Question

The southernmost point of peninsular India, that is, Kanyakumari, is:

• A. North of Tropic of Cancer
• B. South of Equator
• C. North of Equator
• D. South of Capricorn

Hint:

Remember that the entire sovereign country of India lies strictly inside the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, every single location on the Indian mainland—no matter how far south it is positioned—must be situated North of the Equator (\(0^\circ\)).

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Concept: To accurately locate any geographical point on Earth relative to primary reference parallels—such as the Equator (\(0^\circ\) latitude), the Tropic of Cancer (\(23^\circ 30'\text{ N}\)), or the Tropic of Capricorn (\(23^\circ 30'\text{ S}\))—we must examine the precise latitudinal coordinates of the region. The country of India is positioned entirely within the Northern and Eastern hemispheres of the globe.

Step 1:
Let us examine the exact geographic, latitudinal limits of the mainland of India:

• The Indian mainland extends vertically between latitudes

\(8^\circ 4'\text{ N}\) in the south to

\(37^\circ 6'\text{ N}\) in the north.

• Kanyakumari (formerly known historically as Cape Comorin), located at the southern tip of the state of Tamil Nadu, represents the southernmost extremity of this peninsular mainland.

• Its precise geographic position is located exactly at approximately

\(8^\circ 4'\text{ N}\) latitude.

Step 2:
Now, let us evaluate the positions of the major global reference lines relative to Kanyakumari's position at \(8^\circ 4'\text{ N}\):

• The Equator (\(0^\circ\) Latitude): Since Kanyakumari is at a latitude of \(8^\circ 4'\text{ N}\), it means it is located exactly \(8^\circ 4'\) angular distance north of the primary zero-degree parallel. Therefore, Kanyakumari lies North of the Equator. This validates option (C).

• The Tropic of Cancer (\(23^\circ 30'\text{ N}\) Latitude): The Tropic of Cancer runs right through the geographical center of India, passing through eight states (Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, and Mizoram). Because \(8^\circ 4'\text{ N}\) lies numerically below \(23^\circ 30'\text{ N}\), Kanyakumari is situated completely

South of the Tropic of Cancer, which directly rules out option (A).

• The Tropic of Capricorn (\(23^\circ 30'\text{ S}\) Latitude): This parallel is located far down in the Southern Hemisphere. Because the entirety of India’s mainland lies strictly above \(0^\circ\), options (B) and (D) are geographically impossible for any territory of mainland India.
Consequently, we conclude that Kanyakumari is located North of the Equator.