Hope that some have found these posts informative. I am listing them below:
https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/the-extreme-points-of-india/
https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/03/19/the-northernmost-points-in-india/
https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/the-easternmost-points-of-india/
https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/04/02/the-westernmost-points-of-india/
https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/04/08/the-southernmost-points-of-india/
The standard answer to this one is Kanyakumari (also called Cape Comorin), which is indeed the southernmost point on the Indian mainland. Unlike the other extreme points, this is well populated and linked to other parts of the country. It is officially at 8.078 N, 77.541 E. Here is the main tourist area:
The southernmost point on the mainland would probably be the place marked “Hidden twin beach”.
The railway station seen on this map has trains to all corners of India, including Katra in Kashmir and Dibrugarh in Assam.
Kanyakumari was earlier in Travancore state, then Travancore-Cochin state and was finally transferred to Madras state (now Tamil Nadu) when linguistic states were formed.
But the true southernmost point of India lies in the Andaman and Nicobar islands (not the islands of Lakshwadeep as their southernmost point is around the same latitude as Thiruvananthapuram). To be precise, the southernmost point is a settlement called Indira Point on the southern tip of Great Nicobar island.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Point
This article mentions that there are 4 households in this settlement with a total population of 27 (all males). It also mentions how many are literate and how many are from reserved categories. Presumably most (if not all) of them are connected with the lighthouse.
Here is a video of the area shortly after the tsunami of 2004: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRA4sCNTN4E
Note how the lighthouse has sunk into the water. It is functioning again now.
There appears to be a helipad nearby. Also note the numerous small buildings near the lighthouse.
While tourism is being encouraged in some parts of the Andamans, even Indian citizens cannot visit Nicobar district without permission from the union territory’s government. There are ships and helicopter services to nearby Campbell Bay, which has India’s southernmost airport and naval base. This could be described as the southernmost village in India (population around 5700). Due to the military presence, it has amentities such as banks and a Kendriya Vidyalaya (school run by the federal government).
It is not often appreciated that these islands, particularly in the Nicobar group, are considerably closer to other countries than to India. This map should give an idea:
The straight-line distances from Indira Point to various places in India:
Port Blair-554 Km
Chennai-1646 Km
Kolkata-1855 Km
And to some places in other countries:
Banda Aceh, Indonesia-215 Km
Phuket, Thailand-515 Km
Colombo-1538 Km
Yangon-1153 Km
Think about it. Indira Point is closer to Indonesia and Thailand than to Port Blair. And Yangon and Colombo are closer to it than any mainland Indian city.
The Andaman and Nicobar islands were occupied by Japanese forces during WW2, and were nominally governed by the Indian National Army.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andaman_and_Nicobar_Islands#World_War_II
Regarding the research stations in Antarctica starting with Dakshin Gangotri, it appears that India does not have any territorial claims over Antarctica while some other countries do.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Antarctic_Program
According to the Wikipedia article on “Extreme Points of India”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extreme_points_of_India
the westernmost point of India is Guhar Moti in Lakhpat taluk of Kutch district of Gujarat. This article mentions that it is at 23.71307 N, 68.03215 E. This appears to be wrong as it gives a point in the sea. However, the village of Guhar Moti is actually at 23.6076 N, 68.5022 E
which you can see here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Guhar+Moti,+Gujarat+370601,+India/@23.6201256,68.5272452,14z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x395238a1259c106f:0x66b28d5fd5388930?hl=en
More about this place can be seen here and in line 55 of this
We note that the population of 242 (in the last census) includes 186 belonging to the scheduled castes, 55 to the scheduled tribes and 1 in the general category. In line 56, we see the nearby pilgrimage centre of Narayan Sarovar with a population of 1156. This is larger than the taluk HQ of Lakhpat which is described as a ghost town with a population of 500-odd. It did figure in the 2000 film “Refugee”, which marked the debut of Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor.
Some say that the temple at Koteshwar near Narayan Sarovar is the westernmost point of India, but you can see from the above link to Google maps that this is not true.
Remote as this area may be, it is well connected with roads. There was even a proposal to connect Koteshwar by rail to the nearest railhead at Naliya, but that may have to wait until the closed line from Bhuj to Naliya is converted from metre gauge to broad gauge. Naliya is also the site of India’s westernmost air force base, which hosts Mig-21 fighter aircraft. One of them shot down a Pakistani Navy aircraft near the border in 1999 (more about this below).
This part of Kutch district has a number of industries, mainly based on lignite (brown coal) which is mined nearby. The westernmost industrial unit in India may well be the Akrimota lignite power station on the coast, at 23.7721 N, 68.6442 E.
An overall view of the India-Pakistan border can be seen here
Note the complex border around the Sir Creek. The border is also disputed here, as India and Pakistan differ on the interpretation of a treaty signed between the government of Sind and the ruler of Kutch in 1914. The basic issue here is connected with borders formed by rivers-what happens when the river changes course? More details about the dispute and ongoing negotiations can be seen here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Creek
Also read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantique_incident
Some literature mentions that the lights of Karachi can be seen from Koteshwar. This may not be true as the distance from here to the centre of Karachi is 200 km.
