Indiai

Regional Level Types
India	Country

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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia covering approximately 3.29 million km², making it the seventh-largest country in the world by area. It is bordered by Pakistan to the north-west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north, Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east, and the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, and Bay of Bengal to the south. India comprises a vast subcontinent with exceptional geographic, geological, and cultural diversity and is administratively divided into 28 states and 8 union territories.

Geographically, India spans several major physiographic regions. The Himalayan mountain system in the north forms one of the world’s highest and youngest mountain belts, acting as a climatic and hydrological barrier. South of the Himalaya lies the extensive Indo-Gangetic Plain, one of the most fertile alluvial regions on Earth. Peninsular India is dominated by the ancient Deccan Plateau, flanked by the Western and Eastern Ghats. To the west lie the Thar Desert and arid plains, while the east and south include long coastlines, delta systems, and offshore island groups such as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. Major river systems include the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Indus, Godavari, Krishna, Narmada, and Mahanadi.

Geologically, India is one of the most significant regions globally. Much of the country rests on the Indian Shield, composed of some of the oldest Archaean and Proterozoic crystalline rocks on Earth, exposed in cratons such as Dharwar, Bastar, Singhbhum, and Bundelkhand. These are overlain in places by extensive Proterozoic sedimentary basins and Gondwana sequences, including major coal-bearing formations. The Deccan Traps, a vast Late Cretaceous flood basalt province, cover much of western and central India and represent one of the largest volcanic events in Earth’s history. Northern India records ongoing Himalayan orogeny, driven by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates, while coastal margins and rift basins host thick sedimentary successions with hydrocarbons. India thus preserves an almost complete record from early continental crust formation to active plate tectonics.

India has an exceptionally rich mineral and mining heritage. It is a major global producer of iron ore, bauxite, chromite, manganese, coal, mica, limestone, and barite, and hosts significant deposits of gold, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, and rare earth elements. The country’s coalfields underpin much of its energy production, while iron and bauxite support a large steel and aluminium industry. India is also internationally important for industrial minerals, gemstones, and collector minerals, including zeolites, pegmatite minerals, and diamonds (historically from the Deccan region). Mining activity ranges from ancient workings to large modern open-pit and underground operations.

Historically, India has been home to some of the world’s earliest urban civilisations, notably the Indus Valley civilisation, and later to a succession of empires and kingdoms. From the 18th century, much of the subcontinent came under British colonial rule, before India gained independence in 1947, accompanied by the partition that created Pakistan (and later Bangladesh). Modern India is a federal republic with extraordinary linguistic, cultural, and regional diversity, much of which is closely tied to its varied geography and geology.

Administratively and scientifically, India’s geological diversity makes it central to understanding craton evolution, large igneous provinces, orogenic processes, sedimentary basin development, and the long-term relationship between geology, natural resources, and human civilisation. Its mineral wealth and tectonic complexity place India among the most geologically significant countries in the world.

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded from this region.

Mineral List

Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities

694 valid minerals. 22 (TL) - type locality of valid minerals. 2 (FRL) - first recorded locality of unapproved mineral/variety/etc. 4 erroneous literature entries.

Rock Types Recorded

Rock list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities