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Q. What is the Longitudinal and Latitudinal Extent of India?
Answer: Latitude can be termed as a imaginary line that runs parallel to the line of the Equator. While looking at a map, when the north is upwards, then the latitude runs in a lateral position (left to right). It is used to locate the North-South position of any region on the globe.
A longitude, on the other hand, can be termed as that imaginary line that runs perpendicular to the Equator. Geographically, it runs from the North Pole to the South Pole. When the north is upwards while viewing a map, then the longitude runs in a vertical position. It is used to locate the East-West position of any region on the globe. The standard longitude or a meridian (half of a longitude), which is used as a reference, is the Prime Meridian. It passes through the region of Greenwich, England. In the current scenario, the timekeeping system is solely based on the reference of the Prime Meridian longitude.
India lies in the Northern Hemisphere. With respect to the latitudinal and longitudinal extent, India lies between latitudes 8° 4’N and 37° 6’N, and the longitudes 68° 7’E and 97° 25’E. The Tropic of Cancer passes through the country, dividing it into nearly two equal parts. It is important to note that though both the latitudinal and longitudinal extent of India is about 30°, the extent of the north-south appears to be larger than the east-west extent.
An interesting fact is that when we look at the difference in time from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh, we will observe a time lag of 2 hours between them. Thus, to keep a timekeeping system uniform across the country, the Standard Meridian of India (82° 30′ E), which passes through Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, is taken as the standard time. The time according to the Standard Meridian of India is known as the Indian Standard Time (IST). Hence, India adheres to only a one-time zone, which is according to the IST. The IST is ahead of the time according to Greenwich, also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), by 5.5 hours.
