Some of you've been waiting a long time for this episode.

I'm just gonna say straight up:

You all know India is incredibly complex and diverse.

Even Indians have trouble understanding their own country.

Obviously, I won't be able to scratch even the surface in this episode.

But I'll try my best. A lot of you Indian geograpeeps have helped me along the way.

So thank you, and without further ado, let's begin!

♫♫♫

♫ It's time to learn Geography! NOW!!! ♫

Hey everybody. I'm your host Barby.

This place doesn't even need much of an introduction.

Everybody has heard of India. It's big. It's loud.

It's colorful, and most importantly it has a plethora of confusing territorial anomalies that I just can't wait to cover. Here we go!!

♫ Political Geography ♫

There's an old saying: India is a place where everyone is in a hurry,

but no one is ever on time.

First of all, India is located in South Asia right on the Indian and Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

Bordered by six other countries. So close to seven but that land bridge between Sri Lanka

got wiped away like 600 years ago by a cyclone. India is divided into 29 states and 7 union territories

with the capital New Delhi which acts as its own administrative

unit located in the capital territory

Keep in mind that New Delhi is actually just the name of one of the districts in the capital territory made up of 11.

The largest city however, is actually Mumbai, with New Delhi, Bangalore (or Bengaluru) and Hyderabad

following after. However the four busiest airports are Delhi (Indira Gandhi International), Mumbai (Chhatrapati Shivaji International)

Bengaluru's Kempegowda International and Chennai International in the south.

Ah, you know why I'm smiling

This is my favorite part of any episode

we ever make: territorial anomaly time!!

India is loaded with strange borders and

deliciously complex demarcation lines.

First of all what exactly is a Union territory?

In the simplest way I can put this Union Territories are places that are two distinct to be incorporated into a state

but too small to have their own local governments.

The first one of course is the Delhi National capital territory where the capital lies.

Chandigarh is a post-independent city constructed to replace Lahore as the capital of the Punjab area after it was split up between India and Pakistan.

Then you have the Island territories the smallest one

Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Andaman Islands being home to one of the last

uncontacted people groups on the planet:

the sentinelese tried who have been hostile to visitors and are therefore left alone.

As well as the Nicobar Islands which actually used to be a short-lived colony of Denmark.

Finally the three remaining territories are former European Colony towns and ports:

Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu

which are separated by 200 kilometers across the Gulf of Khambhat.

And the most confusing Union Territory: the French-speaking Puducherry

Which is actually split between four district cities across India:

Karaikal, Mahe, Yanam and Pondicherry.

Pondicherry is strange because it has 11 enclaves within the Tamil Nadu state or in this area you can also find the

experimental hippie-ish

commune with a little bit of controversy (look it up).

Here the Eastern States (also known as the Seven Sisters) are connected by this incredibly narrow 27-kilometer wide pathway known as the Siliguri Corridor.

This pathway is like a crucial artery that completes the India puzzle. Or so you would think?

Now let's discuss the juicy stuff.

Now in the China episode

I already talked about the disputed areas with India such as Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh.

The latter pretty much just belonging to India as it's almost completely inhabited and operated by Indians.

So let's move to the other disputes. Now as of 2015 the Bangladesh episode is already outdated as India and Bangladesh have finally come to

an agreement over the frighteningly

complex former enclave/exclave dispute. In the end India only lost about 40 square kilometers of land to Bangladesh.

And now only a few enclaves and exclaves exist.

Now let's head North.

Now when you try to draw the shape of India you might want to be careful which depiction you use.

Some might use this picture.

Some might use this.

Some might use this

and those that don't really study very well might use this.

The point is the whole area is like the most heavily militarized

diplomatically stressed out region on the planet.

It's already had like four wars in the past half century.

Basically, India, Pakistan (and to some extent China) all want the entire area for themselves although

it's more of like a Pakistan-India thing.

In the China episode we already discussed the Chinese disputes with India

so I won't cover those in this episode if you want to learn more just watch the China episode.

But anyway! This entire area was a former domain known as the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir that was under Royal

Maharaja rulers all the way up until independence.

Currently this place is split up by this fenced off militarized line known as the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan.

Why is this?

Well in the quickest way I can put this:

Pakistan: Okay the British are out. We get to take your land.

J&K: No, we want to be an independent princely state.

Pakistan: Er..we're supposed to take your land and majority of your people are Muslim.

Just like us. Even though your ruler is Hindu as well.

Soon after...

J&K: Hey India. If you help me, I'll let you secede my territory to your land with autonomy.

India: Deal.

*India beats Pakistan.*

J&K: Ha! your problem now.

I love how Mike played India. He totally represents India.

Oh, and keep in mind Pakistan's capital

Islamabad is less than 80 kilometers away from all that drama.

The Line of control meanders through the mountains until it stops at a point called NJ-9842.

This is where things get really crazy because from there you hit the Siachin glacier (the second longest nonpolar glacier) in the world and this

is pretty much the dead man's zone. After point NJ-9842 you hit the actual ground

position line: a series of military outposts that extend all the way to the Chinese border.

That means everything in this area is ground zero for the Indo-Pak tension.

You know the crazy thing is there's actually literally small towns of normal regular civilians living in these areas high up in the mountains.

Many of which just go about daily life going to work and raising their families.

Otherwise they have a river dispute with Nepal

and various River Islands disputed with Bangladesh.

