Location Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and PakistanEastern South America, bordering the Atlantic OceanGeographic coordinates 20 00 N, 77 00 E10 00 S, 55 00 WMap references AsiaSouth AmericaArea total: 3,287,263 sq kmland: 2,973,193 sq kmwater: 314,070 sq kmtotal: 8,515,770 sq kmland: 8,358,140 sq kmwater: 157,630 sq kmnote: includes Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, Ilha da Trindade, Ilhas MARTIN Vaz, and Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao PauloArea - comparative slightly more than one-third the size of the USslightly smaller than the USLand boundaries total: 13,888 kmborder countries (6): Bangladesh 4142 km, Bhutan 659 km, Burma 1468 km, CHINA 2659 km, Nepal 1770 km, Pakistan 3190 kmtotal: 16,145 kmborder countries (10): Argentina 1263 km, Bolivia 3403 km, Colombia 1790 km, French Guiana 649 km, Guyana 1308 km, Paraguay 1371 km, Peru 2659 km, Suriname 515 km, Uruguay 1050 km, Venezuela 2137 kmCoastline 7,000 km7,491 kmMaritime claims territorial sea: 12 nmexclusive economic ZONE: 200 nmcontiguous zone: 24 nmcontinental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental marginterritorial sea: 12 nmexclusive economic zone: 200 nmcontiguous zone: 24 nmcontinental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental marginClimate varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in northmostly tropical, but temperate in southTerrain upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in northmostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal beltElevation extremes mean elevation: 160 mlowest point: Indian Ocean 0 mhighest point: Kanchenjunga 8,586 mmean elevation: 320 mlowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 mhighest point: Pico da Neblina 2,994 mNatural resources coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), antimony, iron ore, lead, manganese, mica, bauxite, rare earth elements, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable landalumina, bauxite, beryllium, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, niobium, phosphates, platinum, tantalum, tin, rare earth elements, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timberLand use agricultural land: 60.5% (2011 est.)arable land: 52.8% (2011 est.) / permanent crops: 4.2% (2011 est.) / permanent pasture: 3.5% (2011 est.)forest: 23.1% (2011 est.)other: 16.4% (2011 est.)agricultural land: 32.9% (2011 est.)arable land: 8.6% (2011 est.) / permanent crops: 0.8% (2011 est.) / permanent pasture: 23.5% (2011 est.)forest: 61.9% (2011 est.)other: 5.2% (2011 est.)Irrigated land 667,000 sq km (2012)54,000 sq km (2012)Natural hazards droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakesvolcanism: Barren Island (354 m) in the Andaman Sea has been active in recent yearsrecurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south