Coastal Length of Indian States

Total coastal length of India is 7517 Km. Out of this, coastal length of Indian states (coastal length of mainland India) is 5423 Km and the coastal length of all Islands (Andaman & Nicobar, Kavaratti islands) is 2094 Km.

Number of Coastal States of India

There are total 9 states and 4 Union Territories that forms Indian coastline. Out of these 4 union territories 2 are located in mainland India while remaining 2 are islands. The coastal states of India from east to west are –

1. West Bengal
2. Odisha
3. Andhra Pradesh
4. Tamil Nadu
5. Kerala
6. Karnataka
7. Goa
8. Maharashtra
9. Gujarat

The mainland coastal Union Territories of India are – i) Puducherry, and ii) Daman & Diu. The other mainland UTs like Delhi, Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli are inland and do not form a coastline.

The island Union territories that forms significant Indian coastline are – i) Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and ii) Lakshadweep islands.

Coastal Length of Indian States & Union Territories (in decreasing order of coastline)

1. Gujarat – 1214.7 Km
2. Andhra Pradesh – 973.7 Km
3. Tamil Nadu – 906.9 Km
4. Maharashtra – 652.6 Km
5. Kerala – 569.7 Km
6. Odisha – 476.4 Km
7. Karnataka – 280 Km
8. Goa (with Daman & Diu) – 160.5 Km
9. West Bengal – 157.5 Km
10. Puducherry – 30.6 Km (Union Territory)
11. Andaman & Nicobar Islands – 1962 Km (Union Territory)
12. Lakshadweep Islands – 132 Km (Union Territory)

With the sum of coastal length of all these states and union territories, the total coastal length of India becomes 7516.6 Km. India has 18th longest total coastal length among all world countries. The coastal length of mainland India (except Andaman & Nicobar islands and Lakshadweep islands) is 5422.6 Km. The coastal length of all islands taken together is 2094 Km.

Facts about Coastal States of India

State with longest Coastline – Gujarat

• Gujarat forms the longest coastline of all Indian states.
• The total length of coastline of Gujarat is 1214.7 Km.
• Some of the important ports of Gujarat are – Alang, Kandla, Mandavi, Okha, Porbandar, Veraval, Jafarabad, Pipavav, Bhavnagar, Dahej, Magadalla, Hazira, Mandvi (Surat), Mundra and Maroli. Out of these Kandla is the major port while Okha, Porbandar, Pipavav and Bhavnagar are the intermediate ports.
• Out of 33, there are 16 coastal districts of Gujarat. These coastal districts from north to south are – Kachchh, Morvi, Jamnagar, Dwarka, Porbandar, Junagadh, Somnath, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Ahmadabad, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Navsari, Valsad.

State with second long coastline – Andhra Padesh

• The coastal length of Andhra Pradesh is 973.7 Km. which makes it 2nd long coastal state of India.
• Major Ports of Andhra Pradesh are Visakhapatnam Port, Kakinada port and Machlipatnam port. Some of minor ports are Krishnapatnam port, Gangavaram port, Rawa port of East Godavari district etc.
• There are 9 districts which forms the coast of Andhra Pradesh. These districts from north to south are – Srikakulam, Vizainagram, Vishakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, and Nellore.

State with third long coastline – Tamil Nadu

• The coastal length of Tamil Nadu is 906.9 Km which makes it 3rd long coastal state of India.
• The major sea ports of Tamil Nadu are – Chennai port and Tuticorin Port Trust. Minor ports include – Ennore port, Nagapattinam port, Thirukkuvalai port.
• Out of 32, there are 10 coastal districts of Tamil Nadu. These districts from north to south are – Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram, Viluppuram, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Ramanathpuram, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari.

Maharastra

• Coastal length of Maharashtra is 652.6 Km which makes it fourth longest coastline state of India.
• There are total 8 Ports in Maharashtra – Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai Port Trust, Dharamtar Port, Mora port, Redi Port, Jaitapur, and Rewas port. Out of these 8, JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust) and Mumbai Port Trust are major ports.
• Out of 36, there are total 6 coastal districts of Maharashtra. The coastal districts of Maharashtra from north to south are – Palghar, Mumbai suburban, Mumbai city, Raigarh, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.

Kerala

• The coastal length of Kerala is 569.7 Km which makes it 5th longest coastal length among all Indian states.
• The important ports of Kerala are Cochin port, Kanhangad port, Kollam port, Kottayam port, Kalichanadukkam port, Vizhinjam international sea port.
• Almost entire Kerala is located lengthwise along sea coast. Out of 14, 9 districts are located along the sea coast. These coastal districts from north to south are – Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Mapappuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Kollam, Thiruvananthpuram.

Odisha

• The coastal length of Odisha is 476.4 Km.
• Odisha has sixth longest coastline among all Indian states.
• Paradip is the major port of Odisha. Other smaller ports are Astaranga, Kirtania port and Dhamra port.
• There are 6 districts which forms the coast of Odisha. These districts from north to south are – Baleshwar, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Ganjam.

 Karnataka

• The coastal length of Karnataka is 280 Km which makes it 7th longest coastline among all Indian states.
• The important ports of Karnataka are – Old Mangalore Port, Belekeri Port, Tadri port, Honnavar port, Bhatkal port, Kundapura port, Hangarakatta port, Malpe port and Padubidri port.
• There are only three coastal districts of Karnataka. These are – Uttar Kannada, Udupi and Dakshin Kannada

Goa

• The total coastline of Goa is 160.5 Km which makes it eighth longest coastline state of India.
• Marmugao is the major port of Goa.
• There are only 2 districts in Goa both of which are coastal – these are north Goa and south Goa.

West Bengal

• The coastal length of West Bengal is 157.5 Km which is smallest of all Indian states.
• Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers forms a number of river islands and creeks during its descent to meet Bay of Bengal near Sundarban Delta which makes the estimation of exact coastal length of West Bengal difficult.
• If the coastal length of creeks and river islands are not taken to account then the coastline of West Bengal would be roughly 157.5 Km.