- The tropic of cancer (23½° North latitude) passes through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram – a total of 8 states.
- The total geographical area of India is approximately 33 lakhs sq. km. which is around 2.45% of the total land of the hemisphere.
- It is the seventh largest country in the world by area after USA, China, Russia, Canada, Brazil and Australia.
- It is the second most populated country of the world after China with a population of 1.27 billion (127 crore) people.
- There are a total 29 states and 7 UTs in India.
- Delhi is known as the National Capital Territory of India (NCT).
- Indira Point which is located in the Great Nicobar Island is the southern-most point in the territory of India. The southern-most top was submerged under water after 2004 Tsunami.
Cities of India
A metropolitan area is an area (with one or more districts and two or more Municipalities or Panchayats) having a population of 10 lakhs or more. Some of the largest metropolitans in India are:
- National Capital Region (NCR)
- Mumbai
- Kolkata
- Bangalore
- Pune
- Hyderabad
- Chennai
- Visakhapatnam
Twin cities are when two cities that are very close to each other, over time, expand and grow to merge into one big metropolitan are. Some twin cities of India are:-
- Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad
- Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane
- Hubli and Dharwad
- Kolkata and Howrah
- Bhubaneswar and Cuttack
- Hyderabad and Secunderabad
Some cities are popularly known by their nicknames:-
- Amritsar – Golden City
- Ahmedabad – Manchester of the East
- Jaipur – Pink City
- Bengaluru – Silicon Valley of India ORGarden City
- Mumbai – Gateway of India ORMaximum City OR Hollywood of India OR Financial Capital of India
- Pune – Deccan Queen
- Pondicherry – Paris of the East
- Bhubaneshwar – Temple City
- Alappuzha – Venice of the East
- Kolkata – City of Joy
- Lucknow – City of Nawabs
- Udaipur – City of Lakes
- Jamshedpur – Steel City of India ORPittsburgh of India
- Varanasi – Spiritual Capital of India
- Chennai – Gateway of South India ORAutomobile Capital of India OR Detroit of India
- Coimbatore – Textile City of India
- Coorg – Scotland of India
- Darjeeling – Queen of the Hills
- Dehradun – School Capital of India
- Guwahati – Gateway of North East India
- Kanpur – Leather City of the World
- Kochi – Queen of the Arabian Sea
- Kollam – Cashew Capital of the World
- Kolhapur – City of Wrestlers
- Mussoorie – Queen of Mountains
- Patiala – Royal City
- Nagpur – Orange City
- Rishikesh – City of Sages
- Surat – Diamond City of India
- Jodhpur – Blue City
