G.D.
GOENKA PUBLIC SCHOOL, Vasant Kunj
CLASS-IX
SOCIAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
Geography
Chapter-1 INDIA: LOCATION AND SIZE
1. Fill in the blanks:
● The North to South extent of India is __________ kilometers and East to
west extent is _________ kilometers.
● The gulfs located in Gujarat are (1) Gulf of ________ and (2) Gulf of
__________.
● Indian mainland misses the equator by ______ degrees and ____minutes.
● The Maldives, our neighbor across the water body, is located south of
________ (Union Territory).
● The full form of ISM is ________ ___________ __________.
2. Match the following:
COLUMN I COLUMN II COLUMN I COLUMN II
1. 8 degrees 4`N a. Ranchi 6. Chhattisgarh f. Ladakh
2. Gujarat b. Allahabad 7. Nagaland g. Amravati
3. Jharkhand c. Raipur 8. Tripura h. Leh
4. 37 degrees 6`N d. Kanniyakumari 9. Andhra Pradesh i. Kohima
5. 82 degrees 30`E e. Gandhi Nagar 10. Ladakh j. Agartala
3. Geographically north-south and east-west distance is 30o apart. Then why is the
distance between Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh smaller than the north-south
distance? Explain.
4. Explain the strategic location of India at the head of the Indian Ocean and our
maritime contacts with the outside world from the olden days till today.
5. How does the latitudinal extent of India influence (1) the duration of day and
night and (2) the climate of India? Explain.
6. Why does the sun rise two hours later in Gujarat and earlier in Arunachal
Pradesh? How does it impact time? How have we tackled this problem of the
time difference? OR Why do we need a Standard Meridian in India? Explain
in detail. Explain the significance of the selection of the Standard Meridian
in India. ( all of them have the same answer)
Solutions for the questions:
Q-2.
1-d 3-a 5-b 7-i 9-g
2-e 4-f 6-c 8-j 10-h
Q3.
● The latitudinal distance from N-S is 3214 kilometers and the longitudinal
distance from E-W is 2933 kilometers.
● Both are 30 degrees apart. But the E-W distance is shorter because of the
shape of longitudes. The distance between the longitudes decreases from
the equator to the poles.
● But the distance between two latitudes is the same throughout the earth.
Therefore, the E-W distance is shorter.
Q4. The central location of India at the head of the Indian Ocean is considered of
great significance for the following reasons:
● The trans-Indian Ocean routes which connect the countries of Europe in the
West and the countries of East Asia provide a strategic central location to
India.
● The Deccan Peninsula protrudes into the Indian Ocean and helped India
establish close contact with West Asia, Africa, and Europe from the western
coast and with Southeast and East Asia from the eastern coast.
● India has a long coastline on the Indian Ocean which provided favorable
trading ports and commerce hub for other countries.
● The coastal regions of India are famous for agriculture, trade & industries,
tourism, fishing, and salt making.
Q5. The latitudinal extent of India influences (1) the duration of day and night and
(2) the climate of India.
(1) The duration of day and night
● The length of day and night changes with the change in season and
increasing distance away from the equator.
● The difference in the duration of day and night is hardly felt from summer
to winter. The day is longer by only 45 minutes in summer and shortened in
winter season. It is due to its nearness to the equator where the sun rays
fall directly for most of the year.
● However, the day is longer by almost 3 hours in north India in the summer
season and the night is longer by 3 hours in the winter season in north
India. It is due to the long distance from the equator and the indirect falling
of sun rays.
(2) Impact on the climate of India
● The Tropic of Cancer passes through the center of India. Thus, dividing India
into two climatic zones-
1. South of the Tropic of Cancer is TROPICAL ZONE
2. North of the Tropic of Cancer is the SUBTROPICAL ZONE
● The Tropical Zone is winterless, the temperature remains throughout the
year as it is closer to the equator.
● Subtropical Zone experiences extreme climatic conditions- hot in summer
and cold in the winter season. This is due to the long distance from the
equator.
Q6.
● The sun rises two hours later in Gujarat and earlier in Arunachal Pradesh
due to 30 degrees of longitudinal difference between east and west.
● The earth rotates from west to east direction and takes 4 minutes each to
cover a longitude each from Arunachal to Gujarat. Therefore, it takes 30
degrees X 4 minutes = 120 minutes or 2 hours.
● This would have created a confusion of time. To avoid this, India has
adopted uniform local time according to Indian Standard Meridian (ISM)
which is 82* 30` E from Prime Meridian and 5 hrs and 30 minutes. ISM is
almost in the center of India and passes near Prayaagraaj (Allahabad) from
Mirzapur.
