Area > comparative
land area is about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC
slightly more than one-third the size of the US
DEFINITION:
The area of various small countries expressed in comparison to various areas within the United States of America.
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Area > Comparative to US places
land area is about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC
slightly more than one-third the size of the US
DEFINITION:
This entry provides an area comparison based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states based on area measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US Bureau of the Census. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146 acres).
SOURCE:
All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Area > land
60 sq km
2,973,193 sq km
DEFINITION:
Total land area in square kilometres
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Ranked 212nd in 2005.
Ranked 7th in 2005. 49552 times more than British Indian Ocean Territory
Area > total
54,400 sq km
3,287,590 sq km
DEFINITION:
Total area in square kilometers
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Ranked 132nd in 2008.
Ranked 14th in 2008. 59 times more than British Indian Ocean Territory
Area > water
54,340 sq km
314,400 sq km
DEFINITION:
Total water area in square kilometers
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Ranked 13th in 2008.
Ranked 3rd in 2008. 5 times more than British Indian Ocean Territory
Climate
tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds
varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
DEFINITION:
A brief description of typical weather regimes throughout the year.
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Coastline
698 km
7,000 km
DEFINITION:
The total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea.
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Ranked 91st in 2005.
Ranked 19th in 2005. 9 times more than British Indian Ocean Territory
Elevation extremes > highest point
unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m
Kanchenjunga 8,598 m
DEFINITION:
Highest point above sea level
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Elevation extremes > lowest point
Indian Ocean 0 m
Indian Ocean 0 m
DEFINITION:
Lowest point relative to sea level
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Geography > note
archipelago of 55 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility
dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes; Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in the world, lies on the border with Nepal
DEFINITION:
This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of significance not included elsewhere.
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Land use > other
100 %
48.37 %
DEFINITION:
The percentage share of used land that is not arable or under permanent crops. This includes permanent meadows and pastures, forests and woodlands, built-on areas, roads, barren land, etc.
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Ranked 11th in 2005. 107% more than India
Ranked 231st in 2005.
Location
archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about halfway between Africa and Indonesia
Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
DEFINITION:
The country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Map references
Political Map of the World
Asia
DEFINITION:
The name of the CIA World Factbook reference map on which a country may be found. The entry on Geographic coordinates may be helpful in finding some smaller countries.
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Maritime claims > territorial sea
3 nautical mile
12 nautical mile
DEFINITION:
territorial sea - the sovereignty of a coastal State extends beyond its land territory and internal waters to an adjacent belt of sea, described as the territorial sea in the LOS Convention (Part II); this sovereignty extends to the air space over the territorial sea as well as its underlying seabed and subsoil; every State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles. A full and definitive definition can be found in the Law of the Sea (LOS) Convention.
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Ranked 189th in 2008.
Ranked 54th in 2008. 3 times more than British Indian Ocean Territory
Natural hazards
NA
droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes
DEFINITION:
Potential natural disasters.
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Natural resources
coconuts, fish, sugarcane
coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land
DEFINITION:
A country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
Population density
0 people per sqkm
336.62 people per sqkm
DEFINITION:
People per square kilometre, in 1999. At this time the world average was 14.42.
SOURCE:
Heal The World Foundation.
Ranked 237th.
Ranked 32nd.
Terrain
flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation)
upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
DEFINITION:
A brief description of the topography
SOURCE:
CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011
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