies on either side of her borders. Therefore, it was not a good move by Germany to provoke trouble in Europe - that was the hoped for message sent out by the Triple Entente.

Certain specific problems also helped to create suspicion throughout Europe. The first was Germany's fear of the huge British Empire.

By 1900, Britain owned a quarter of the world. Countries such as Canada, India, South Africa, Egypt, Australia and New Zealand were owned by Britain as part of the British Empire. Queen Victoria had been crowned Empress of India. Huge amounts of money were made from these colonies and Britain had a powerful military presence in all parts of the world. The Empire was seen as the status symbol of a country that was the most powerful in the world. Hence Britain's title "Great Britain".

Germany clearly believed that a sign of a great power was possession of overseas colonies. The 'best' had already been taken by Britain but Germany resolved to gain as much colonial territory as possible.

Her main target was Africa. She colonised territory in southern Africa (now Namibia) which no-one really wanted as it was useless desert but it did create much anger in London as Germany's new territories were near South Africa with its huge diamond and gold reserves. In reality, Germany's African colonies were of little economic importance but it gave her the opportunity to demonstrate to the German people that she had Great Power status even if this did make relations with Britain more fragile than was perhaps necessary for the economic returns Germany got from her colonies.

A second issue that caused much friction between Britain and Germany was Germany's desire to increase the size of her navy. Britain accepted that Germany, as a large land-based country, needed a large army. But Germany had a very small coastline and Britain could not accept that Germany needed a large navy.

Britain concluded that Germany's desire to increase the size of her navy was to threaten Britain's naval might in the North Sea. The British government concluded that as an island we needed a large navy and they could not accept any challenges from Germany. As a result, a naval race took place. Both countries spent vast sums of money building new warships and the cost soared when Britain launched a new type of battleship - the Dreadnought. Germany immediately responded by building her equivalent. Such a move did little to improve relations between Britain and Germany. All it did was to increase tension between the two nations.

With Europe so divided, it only needed one incident to spark off a potential disaster. This incident occurred at Sarajevo in July 1914.

The Jobaria (monster)

The Jobaria (monster) is the most powerful 122-mm artillery rocket system ever built. This multiple launch rocket system has been developed in by United Arab Emirates in cooperation with Roketsan of Turkey to meet the UAE requirement. However final assembly of this system takes place in the UAE. The main goal was to put one battery of rocket launchers on one vehicle. This new multiple launch rocket system was first revealed in 2013 during IDEX exhibition held in Abu Dhabi. United Arab Emirates have received an undisclosed number of these artillery systems already.

The Jobaria MLRS consists of Oshkosh 6x6 heavy equipment transporter, towing a 10-wheel semi-trailer with 4 power rocket launchers. Each launcher has three pods with 20 rockets each. This rocket system carries a total of 240 122-mm rockets. A single Jobaria system replaces a full battery of rocket launchers mounted on 6 trucks with a crew of 30 men. Rockets have a maximum range of 37 km. A full salvo covers an area of 4 km².

Rockets are stored and launched from pods for rapid reloading and interchangeability of various calibers. Some sources claim that Jobaria is also capable of launching a total of 240 107-mm rockets, with a maximum range of about 11 km. Alternatively it can launch 16 TR-300 300-mm rockets with a maximum range of up to 100 km.

This artillery system is operated by a crew of three. Crew members are seated inside and operate from protected cab. It's armor provides protection from small arms fire and artillery shell splinters. The cab also has NBC protection system. This artillery system is aimed and launches all it's rockets without crew leaving the vehicle.

The truck for this rocket system is supplied by Oshkosh. Vehicle is fitted with a central tyre inflation system. The trailer with rocket launchers is manufactured in the UAE. The Jobaria is fitted with auxiliary power unit. It allows this rocket system can operate with the truck engine turned off. It seems though that this new MLRS has limited mobility over desert terrain. It is most suited for operation from hard surface roads.

This new multiple launch rocket system is supported by a dedicated resupply vehicle, which carries a full set of reloads and is fitted with two cranes. Each crane replenishes two rocket launchers. Reloading takes about 30 minutes.

