Geography

Rivers of India
India is the seventh biggest country in the world by land. It is the main part of the Indian
subcontinent. The countries next to
India are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Bhutan and Nepal. It is also near Sri
Lanka and the Maldives, two island countries. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union
territory of India, is near Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar. [69]

Terrain
There are many mountains in the northern part of India. The most famous mountain range there
is the Himalayas, which have some of the tallest mountains in the world.

There are many rivers in India. The main rivers are the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, the Yamuna,
the Godavari, the Kaveri, the Narmada, and the Krishna.

Coastline
India is a peninsula, which means that it is surrounded on three sides by water. In the west is
the Arabian Sea, in the south is the Indian Ocean, and in the east is the Bay of Bengal.

India's total coastline is 7,517-kilometre (4,700-mile) long. The mainland's coastline is 5,423-
[70]

kilometre (3,400-mile) long. The Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands have 2,094-
kilometre (1,300-mile) long coastlines in total. [71]

Based on Indian naval hydrographic charts, 43% of the mainland coast are sandy beaches, 11%
are rocky shores and cliffs, and 46% are mudflats or marshy shores. [71]

Climates
India has different climates. In South India, the climate is mainly tropical, which means it can
[72]

get very hot in summer and cool in winter. The northern part, though, has a cooler climate,
[72]
called subtropical. The mountainous regions can be alpine. The Himalayas, in the alpine climate [72]

region, can get extremely cold.

The Himalayas block cold Central Asian winds from blowing into the Indian subcontinent. It
keeps the most of the subcontinent warmer than most places at same latitudes. [73][74]

There is very heavy rainfall along the west coast and in the Eastern Himalayan foothills. The
west, though, is drier.

Monsoon
Because of some of India's deserts, the entire country gets rain for four months of the year. That
time (usually around June to September) is called the monsoon. It happens because the deserts
attract water-filled winds from the Indian Ocean, which give rain when they come into India.

When the monsoon rains come late or not so heavily, droughts (when the land dries out because
there is less rain) are possible.

Politics

The Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi is the official residence (house where a person lives) of the President of India.

The Parliament House (Sansad Bhavan) in New Delhi is the place where the Parliament of India meets.

India is a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system. It is the largest democracy in the [75]

world by the number of people. It has six national parties, for example the Indian National
[76]

Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It also has more than 50 regional parties.
The Congress is known as centre in Indian political culture, while the BJP is known as right-
[77] [78]

wing. The Congress was the majority in the Parliament from 1950 to the end of the 1980s.
[79][80][81]
From the end of the 1980s, the BJP and the powerful regional parties are getting more seats in
[82]

the Parliament over time. This forced the national parties to create coalition governments. [83]

Government
Main articles: Government of India and Constitution of India
India is ruled under the Constitution of India. It is the country's highest document of law. It came
into effect on 26 January 1950. Its original form said that India would be a
[84]

"sovereign, democratic republic". In 1971, the statement was changed to

India has been said to be a "quasi-federal" form of government. That means a strong federal
government with weak state governments. The federal government is often called the "union
[86]

government" or the "central government" but after political, economic and social changes at the
end of the 1990s, the government became federal. [87][88]

Branches of government
The union government is divided into three parts: the legislature (the one that make laws),
the executive (the one that applies laws), and the judiciary (the one that makes sure that the laws
are obeyed). All three parts are in New Delhi, the capital city of India.
[89]

The legislature of India is called the Parliament (संसद Sansad). It is divided into two houses: the
upper house Rajya Sabha (Council of States); and the lower house Lok Sabha (House of the
People). The Rajya Sabha has 245 members. They remain members for six years. Most
[90] [91]

members are elected indirectly by the legislatures of state and union territories. The Lok Sabha [92]

has 545 members. They remain members for five years. They are elected directly by the people's
vote.[93]

The executive is made up of the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister and the Union
Council of Ministers. The President is the head of state of India. The presidents are elected by
[94]

an electoral college for a period of five years. The electoral college is made up of members of
central and state legislatures. The Prime Minister is the head of government of India. The
[95][96]

President can choose the Prime Minister, who has most of the power. The President has less [92]

power than the Prime Minister. The Union Council of Ministers helps the Prime Minister. It is
similar to a cabinet in many countries.

The judicial branch is made up of three types of courts of law: the Supreme Court, the 24 High
Courts and a number of trial courts. The Chief Justice of India is the head of the Supreme Court.
[97]

The members of the court have the power to stop a law being passed by Parliament if they think
that the law contradicts (opposes) the Constitution. They can make any government[98]

action invalid if it contradicts the Constitution. [99]

Divisions
For administration purposes, India has been divided into smaller pieces. Most of these pieces are
called states; others are called union territories. In total, there are twenty-eight states and eight
union territories. [100]
States and union territories differ in the way they are represented. Most union territories are ruled
by administrators (called Lieutenant Governors) sent by the central government. All the states
(and the territories of Delhi and Puducherry) elect their local government themselves.

States:
State Capital Code

Andhra Pradesh Amaravati AP

Arunachal Pradesh Itanagar AR

Assam Dispur AS

Bihar Patna BR

Chhattisgarh Raipur CG

Goa Panaji GA

Gujarat Gandhi nagar GJ

Haryana Chandigarh HR

Himachal Pradesh Shimla HP

Jharkhand Ranchi JH

Karnataka Bangalore KA

Kerala Tiruvanananthapuram KL

Madhya Pradesh Bhopal MP

Manipur Imphal MN

Meghalaya Shillong ML

Mizoram Aizawl MZ

Nagaland Kohima NL

Odisha Bhubaneswar OD

Punjab Chandigarh PB

Rajasthan Jaipur RJ

Sikkim Gangtok SK

Tamil Nadu Chennai TN

Telangana Hyderabad TG

Tripura Agartala TR

Uttar Pradesh Lucknow UP

Uttarakhand Dehra Dun UK

West Bengal Kolkata WB

Union territories:
Union territory Capital

Andaman and Nicobar Islands Port Blair

Chandigarh Chandigarh

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Daman

Delhi Delhi

Jammu and Kashmir Srinagar (summer capital) and Jammu (winter capital)

Ladakh Leh

Lakshadweep Kavaratti

Puducherry Puducherry