The border here consists of uninhabited marshlands, which are flooded during the monsoons. Patrolling by boats and aircraft is carried out by both countries. Also see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Rann_of_Kutch
The Kutch war of 1965 did not concern this area and was confined to the northern borders of Kutch.
We start with this map (which appeared in the Economist some time ago) to see the various disputed areas involving India, Pakistan and China.
While the LOC in Kashmir is basically a result of Pakistan grabbing whatever it could in 1947-48, the borders with China are somewhat more complicated, involving treaties by various entities controlling Kashmir, the former NEFA and Tibet over the past two centuries.
There is even a small disputed area called Bara Hoti on the border between Uttarakhand and Tibet, but nothing much happens there. China claims most (but not all) of Arunachal Pradesh; the dark green part of the map is the undisputed part of that state. And Tawang was supposedly governed by Tibet until 1951 before India occupied it.
That bit about Arunachal is necessary to understand this extract from the Wikipedia article on “Extreme points of India”:
| East (disputed, administered) |
Kibithu in Anjaw district | Arunachal Pradesh | Tibet, China | 28.01744°N 97.40238°E | [4][8] |
| East (undisputed) | Near Kumki, in the Changlang district | Arunachal Pradesh | Kachin State, Myanmar | 27.12622°N 97.16712°E | [9] |
Kibithu is in the disputed part of Arunachal while Kumki is in the smaller undisputed part.
You can click on the coordinates to get the location on Google Maps or other sites. The first one seems to be wrong as it shows a point in Myanmar. The second one shows a point in India near the border although no place name is given.
This map of Arunachal Pradesh may also be helpful:
You can see Kibithu north of the better-known Walong in Anjaw district.
The place Kumki is not shown here, but would be east of Vijoyanagar (which, like Walong, has an Advanced Landing Ground which can handle medium transport aircraft such as the AN-32 and C-130J).
As Wikipedia has got it wrong, let us explore Walong and its surroundings in Anjaw district on Google Maps:
https://www.google.com/maps/@28.1383739,97.0662292,11z?hl=en
Anjaw is the easternmost district of India. Naturally its HQ at Hawai is the eastermost district HQ at 96.8027 E. The easternmost subdivision is Walong, whose HQ is at Walong (97.067 E).
Walong listed as a cantonment and town, at longitude 97.0167 E
Dong listed as the easternmost village in India, at longitude 97.0412 E
Kibithu listed as one of the easternmost towns in India and the easternmost roadhead in India, at longitude 97.0156 E which is west of Walong and Dong.
And the village closest to the Chinese border in this locality is Kaho, near Kibithu.
There is a post office at Walong (Pin code 792104) which covers these places. It would be the easternmost post office in India.
The easternmost bank branch is that of SBI at Hawai in Anjaw district, (96.8027 E). While there are several bank branches in Changlang district, none are so far east.
Also note the tri-junction of India, China and Myanmar about 20 Km east of the Walong-Kibithu route, apparently without any inhabited place in between.
However, the curiously-named village of Dong would be the easternmost civilian inhabited place in India-even though it consists of 3 huts (and a population of 15 in 4 households). The children go to school in Walong.
In spite of its remoteness it does attract a small number of tourists. Walong is reachable by road via Tezu (which was once served by Vayudoot flights, and now may have Pawan Hans helicopter services run by the state government). Otherwise one can start from Mohanbari airport or Tinsukia railway station.
As a formality, we also visit the “undisputed” easternmost point in the vicinity of Vijoyanagar in Changlang district:
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.1925253,96.9753302,11z?hl=en
There does not seem to be any civilian inhabited place between Vijoyanagar and the Myanmar border. This has a longitude of 96.9939 E which is west of Walong and its neighbours. Changlang district has numerous places of tourist interest (including the Miao sactuary) which can be reached from Mohanbari airport or Tinsukia railway station.
However, life in Vijoyanagar is hard, as you can read here: https://yobindreams.wordpress.com/2013/06/27/non-existence-of-road-inflicts-miseries-a-story-of-vijaynagar-changlang-district/
That is based on an article written in 2009. Perhaps things have improved since then.
Fortunately the western and southern extreme points of India are not so remote, as we will see later.
More detailed maps of Anjaw and Changlang districts:
There are some countries like Britain whose extreme points are well documented. The little towns of Land’s End and John O’Groats are well-known tourist spots.
In many countries one or more borders and extreme points are in remote areas-particularly so in India’s northern and eastern borders. There is a difference between:
One can also look up the definitions of “de jure” and “de facto” if one wants to be further confused.
Anyway, this Wikipedia article claims to mention all the extreme points of India. For today we deal with the northernmost points, and we will return to the other points later.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extreme_points_of_India
We start with a typical map of Jammu and Kashmir from a school atlas:
If one was to take this seriously, the international borders shown here are the true borders of the India since Independence.
A point of interest is the thin sliver of Afghanistan (known as the Wakhan corridor) bordering India’s territory. Crossing this you enter Tajikstan, formerly part of the USSR.
But what is actually controlled by India? This map from Wikipedia sums it up:
Note the green area which has been controlled by Pakistan since shortly after independence, although minor changes have occurred in the 1965 and 1971 wars.
Then there is the Aksai Chin (in beige, like the rest of China and Tibet) which was taken over by China some time in the mid-1950s, without the Indian government or armed forces knowing about it. Also note that a portion of south-eastern Ladakh is held by India and is marked as disputed.
The Siachen glacier (in white) was not permanently occupied by any government until the Indian armed forces occupied positions there in 1984.
Then there is the Shaksgam valley which is supposed to be in India, and was occupied by Pakistan and later transferred to China.
So you can see that the northern-most point actually occupied by India’s forces would be somewhere near the northern end of Siachen, on the border with Xinjiang province of China.
Now we look back to the Wikpedia article referenced earlier: If you click on the co-ordinates you will end up with a map showing the location. But it may take less time if you first open Google maps or Wikimapia etc and enter the coordinates yourself.
The borders will be shown differently if you are using google.co.in or, say, google.com. (Update: This was true in 2016, but not now as the borders in all Google versions shows the same border as in Google.co.in).
| Heading | Location | Administrative entity | Bordering entity | Coordinates[nb 1] | Ref |
| North (disput-ed, govern–ed |
Near Indira Col, Siachen Glacier | Indian-administered Kashmir | Xinjiang, China | 35.674520°N 76.845245°E | [3] |
| North (disput–ed, claimed) |
Dafdar in the Taghdumbash Pamir near Beyik Pass | Xinjiang, China | Wakhan Corridor, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan | 37°24′00″N 75°24′00″E | [4] |
| North (undis- -puted) |
Near Dharwas, Chamba district | Himachal Pradesh | Indian-administered Kashmir | 33.24902°N 76.82704°E | [5] |
The first point shows what may be the northernmost Indian military post at Indira Col in the Siachen, with latitude approximately 35.6745 N.
The second shows a place some distance along the Karakoram highway near Tashkargan, the first town in Xinjiang.
And the third shows the northernmost point of Himachal Pradesh (since the whole of J & K is disputed 🙂 )
This is all rather messy, so you may prefer the map referenced here:
which shows the location of Indira Col with reference to the Line of Control.
This article explains the significance of NJ 9842 and the line heading northeast from it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siachen_Glacier
There are a few helipads in the glacier area. One of them, at Point Sonam, has been listed as the world’s highest helipad at 21,000 ft. It is referenced here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helipad
Apart from the location above, there is a built-up area at Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) airstrip:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daulat_Beg_Oldi
which is at 35.390 N . Note the comment:
“Other than Siachen Glacier military bases, it is India’s northernmost built-up area.” There is a nearby small town of Murgo, (35.0411 N) which is not yet connected by motorable road to Leh although some roads exist around DBO.
And DBO is listed as the world’s highest airstrip at 16,600 ft. It was first operated with Packet aircraft in 1962, and now handles AN-32s and C-130Js. References are given in the Wikipedia article.
The northernmost town which can be visited by the Indian public is now Warshi:
Also see this map for the roads here:
Warshi’s latitude is 35.0629 N, while the previous northernmost accessible place was Turtuk with 34.8474 N. Turtuk was under Pakistan’s control until 1971.
Fortunately the extreme points in the west, east and south are not so confusing. We visit them next.
Footnote: here is another map of disputed territories, which seems to have appeared in “The Economist” at some point. We will meet it again when we come to the eastern extreme points.
You may also like this one about disputed territory on the Uttarakhand border:
https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/where-is-barahoti/
Tail piece: Indian journalists routinely mis-spell the McMahon line as the MacMohan line, thinking of the second-rung villain of Bollywood:
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/gallery/actor-mac-mohans-life-in-pics/1/3163.html
A travelogue on Turtuk, which was opened to tourists some years ago:
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190730-the-village-that-lost-its-country
We hear the phrase “From Kashmir to Kanyakumari” or the next-door version “from Khyber to Karachi”. In Britain there is “From Land’s End to John O’Groats” which are supposed to be the extreme southwest and extreme northeast points of the British mainland. In contrast, the US gets by with “From sea to shining sea” in one of their patriotic songs.
Ever wondered about the extreme points of India? One may think that the question is answered in the Wikipedia article linked below. Actually it is not as simple as that as there are several different ways of deciding where India ends in the north. (Do you mean what the official atlas says, or the point actually under Indian military control? And since many countries think that Kashmir is a disputed territory, then what should be the “undisputed”northernmost point?)
Even the eastern border is disputed by China although it is firmly in Indian control. The western extreme is a point in the sea off the Gujarat-Sind border. And the southernmost point is not Kanyakumari on the mainland but a remote settlement on an island in the Nicobars, with a population of 27.
We shall be visiting these places over the next few blogposts. We also look at the nearest inhabited places (which are hard to find unless you are at Kanyakumari).
Read this first: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extreme_points_of_India
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