India - Surface area (sq. km)

The value for Surface area (sq. km) in India was 3,287,259 as of 2018. As the graph below shows, over the past 57 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 3,287,260 in 2013 and a minimum value of 3,287,259 in 2014.

Definition: Surface area is a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.

See also:

Year Value
1961 3,287,260
1962 3,287,260
1963 3,287,260
1964 3,287,260
1965 3,287,260
1966 3,287,260
1967 3,287,260
1968 3,287,260
1969 3,287,260
1970 3,287,260
1971 3,287,260
1972 3,287,260
1973 3,287,260
1974 3,287,260
1975 3,287,260
1976 3,287,260
1977 3,287,260
1978 3,287,260
1979 3,287,260
1980 3,287,260
1981 3,287,260
1982 3,287,260
1983 3,287,260
1984 3,287,260
1985 3,287,260
1986 3,287,260
1987 3,287,260
1988 3,287,260
1989 3,287,260
1990 3,287,260
1991 3,287,260
1992 3,287,260
1993 3,287,260
1994 3,287,260
1995 3,287,260
1996 3,287,260
1997 3,287,260
1998 3,287,260
1999 3,287,260
2000 3,287,260
2001 3,287,260
2002 3,287,260
2003 3,287,260
2004 3,287,260
2005 3,287,260
2006 3,287,260
2007 3,287,260
2008 3,287,260
2009 3,287,260
2010 3,287,260
2011 3,287,260
2012 3,287,260
2013 3,287,260
2014 3,287,259
2015 3,287,259
2016 3,287,259
2017 3,287,259
2018 3,287,259

Development Relevance: Total surface area is particularly important for understanding an economy's agricultural capacity and the environmental effects of human activity. Innovations in satellite mapping and computer databases have resulted in more precise measurements of land and water areas. Population, surface area, income, and output are basic measures of the size of an economy. They also provide a broad indication of actual and potential resources. Land area is therefore used as one of the major indicator to normalize other indicators.

Limitations and Exceptions: The data are collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations through annual questionnaires. The FAO tries to impose standard definitions and reporting methods, but complete consistency across countries and over time is not possible. The data collected from official national sources through the questionnaire are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources. The secondary sources cover official country data from websites of national ministries, national publications and related country data reported by various international organizations.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Total land area includes inland water bodies such as major rivers and lakes. Variations from year to year may be due to updated or revised data rather than to change in area.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Land use