India shares land borders with seven countries and sea borders with two island nations, making its neighbourhood one of the most geographically diverse in the world. The Himalayan arc guards the north and north-east while the coasts open India to Sri Lanka and the Maldives across the Indian Ocean. Rivers are the lifeblood of Indian civilisation — almost every major city grew on a riverbank, and the city-to-river pairing is one of the highest-frequency question types in SSC CGL General Awareness. This chapter covers India's boundaries, extreme points, and a comprehensive A-to-Z table of cities on river banks.
India has 28 States, 7 Union Territories, and 1 National Capital Territory.
How many States does India have, according to the notes?
Sri Lanka and India are separated by which narrow water body?
is a chain of islands located south-west of Sri Lanka and India in the Indian Ocean.
India is bounded in the north and north-east by young fold mountains called the Great .
India's northernmost point is Indira Col and southernmost is Indira Point (Great Nicobar Island).
| Direction | Location | State / UT |
|---|---|---|
| Northernmost | Indira Col | Jammu & Kashmir (Ladakh) |
| Southernmost | Indira Point (formerly Pygmalion / Parsons Point; renamed after PM Indira Gandhi visited in 1984) | Great Nicobar Island |
| Easternmost | Kibithu | Arunachal Pradesh |
| Westernmost | Ghuar Moti, Kutch district | Gujarat |
India's southernmost point, Indira Point, is located on which island?
India's easternmost point, Kibithu, is located in which state?
India's northernmost point is , located in Ladakh (Jammu & Kashmir).
India's westernmost point, Ghuar Moti in the Kutch district, is located in the state of .
India shares its land border with 7 countries: Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Myanmar.
| Country | Indian States / UTs Sharing Border |
|---|---|
| Pakistan | Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir (Ladakh) |
| China | Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh |
| Bangladesh | Assam, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, West Bengal |
| Nepal | Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim |
| Bhutan | Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim, West Bengal |
| Afghanistan | Ladakh (POK region) |
| Myanmar | Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram |
With how many countries does India share a land border?
Which country borders only the POK region of Jammu & Kashmir?
India's total land border length is approximately km.
Among Himalayan neighbours, shares the longest boundary with India.
Sri Lanka is separated from India by the Palk Strait — the narrowest water gap between the two nations.
Which water body separates Sri Lanka from India as the narrowest gap between the two nations?
What is the capital of the Maldives?
Sri Lanka is about km from India's southern tip (Dhanushkodi) across the Palk Strait.
Neither Sri Lanka nor Maldives shares a boundary with India.
Allahabad (Prayagraj) sits at the Triveni Sangam — confluence of Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati.
Note: State names reflect administrative placement of each city.
| City | River | State |
|---|---|---|
| Agra | Yamuna | Uttar Pradesh |
| Ahmedabad | Sabarmati | Gujarat |
| Allahabad (Prayagraj) | Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati | Uttar Pradesh |
| Auraiya | Yamuna | Uttar Pradesh |
| Ayodhya | Saryu | Uttar Pradesh |
| Badrinath | Alaknanda | Uttarakhand |
| Bangalore | Vrishabhavathi | Karnataka |
| Bharuch | Narmada | Gujarat |
| Bhadravathi | Bhadra | Karnataka |
| Dibrugarh | Brahmaputra | Assam |
| Etawah | Yamuna | Uttar Pradesh |
| Farrukhabad | Ganges | Uttar Pradesh |
| Gangakhed | Godavari | Maharashtra |
| Gorakhpur | Rapti | Uttar Pradesh |
| Guwahati | Brahmaputra | Assam |
| Gwalior | Chambal | Madhya Pradesh |
| Haridwar | Ganges | Uttarakhand |
| Hospet | Tungabhadra | Karnataka |
| Hyderabad | Musi | Telangana |
| Jabalpur | Narmada | Madhya Pradesh |
| Jammu | Tawi | Jammu & Kashmir |
| Jaunpur | Gomti | Uttar Pradesh |
| Kolkata | Hooghly | West Bengal |
| Kota | Chambal | Rajasthan |
| Kurnool | Tungabhadra | Andhra Pradesh |
| Cuttack | Mahanadi | Odisha |
Allahabad (Prayagraj) sits at the Triveni Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and which mythical river?
On which river is the city of Hyderabad situated?
The city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh is situated on the river.
Kolkata in West Bengal is located on the river.
Varanasi (Kashi) on the Ganges is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities and the most exam-asked city-river pair.
| City | River | State |
|---|---|---|
| Lucknow | Gomti | Uttar Pradesh |
| Malegaon | Girna River | Maharashtra |
| Mathura | Yamuna | Uttar Pradesh |
| Mirzapur | Ganga | Uttar Pradesh |
| Modasa | Mazum | Gujarat |
| Morbi | Machhu | Gujarat |
| Nashik | Godavari | Maharashtra |
| New Delhi | Yamuna | Delhi |
| Nizamabad | Godavari | Telangana |
| Patan | Saraswati | Gujarat |
| Rajahmundry | Godavari | Andhra Pradesh |
| Rangpo | Teesta | Sikkim |
| Shimoga | Tunga River | Karnataka |
| Sombalpur | Mahanadi | Odisha |
| Sonali | Krishna | Maharashtra |
| Srinagar | Jhelum | Jammu & Kashmir |
| Surat | Tapi | Gujarat |
| Thiruchirapa (Trichy) | Kaveri | Tamil Nadu |
| Ujjain | Shipra (Kshipra) | Madhya Pradesh |
| Varanasi | Ganges | Uttar Pradesh |
| Vijayawada | Krishna | Andhra Pradesh |
| Firozpur | Sutlej | Punjab |
| Kolhapur | Panchaganon | Maharashtra |
On which river is the ancient city of Varanasi (Kashi) situated?
The city of Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh is located on which river?
Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh is situated on the river.
Surat in Gujarat is located on the river.
The Yamuna links Delhi, Agra, Mathura, Etawah, and Auraiya — five exam-important cities on a single river.
Which of these cities is NOT located on the Yamuna river?
Which pair of cities both lie on the Brahmaputra river?
The cities Gwalior and Kota both lie on the river.
The cities Lucknow and Jaunpur both lie on the river.
Take 5 questions at a time — tap an option to check. After each round, revise the notes above and take the retest for 5 fresh questions, until you've mastered the whole chapter.