India is located in the Asian continent, in between China and Pakistan. India lies to the north of the equator between 6° 44' and 35° 30' north latitude and 68° 7' and 97° 25' east longitude and has a size of 1,269,346 square miles. The Himalaya Mountains serve as the northern boundary of India; some of the mountains and many of the surrounding foothills are within the country. In western India, the Thar Desert is the seventh-largest desert in the world, covering about 92,200 square miles. With extremely severe temperatures, the Thar is one of the most inhospitable parts of the country. The Ganges River runs 1,560 miles, beginning in the Himalayas and flowing into the Bay of Bengal. The Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are the largest bodies of water near India and are just south of the country.