Class 9 Geography Chapter 1 India – Size and Location

NCERT Solutions for Geography,
Chapter 1 – India – Size and Location

Intext Questions

Page 2

Question 1. Why 82°30′. E has been selected as the Standard Meridian of India?

Answer From Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh there is a time lag of two hours. Hence, time along the Standard Meridian of India (82° 30′ E) passing through Mirzapur (in Uttar Pradesh) is taken as the standard time for the whole country. Otherwise different regions of India would have different times which would create problems; so, to have one common standard times for the whole country has been selected and called Indian Standard Time (IST).

Question 2. Why is the difference between the duration of day and night hardly felt at Kanyakumari but not so in Kashmir?

Answer The day and night are nearly of the same duration at the equator. As Kanyakumari is quite near the equator at 8°4’N the day-night difference is hardly one hour there, and therefore, the duration of day and night is hardly felt at Kanyakumari.

On the other hand, as we move away from the equator to the poles the variations in duration of day and night become greater. Kashmir is over 30° away from the equator and so the difference in duration of day and night is more there and we feel that difference.

 

Page 4

Question 1. Find out the number of Union Territories along the Western and Eastern coasts.

Answer  Union Territories along the

(a) Western Coast Lakshadweep, Diu and Daman, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Mahe (belonging to Puducherry).

(b) Eastern Coast Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Question 2. Find out area wise which is the smallest and which is the largest state.

Answer Area-wise

(a) Largest State Rajasthan (3,42,239 sq km)

(b) Smallest State Goa (3,702 sq km)

Question 3. Find out the states which do not have an international border or lie on the coast.

Answer States which do not have International Boundary or lie on the coast

(a) Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Question 4. Classify the states into four groups each having common frontiers with

(a) Pakistan

(b) China

(c) Myanmar

(d) Bangladesh

Answer States having common frontiers with

(a) Pakistan Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir

(b) China Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir

(c) Myanmar Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram

(d) Bangladesh West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram

 

Exercise Page 6

Question 1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.

(i) Tropic of Cancer does not pass through

(a) Rajasthan

(b) Orissa

(c) Chhattisgarh 

(d) Tripura

Answer (b) Orissa

(ii) The easternmost longitude of India is

(a) 97° 25′ E

(b) 68° 7′ E

(c) 77° 6′ E

(d) 82° 32′ E

Answer (a) 97° 25′ E

(iii) Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim have common frontier with

(a) China

(b) Bhutan

(c) Nepal

(d) Myanmar

Answer (c) Nepal

(iv) If you intended to visit Kavaratti during your summer vacations, which one of the following Union Territories of India will you be going to?

(a) Puducherry

(b) Lakshadweep

(c) Andaman and Nicobar

(d) Diu and Daman

Answer (b) Lakshadweep

(v) My friend hails from a country which does not share land boundary with India. Identify the country.

(a) Bhutan

(b) Tajikistan

(c) Bangladesh

(d) Nepal

Answer (b) Tajikistan

Question 2. Answer the following questions briefly.

(i) Name the group of islands lying in the Arabian Sea.

Answer Lakshadweep Islands lie in the Arabian Sea.

(ii) Name the countries which are larger than India.

Answer Russia, Canada, USA, China, Australia and Brazil are the countries that are larger than India.

(iii) Which island group of India lies to its South-East?

Answer Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie to the South-East of India.

(iv) Which island countries are our Southern neighbours?

Answer Sri Lanka and Maldives are the two island countries that are the Southern neighbours of India.

 

Question 3. The Sun rises two hours earlier in Arunachal Pradesh as compared to Gujarat in the West but the watches show the same time. How does this happen?

Answer From Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh there is a time lag of two hours, but the watches show the same time because the time along the Standard Meridian of India (82° 30′ E) passing through Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh is taken as the standard time for the whole country. Because the same standard time for the whole country has been adopted, the watches show the same time in Arunachal Pradesh and Gujarat and in all parts of the country.

Question 4. The central location of India at the head of the Indian Ocean is considered of great significance. Why?

Answer  The Indian landmass has a central location between East and West Asia, India is a southward extension of the Asian continent.

The trans Indian Ocean routes which connect the countries of Europe in the West to the countries of East Asia provide a strategic central location to India.

The Deccan peninsula protrudes into the Indian Ocean, thus helping India to establish close contact with West Asia, Africa and Europe from the Western coast and South-East and East Asia from the Eastern coast.

No other country has a long coastline on the Indian Ocean as India has. Thus, India’s eminent position in the Indian Ocean justifies the naming of an ocean after it.

 

Map Skills

Question 1. Identify the following with the help of map reading.

(i) The island groups of India lying in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

Answer Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman and Nicobar Island.

(ii) The countries constituting the Indian Sub-continent.

Answer Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

(iii) The states through which the Tropic of Cancer passes.

Answer Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh ,Jharkhand, Paschim Banga, Tripura and Mizoram.

(iv) The northernmost latitude in degrees.

Answer 37° 6’N

(v) The southernmost latitude of the Indian mainland in degrees.

Answer 8° 4’N

(vi) The eastern and the Westernmost longitude in degrees.

Answer 68° 7’E and 97° 25’E

(vii) The place situated on the three seas.

Answer Kanyakumari

(viii) The straight separating Sri Lanka from India.

Answer Palk Strait

(ix) The Union Territories of India.

Answer Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Delhi.