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 Where In The World?
Where in the World is India?
It's time to get out your globe! You need to know about the imaginary lines on globes and maps. These lines are called lines of latitude and longitude, and they tell a pilot or ship's captain exactly where in the world a certain place is located. Basically, latitude lines (also called parallels) are the horizontal lines on your map. Lines of longitude (also called meridians) are the vertical lines that run from the North Pole to the South Pole. This mapping system is written in degrees and uses the symbol . Get ready to travel the world!
 Find longitude 77 E and latitude 20 N, and you will find the country of India. It is located in Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Much of the country is a peninsula that juts into the Indian Ocean. It is bordered by the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, Nepal and Pakistan. The country has many different types of land. There are the high mountains of the Himalayas, deserts and a coastal plain that is tropical.
About one-sixth of the world's people live in India. There are 15 different official languages, but Hindi is the official national language. Most educated people in India also speak English. The majority of the Indian people are of the Hindu religion. In India, the people live by a caste system. There are four main social castes the priests, landowners, farmers and business owners, and finally, the laborers. Most of India's people live in villages, often in mud huts. Many villages do not have indoor plumbing for bathrooms or electricity. An award winning film, Going to School in India, explores what it's like to live in India. Millions of children go to school by boat, bicycle or foot. In one village, the school is actually a bus; for another child, the school is a monastery. In one village, a young girl goes to school at night after working during the day, and the classes are lit by solar lamp because there is no electricity. Education is very important to the Indian people, and as a result, many of them have become very well-trained in science and technology.
Sources: The World Factbook prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency; "India"in Britannica Student Encyclopedia; "Going to School in India," Master Communications, Inc.,
www.goingtoschool.com.
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