Area
3.29 million square kilometers
Indian Standard Time (IST)
IST is equal to GMT + 5 1/2 hours. With reference to Croatia, IST is plus 4 1/2 hours in winter and plus 3 1/2 hours in summer.
Climate
Tropical monsoon type with winter (Jan-Feb), summer (Mar-May), south-west monsoon season (Jun-Sep) and post-monsoon or north-east monsoon season (Oct-Dec). Most of the rainfall is brought by the south-west monsoon. Because of the geographical diversity of India, regional climate conditions in the extreme north, east and west varies from the general conditions given above.
Neighbours
Countries having a common border with India are Pakistan and Afghanistan to the north-west, China, Nepal and Bhutan to the north, Myanmar and Bangladesh to the east. Sri Lanka is separated from the southernmost tip of India by a narrow channel of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.
Major cities/towns
The traditional 4 metros are Delhi (population 9.8 mln in 2001), Mumbai (12 mln), Kolkata (4.6 mln), and Chennai (4.2 mln). Other cities like Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Ahmadabad, Ernakulam (Cochin) etc are rapidly developing into major centres of commerce and industry.
