Neighbours and Borders
India has seven land neighbours and shares sea borders with Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar (the last three through the Andaman and Nicobar Islands).
Land boundaries
| Neighbour | Boundary length (km, approx.) | States / UTs touching it |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh | 4,096.7 (longest) | West Bengal (longest, over 2,200 km), Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram |
| China | 3,488 | Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh |
| Pakistan | 3,323 | Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh |
| Nepal | 1,751 | Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim |
| Myanmar | 1,643 | Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram |
| Bhutan | 699 | Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh |
| Afghanistan | 106 (India's claim, via the Wakhan corridor) | Ladakh (PoK / Gilgit-Baltistan, administered by Pakistan) |
Border lines you must know
| Line | Between | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Radcliffe Line | India and Pakistan / Bangladesh | 1947 Partition; drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe |
| McMahon Line | India (Arunachal) and China (Tibet) | 1914 Shimla Convention; not accepted by China |
| Line of Control (LoC) | In Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan-administered areas | Result of the 1948 ceasefire line, renamed after the 1972 Simla Agreement |
| Line of Actual Control (LAC) | India and China | Not a formally agreed boundary; runs through Ladakh, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal |
| Durand Line | Afghanistan and Pakistan | Not India's border; often confused |
| Johnson Line | Aksai Chin | Old British-era line claimed by India |
| Siachen / AGPL | Actual Ground Position Line in the Siachen sector | Highest battlefield |
Special places on the borders
- Siliguri Corridor ("Chicken's Neck"): a narrow strip of land (about 20-22 km wide at its narrowest) in West Bengal that joins the Northeast to the rest of India. It lies between Nepal and Bangladesh, near Bhutan.
- Land Boundary Agreement (2015) with Bangladesh: India and Bangladesh exchanged enclaves; 111 Indian enclaves went to Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves came to India (effective 1 August 2015).
- Sir Creek: a tidal estuary between Gujarat (Kutch) and Pakistan's Sindh; the boundary here is disputed.
- Kachchatheevu: a small island in the Palk Strait handed to Sri Lanka under the 1974 agreement.
- Siachen, Sir Creek, Kalapani (Uttarakhand-Nepal) and Aksai Chin are known disputed or sensitive areas in exams.
- India-Bhutan border is open; the same holds for Nepal under the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship.
Seas, straits and channels
| Name | Between |
|---|---|
| Palk Strait | Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka (links Bay of Bengal and Palk Bay) |
| Gulf of Mannar | India (Tamil Nadu) and Sri Lanka; Ramanathapuram, Tuticorin coast |
| Adam's (Rama's) Bridge | Chain of shoals between Pamban (Rameswaram) and Mannar Island |
| Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay) | Both in Gujarat, west coast |
| Ten Degree Channel | Between Little Andaman and Car Nicobar |
| Nine Degree Channel | Between Kalpeni / Suheli and Minicoy (Lakshadweep) |
| Eight Degree Channel | Between Minicoy and the Maldives |
| Great Channel | Between Great Nicobar and Sumatra (Indonesia); Indira Point is at its edge |
| Preparis Channel | Between Preparis Island (Myanmar) and North Andaman |
| Duncan Passage | Between South Andaman and Little Andaman |
Maritime zones (UNCLOS)
Under the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, EEZ and other Maritime Zones Act, 1976, India claims a 12 nautical mile territorial sea, 24 nm contiguous zone and a 200 nm Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The EEZ is about 2 million sq km (about 2.02), roughly two-thirds of the land area, and rich in fish, oil and gas, and polymetallic nodules.
Keep practising
Notes are only half the work. Test yourself with questions and discuss doubts with other aspirants.
Prepared for exam revision from NCERT, standard geography textbooks, the Census of India 2011, the India State of Forest Report, IMD, Ministry of Agriculture and other official sources. Maps are schematic teaching maps, not Survey of India maps, and zone boundaries are approximate. Figures such as production, capacity, counts of parks and ports, and census status change, so check the latest official source before relying on them. Found a mistake? Tell us.