There is also a lighter Mini Jobaria, based on the Nimr 6x6 vehicle. It carries two pods with a total of 107-mm rockets.

India - Mother Nature

Mother nature has been very kind to India, giving it a potential advantage in terms of economy, culture, climate, tourism, etc. although, unfortunately, this has neither been reciprocated nor has the potential been utilized.



(File:Indiahills.png)
• A Separate Subcontinent
India is a distinct geographical unit bounded on the north by the ranges of the Himalaya and Karakoram, on the north-west by the mountains to the west of the Indus, on the north-east by the hills of Assam and Cachar, and everywhere else by the sea, forming a distinct subdivision within the continent. Its not a surprise that this area is called the Indian Subcontinent.
• Less Number of Invasions in the Past
In ancient times, when no power attempted to assert full command of the sea, a country so largely surrounded by the ocean was inaccessible for the most part, and could be approached by land through its continental section only. The north-eastern hills and the gigantic Himalayan and Karakoram ranges present comparatively few passable openings, and none easy of passage for considerable bodies of men. But the hills west of the Indus are pierced by many passes more or less open. The main land gates of India are on her north-western frontier, and this physical fact dominated her history for thousands of years, avoiding thousands of potential invasions. It was only when water navigation developed in European countries did India become a colony.
• Earliest Human Civilizations
The northern plains being made fertile by Ganga and Indus, combined with availability of water for other daily purposes led to the development of one of the earliest human civilizations in the world. And this laid the foundation of development of what we have today in the entire world - market, arts, farming, administration, etc



• Economic Advantages
Due to geographical position, China and India became the two most prosperous regions in the world with the highest living standards at around 0 BC. Economic activities like farming and places like markets were well established. Long coastline also created many natural ports and harbors. This led to the establishment of cities like Mumbai and Kolkata near the ports.
• A Unique, but Diverse Culture
A very diverse geography is one of the primary reasons for diverse culture in India. We have desert, mountains, plains, coastal areas, plateau having diverse climatic conditions and natural resources which shaped regional habits and culture. Then a broad belt of hill and forest running from the Gulf of Cambay on the west to the mouths of the Mahanadi on the east, along with Vindhya and Satpura mountains and river Narmada separates North from South India. This barrier was difficult to cross in ancient times which is clearly reflected by almost distinct culture between the 2 regions.
• Influence on Climate
The lofty Himalaya Mountains form a barrier which prevents the cold winds of north Asia from blowing into India, thus protecting it from severely cold winters. It also traps the Monsoon winds, forcing them to shed their moisture within the sub-continent. India lies between 8 N and 37 N latitudes. The Tropic of Cancer passes through the middle of India, thus making the southern half of India in the Torrid Zone and the northern half in the Temperature Zone, which is responsible of different climate due to wind patterns, etc.
• Tourism for Everyone's Taste
As I mentioned before, India has everything. I have been to various European nations and the US and can say that if natural resources are better developed and made more accessible in India, then Himalayas can beat Switzerland, Thar desert can take over Death Valley, Goa over famous beaches. Then we have forests and lagoons in Kerala, various lakes, rivers, etc. 


In a nutshell, India's location offers it with numerous advantages that can easily take it to the top. This is clearly reflected by the fact that the subcontinent was the most advanced region in the BC era - when nature was the primary source of development. But then the social structure, policies and various other things (which are outside the scope of this answer) decelerated its growth.


Ref:
How did geography and climate of the Indian subcontinent influence the development of early civilizations there?
Climate of India
Geography and Economic Growth
hosuronline.com
Physical features of india

List of International border between various Countries.

1. 01.                     India and Pakistan.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   02.                     India and China.
   
   
   
   
   
   03.                     Austria - Slovakia – Hungary.
   
   
   
   
   
   04.                     Bangladesh – India
   
   
   
   
   
   05.                     Border between Ethiopia and Somaliland.
   
   
   
   
   
   06.                     Canada – USA
   
   
   
   
   
   07.                     Spanish-Moroccon border in Ceuta on the North African coast.
   
   
   
   
   
   08.                     Poland – Ukraine
   
   
   
   
   
   09.                     Portugal – Spain
   
   
   
   10.                     Sweden – Norway
   11.                     The Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay border