India vs. Afghanistan
Geography
| India | Afghanistan | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan | Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran |
| Geographic coordinates | 20 00 N, 77 00 E | 33 00 N, 65 00 E |
| Map references | Asia | Asia |
| Area | total: 3,287,263 sq km land: 2,973,193 sq km water: 314,070 sq km | total: 652,230 sq km land: 652,230 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly more than one-third the size of the US | almost six times the size of Virginia; slightly smaller than Texas |
| Land boundaries | total: 13,888 km border countries (6): Bangladesh 4142 km, Bhutan 659 km, Burma 1468 km, China 2659 km, Nepal 1770 km, Pakistan 3190 km | total: 5,987 km border countries (6): China 91 km, Iran 921 km, Pakistan 2670 km, Tajikistan 1357 km, Turkmenistan 804 km, Uzbekistan 144 km |
| Coastline | 7,000 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin | none (landlocked) |
| Climate | varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north | arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers |
| Terrain | upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north | mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,586 m lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m mean elevation: 160 m | highest point: Noshak 7,492 m lowest point: Amu Darya 258 m mean elevation: 1,884 m |
| Natural resources | coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), antimony, iron ore, lead, manganese, mica, bauxite, rare earth elements, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land | natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones, arable land |
| Land use | agricultural land: 60.5% (2018 est.) arable land: 52.8% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 4.2% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 3.5% (2018 est.) forest: 23.1% (2018 est.) other: 16.4% (2018 est.) | agricultural land: 58.1% (2018 est.) arable land: 11.8% (2018) permanent crops: 0.3% (2018) permanent pasture: 46% (2018) forest: 1.85% (2018 est.) other: 40.1% (2018) |
| Irrigated land | 667,000 sq km (2012) | 32,080 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes volcanism: Barren Island (354 m) in the Andaman Sea has been active in recent years | damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts |
| Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; desertification; air pollution from industrial effluents and vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage and runoff of agricultural pesticides; tap water is not potable throughout the country; huge and growing population is overstraining natural resources; preservation and quality of forests; biodiversity loss | limited natural freshwater resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building materials); desertification; air and water pollution in overcrowded urban areas |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation |
| Geography - note | dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes; Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in the world, lies on the border with Nepal | landlocked; the Hindu Kush mountains that run northeast to southwest divide the northern provinces from the rest of the country; the highest peaks are in the northern Vakhan (Wakhan Corridor) |
| Total renewable water resources | 1,910,900,000,000 cubic meters (2017 est.) | 65.33 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | with the notable exception of the deserts in the northwest, including the Thar Desert, and the mountain fringe in the north, a very high population density exists throughout most of the country; the core of the population is in the north along the banks of the Ganges, with other river valleys and southern coastal areas also having large population concentrations | populations tend to cluster in the foothills and periphery of the rugged Hindu Kush range; smaller groups are found in many of the country's interior valleys; in general, the east is more densely settled, while the south is sparsely populated |
Source: CIA Factbook
