India, one of the world's oldest civilizations, has a vast cultural legacy. Stretching from the cultivated peninsula of the far south to the endless snows of the Great Himalayas in the north, from the dry heat and cold of the middle plateau to the cool forest foothills, it encompasses an area of 32,87,263 square kilometers. Its lengths are roughly 2,933 km from east to west and 3,214 km from north to south. Its land border is almost 15,200 kilometers long. Its coastline, which includes the island groups of Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, stretches 7,516.6 kilometers in total.