Outside of all the dispute stuff though

India not only has the world's second largest road network and three of the world's top ten mega cities and their own space program

but they also have a copious abundance of landmarks and notable sites way too many to list.

But some of the ones that you guys the Indian Geograpeeps have told me to mention include places like

the abandoned Dhanuskhodi Ghost City

Golconda Fort

the four Pillars of Charminar

The Ajanta Buddhist art Caves

The Elora Monolithic ruins

Mandu Fortress

The Golden Temple (which feeds over a hundred thousand people a day; for free!)

The Gol Gumbaz mausoleum

The Kalavantin Durg Post

The ruins of Hampi

The Hill Forts of Rajasthan

Shatrunjaya hill (which is basically like a Mecca for Jains)

The temple of the Bodhi tree

Jal Mahal

Bhangarh Fort (the most haunted place in India)

Mohabbat Maqbara

and keep in mind. Just like in China

you can find a great wall of India in Rajsamand.

There's also the Paritala Anjaneya Temple (with the largest statue in India depicting Hanuman)

and over 150 acres the Sri Ranganathaswami Temple

the largest Hindu Temple in the world

And there's also that building with the stuff and that thing and whatever.

We could go on for centuries talking about India's rich constructed domicile

But what it lies on top of is even more fascinating?

♫ Physical Geography ♫

Now don't make this mistake.

I'm going to India. All I need are my sandals and sunscreen.

Welcome to Kargil!

(freezing) Oh crap!

Now as the seventh largest country in land area, India has a wide range of landscapes, climates and elevations

that all contrast from one corner to the other.

First of all, let's talk about the North. India sits on the Indian tectonic plate that essentially smashed into the Eurasian plate

which in return created the largest Mountain range in the world: the Himalayas.

The force is so strong that it's estimated that the Himalayas grow about 2.4 inches

or 6.1 centimeters every year. It's also here we can find Kanchenjunga: the tallest mountain in India or the third in the world, right on the border of Nepal.

Keep your eye on these mountains. These are pretty much the source of most of India's major rivers that give

life to the whole country.

That's why India takes these mountains so seriously.

You can also find the largest natural lake Wular, up in the Jammu & Kashmir area.

Below the Himalayas you reach the North Indian River plains, sometimes referred to as the Indus-Ganga.

This is the most fertile part of India where the most important Rivers like the Ganges and its tributaries flow.

Heading a little south you Reach the Satpura and Vindhya ranges that pretty much divide North India from South India.

On each side you get the Western and Eastern Ghat mountains which in return creates this massive triangle thing called the Deccan plateau.

This place is moderately forced especially in the east and the Chota Nagpur plateau

where you get a section of the swampy Sunderbans that they share with Bangladesh (check out the Bangladesh episode).

Head a little West and you get the dry Thar desert along the border with Pakistan.

As well as the Runn of Kutch (known as the salt desert)

And finally the only active volcanic area would be the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

with Barren Island having actual conical eruptions and Baratang having tame mud Volcanoes

Now here's the thing: although India has a relatively high population density

they do relatively well with maintaining their ecological footing

In fact in 2016 they beat a world record by planting (disputably) 50 million trees in one day.

They've also agreed to reforest about 12 percent of the country by 2030. The most heavily forested area being the Seven Sister states in East India.

Now one of the factors that contributes to this would be the fact that India has the lowest meat consumption in the world with

the highest population percentage of

vegetarians at around 40% (most of whom are lacto-vegetarian that consume milk products)

By the way in India when buying groceries this label means

Vegetarian and this one means

Non-vegetarian.

Nonetheless, the remainder of the population does typically eat some kind of animal

protein (mostly in the form of seafood or chicken).

But almost never beef or pork (unless a fewer part of the muslim or Christian minorities scattered throughout the west and east areas).

Now let's talk about the role of Cattle, shall we?

India has more cattle and livestock than anywhere else in the world at around 330 million

And it's interesting because since they have prevalent Hindu traditions, the killing of cows is illegal in many of the states except for a few,

and each state has varying degrees of punishment for committing intentional cow slaughter.

Keyword: Intentional. Cows accidentally get hit by cars all the time.

Once the cows too old to produce milk it typically is released into the open

to die naturally in the wild. "Ideally".

Nonetheless male cattle get it much worse as they are deemed as kind of "useless". Some places use them as draft animals for labour.

Some religious sects use them as sacrifices, but otherwise

They're typically sold to the underground market for beef or hides.

To this day, there are about six times as many female cows as male cattle in India so that means: yeah something's happening to the males.

Nonetheless, India does have the third highest carbon emission rate after China and the US. Fourth if you consider the EU.

However emission per capita they rank pretty low at only about two kilotons per person.

Contrast that with Qatar at about 40.

There are 94 national Parks, 501 Animal Sanctuaries

across the country where you can find some of the national animals like the Peacock,

the Ganges River Dolphin, the King Cobra,

the Indian elephant,

and the highest population of Bengal tigers in the world

which are all highly protected.

India also has the most irrigated land in the world

which allows them to become the number one producer of multiple products like

Millet

Bananas

Lemons (limes?),

Mangos,

Ginger,

Chickpeas,

milk, butter,

Fennel,

Jute,

and about 75% of the world's Spices alone come from India.

Speaking of which: food.

Typically you can find the staples: Roti, chapati and Naan in the North.

Idli and Dosa in the south

and everybody eats rice. More commonly commercialized Indian foods

that we in the west grew up knowing like:

Samosas, Tikka Masala