<Tr> <Th> Longest river </Th> <Td> Ganga (or Ganges) 2,525 km (8,284,121 ft) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Largest lake </Th> <Td> Wular Lake 30 to 260 km2 (12 to 100 sq mi) </Td> </Tr> <P> India lies on the Indian Plate, the northern portion of the Indo - Australian Plate, whose continental crust forms the Indian subcontinent . The country is situated north of the equator between 8 ° 4' to 37 ° 6' north latitude and 68 ° 7' to 97 ° 25' east longitude . It is the seventh - largest country in the world, with a total area of 3,287,469 square kilometres (1,269,299 sq mi). India measures 3,214 km (1,997 mi) from north to south and 2,933 km (1,822 mi) from east to west . It has a land frontier of 15,106.7 km (9,387 mi) and a coastline of 7,516.6 km (4,671 mi). </P> <P> On the south, India projects into and is bounded by the Indian Ocean--- in particular, by the Arabian Sea on the west, the Lakshadweep Sea to the southwest, the Bay of Bengal on the east, and the Indian Ocean proper to the South . The Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar separate India from Sri Lanka to its immediate southeast, and the Maldives are some 125 kilometres (78 mi) to the south of India's Lakshadweep Islands across the Eight Degree Channel . India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, some 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) southeast of the mainland, share maritime borders with Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia . Kanyakumari at 8 ° 4 ′ 41" N and 77 ° 55 ′ 230" E is the southernmost tip of the Indian mainland, while the southernmost point in India is Indira Point on Great Nicobar Island . Northernmost point which is under Indian administration is Indira Col, Siachen Glacier . India's territorial waters extend into the sea to a distance of 12 nautical miles (13.8 mi; 22.2 km) from the coast baseline . </P>

The order of plateaus of india from south to north