module 6 Unit Continental Asia: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh BEFORE READING Look at the map, can you label it correctly using the words in the box? Republic of India Bay of Bengal Indian Ocean Sri Lanka Pakistan Nepal Bangladesh Bhutan China New Dehli Kolkatta Maldives Andaman Islands India The Indian subcontinent is a peninsula that extends more than 3,218 kilometres outwards from the main Asian continent, forming a landmass is surrounded by the Arabian Sea in the West, the Bay of Bengal in the East, and the Indian Ocean in the South. The official name of this country (the seventh largest in the world) is The Republic of India, but locally it is called by its Hindu name Bahrat. The Republic of India includes the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and the Laccadive Islands in the Indian Ocean. India s neighbours include the state of Pakistan in the north-west and Nepal, Bhutan and China in the north-east; and in the south and east are Burma and Bangladesh. With the exception of China, the other states were historically part of various Indian empires or heavily influenced by Indian civilization. The Northern border of India includes the Himalayas and a number of India s river systems originate in these mountains. Both the terrain and climate show incredible variation, from some of the world s highest mountains in the north to deserts and flat plains in the centre and low lying coastal areas in the south. The centre of the country contains the Gangetic plains, good agricultural land fed by the Ganges and other river systems. Further south, the land rises to form the Vindhya Mountains which create a natural boundary between the northern and southern parts of India. Western India contains the Thar Desert, one of the most inhospitable deserts in the world, while Eastern India has some of the world s most fertile and productive land. The island of Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon) lies to the south of the Indian subcontinent and is a separate island state. Unlike India, English is not the official language in Sri Lanka.