Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of
Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan

20 00 N, 77 00 E

Asia

total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km
water: 314,400 sq km

slightly more than one-third the size of the US

total: 14,103 km
border countries: Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463 km,
China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km

7,000 km

contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north

upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain
along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north

lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m

coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron
ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas,
diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land

arable land: 56%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 4%
forests and woodland: 23%
other: 16% (1993 est.)

480,000 sq km (1993 est.)

droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms common;
earthquakes

deforestation; soil erosion;
overgrazing; desertification; air pollution from industrial effluents
and vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage and runoff of
agricultural pesticides; tap water is not potable throughout the
country; huge and growing population is overstraining natural
resources

party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important
Indian Ocean trade routes