India, a country in South Asia, is the world’s seventh-largest country by total area covered. The country has an extensive coastline of 7,516.6 km or 4,671 miles. The country is bounded by the Indian Ocean. More specifically, the Lakshadweep Sea lies to the south of India, the Arabian Sea is to the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal is to the southeast of the country. India and Sri Lanka are separated by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka lies to the immediate southeast of India, and Maldives is about 400 km to the southwest. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India and an archipelago shares maritime borders with the neighboring countries of Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The territorial waters of the country stretch for a distance of 12 nautical miles from the baseline of the coast.
The Major Divisions Of The Indian Coastline
1. The Eastern Coastal Plain
The Eastern Coastal Plain refers to the wide stretch of land between the oceanic boundary of India and the Eastern Ghats. It stretches from West Bengal in the east to Tamil Nadu in the south. The Krishna, Godavari, and Kaveri rivers drain these plains. The climate features high temperatures of more than 30 °C in summers. Humidity levels also remain high, and both the southwest and northeast monsoon rains are received during the monsooon season, contributing to heavy rainfall in the region. Annual rainfall of 1,000 to 3,000 mm is received here.
2. The Western Coastal Plain
The narrow strip of land between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats ranging in width from 50 to 100 km is referred to as the Western Coastal Plain. The plain extends from Gujarat in the north to Kerala in the south. Major rivers draining the region include the Narmada, Tapi, Zuari, and Mandovi. Numerous other rivers also drain the Western Coastal Plains after rising in the Western Ghats. The region is further divided into the Malabar Coast and the Konkan Coast.
3. The Major Islands Of India
The Andaman And Nicobar Islands: This archipelago lie in the Bay of Bengal in proximity to the coast of Burma. Consisting of 572 isles, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is 1,255 km from Kolkata. The archipelago has a total coastline of 1962 km.
The Lakshadweep Islands is another archipelago of India located 200 to 300 km off the coast of Kerala in the Arabian Sea. This group of islands have a total coastline of 132 km.
Coastline Of Indian States And Union Territories
With a coastline of 1962 km, Guajarat in western India has the longest coastline in the country. Pudducherry, a Union Territory has the shortest coastline in the country with a coastline that is 30.6 km long. West Bengal has the shortest coastline among the coastal states of India with a coastline of 157.5 km.
For more details about the coasts of individual states/union territories of India, you can visit the link:
The states of India that do not have a coastline are the landlocked states and you can read about them here:
Landlocked States In India
Gujarat or Lakshadweep which one? I am confused because all has different numbers in different sites
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