Islands

Look carefully at the maps and you will see that the continents do not include all the land. Some smaller pieces are left out: land surrounded by water on all sides is called an island.

But continents are also surrounded by water! They are not called islands because they are so large. So the difference is size, not shape, and exactly where the line falls is, once again, a matter of agreement.

There are lakhs of islands on the planet, of very different sizes. Greenland is the largest island in the world: you would have to add up the areas of India's 10 largest states to reach its size.

India has more than 1,300 small islands! They include two main groups: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal (to the east) and the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea (to the west).

Far to the south, India also works on a continent. Since 1981, the Indian Antarctica Programme has been exploring Antarctica, a continent with a very cold climate and a harsh environment.

In 1983, India set up its first scientific base station there, called 'Dakshin Gangotri' (two more bases came later). About 40 teams of Indian scientists have done research there, especially on how the climate and environment have changed over time. The place where the scientists live has a library and even a post office!