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Background:
|
 The
Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world,
dates back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the
northwest invaded about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the
earlier inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. Arab
incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkish in the 12th
were followed by European traders, beginning in the late 15th
century. By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political
control of virtually all Indian lands. Nonviolent resistance
to British colonialism under Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal
NEHRU led to independence in 1947. The subcontinent was
divided into the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim
state of Pakistan. A third war between the two countries in
1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of
Bangladesh. Fundamental concerns in India include the ongoing
dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, massive overpopulation,
environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and
religious strife, all this despite impressive gains in
economic investment and output. |
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Location:
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Southern Asia,
bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma
and Pakistan |
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Map references:
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Asia |
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Area:
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total:
3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km
water: 314,400 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly more
than one-third the size of the US |
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Land boundaries:
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total:
14,103 km
border countries: Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km,
Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912
km |
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Coastline:
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7,000 km |
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Climate:
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varies from
tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north |
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Terrain:
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upland plain (Deccan
Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges,
deserts in west, Himalayas in north |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point:
Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m |
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Natural resources:
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coal
(fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese,
mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds,
petroleum, limestone, arable land |
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Land use:
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arable land:
54.35%
permanent crops: 2.66%
other: 42.99% (1998 est.) |
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Irrigated land:
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590,000 sq km
(1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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droughts; flash
floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from
monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes |
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Environment - current issues:
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deforestation;
soil erosion; overgrazing; desertification; air pollution from
industrial effluents and vehicle emissions; water pollution
from raw sewage and runoff of agricultural pesticides; tap
water is not potable throughout the country; huge and growing
population is overstraining natural resources |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of
the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical
Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected
agreements |
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Geography - note:
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dominates South
Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes |
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Population:
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1,065,070,607
(July 2004 est.) |
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Age structure:
|
0-14 years:
31.7% (male 173,869,856; female 164,003,915)
15-64 years: 63.5% (male 349,785,804; female
326,289,402)
65 years and over: 4.8% (male 25,885,725; female
25,235,905) (2004 est.) |
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Median age:
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total:
24.4 years
male: 24.4 years
female: 24.4 years (2004 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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1.44% (2004 est.) |
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Birth rate:
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22.8 births/1,000
population (2004 est.) |
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Death rate:
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8.38 deaths/1,000
population (2004 est.) |
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Net migration rate:
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-0.07 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2004 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
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at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.03 male(s)/female
total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate:
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total:
57.92 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 57.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 58.52 deaths/1,000 live births |
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total
population: 63.99 years
male: 63.25 years
female: 64.77 years (2004 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.8% (2001 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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3.97 million
(2001 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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310,000 (2001
est.) |
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Nationality:
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noun:
Indian(s)
adjective: Indian |
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Ethnic groups:
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Indo-Aryan 72%,
Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000) |
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Religions:
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Hindu 81.3%,
Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups including
Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000) |
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Languages:
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English enjoys
associate status but is the most important language for
national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is
the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people;
there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu,
Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya,
Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani
is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout
northern India but is not an official language |
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Literacy:
|
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 59.5%
male: 70.2%
female: 48.3% (2003 est.) |
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Country name:
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conventional
long form: Republic of India
conventional short form: India |
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Government type:
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federal
republic |
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Capital:
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New
Delhi |
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Administrative divisions:
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28
states and 7 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar Islands*,
Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*,
Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*, Daman and Diu*, Delhi*,
Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir,
Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa,
Pondicherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura,
Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal |
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Independence:
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15
August 1947 (from UK) |
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National holiday:
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Republic
Day, 26 January (1950) |
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Constitution:
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26
January 1950 |
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Legal system:
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based
on English common law; limited judicial review of legislative
acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
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Executive branch:
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chief
of state: President Abdul KALAM (since 26 July 2002); Vice
President Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT (since 19 August 2002)
elections: president elected by an electoral college
consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament and
the legislatures of the states for a five-year term; election
last held NA July 2002 (next to be held 18 July 2007); vice
president elected by both houses of Parliament for a five-year
term; election last held 12 August 2002 (next to be held NA
August 2007); prime minister elected by parliamentary members
of the majority party following legislative elections;
election last held 3 October 1999 (next to be held NA October
2004)
head of government: Prime Minister Atal Bihari VAJPAYEE
(since 19 March 1998)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the
president on the recommendation of the prime minister
election results: Abdul KALAM elected president;
percent of electoral college vote - 89.6%; Bhairon Singh
SHEKHAWAT elected vice president; percent of Parliament vote -
59.8%; Atal Bihari VAJPAYEE elected prime minister; percent of
vote - NA% |
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Legislative branch:
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bicameral
Parliament or Sansad consists of the Council of States or
Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of not more than 250 members,
up to 12 of which are appointed by the president, the
remainder are chosen by the elected members of the state and
territorial assemblies; members serve six-year terms) and the
People's Assembly or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 elected by
popular vote, 2 appointed by the president; members serve
five-year terms)
elections: People's Assembly - last held 5 September
through 3 October 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)
election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote
by party - BJP alliance 40.8%, Congress (I) 33.8%, other
25.4%; seats by party - BJP alliance 304, Congress (I) 134,
other 107 |
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Judicial branch:
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Supreme
Court (judges are appointed by the president and remain in
office until they reach the age of 65) |
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Political parties and leaders:
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All
India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK [C. Jayalalitha
JAYARAM]; All India Forward Bloc or AIFB, [D. BISWAS, general
secretary]; Asom Gana Parishad [Brindaban GOSWAMI]; Bahujan
Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Venkaiah
NAIDU]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]; Communist
Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu Bhushan BARDHAN]; Communist
Party of India/Marxist-Leninist or CPI/ML [Dipankar
BHATTACHARYA]; Congress (I) Party [Sonia GANDHI]; Dravida
Munnetra Kazagham or DMK (a regional party in Tamil Nadu) [M.
KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National League [Suliaman SAITH]; Janata
Dal (Secular) [H. D. Deve GOWDA]; Janata Dal (United) or JDU [Sharad
YADAV]; Kerala Congress (Mani faction) [K. M. MANI];
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or MDMK [VAIKO]; Muslim
League [G. M. BANATWALA]; Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad
PAWAR]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Laloo Prasad YADAV];
Revolutionary Socialist Party or RSP [Abani ROY]; Samajwadi
Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV]; Shiromani Akali Dal [G. S.
TOHRA]; Shiv Sena [Bal THACKERAY]; Tamil Maanila Congress [G.
K. VASAN]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU];
Trinamool Congress [Mamata BANERJEE] |
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
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numerous
religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations, including
Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh; various separatist groups seeking greater communal
and/or regional autonomy, including the All Parties Hurriyat
Conference |
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Diplomatic representation in the US:
|
chief
of mission: Ambassador Lalit MANSINGH
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York, and
San Francisco
FAX: [1] (202) 483-3972
telephone: [1] (202) 939-7000
chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20008; note - Embassy located at 2536 Massachusetts Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20008 |
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Diplomatic representation from the US:
|
chief
of mission: Ambassador David C. Mulford
embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [91] (11) 419-8000
FAX: [91] (11) 419-0017
consulate(s) general: Chennai (Madras), Kolkata
(Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay) |
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Economy - overview:
|
India's economy
encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture,
handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a
multitude of support services. Government controls have been
reduced on foreign trade and investment, and privatization of
domestic output has proceeded slowly. The economy has posted
an excellent average growth rate of 6% since 1990, reducing
poverty by about 10 percentage points. India is capitalizing
on its large numbers of well-educated people skilled in the
English language to become a major exporter of software
services and software workers. Despite strong growth, the
World Bank and others worry about the continuing public-sector
budget deficit, running at approximately 10% of GDP. |
|
GDP:
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purchasing power
parity - $3.022 trillion (2003 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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7.6% (2003 est.) |
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power
parity - $2,900 (2003 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture:
23.6%
industry: 28.4%
services: 48% (2002 est.) |
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Population below poverty line:
|
25% (2002 est.) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
4.6% (2003 est.) |
|
Labor force:
|
406 million
(1999) |
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Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture 60%,
services 23%, industry 17% (1999) |
|
Unemployment rate:
|
9.1% (2003) |
|
Budget:
|
revenues:
$48.3 billion
expenditures: $78.2 billion, including capital
expenditures of $13.5 (FY01/02 est.) |
|
Industries:
|
textiles,
chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment,
cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software |
|
Industrial production growth rate:
|
6% (2003 est.) |
|
Electricity - production:
|
533.3 billion kWh
(2001) |
|
Electricity - production by source:
|
fossil fuel:
81.7%
hydro: 14.5%
other: 0.3% (2001)
nuclear: 3.4% |
|
Electricity - consumption:
|
497.2 billion kWh
(2001) |
|
Electricity - exports:
|
321 million kWh
(2001) |
|
Electricity - imports:
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1.54 billion kWh
(2001) |
|
Oil - production:
|
732,400 bbl/day
(2001 est.) |
|
Oil - consumption:
|
2.13 million
bbl/day (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - production:
|
22.75 billion cu
m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - consumption:
|
22.75 billion cu
m (2001 est.) |
|
Agriculture - products:
|
rice, wheat,
oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water
buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish |
|
Exports:
|
$57.24 billion
f.o.b. (2003 est.) |
|
Exports - commodities:
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textile goods,
gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather
manufactures |
|
Exports - partners:
|
US 22.4%, UK
5.1%, Hong Kong 4.5%, Germany 4.3%, China 4.1% (2002) |
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Imports:
|
$74.15 billion
f.o.b. (2003 est.) |
|
Imports - commodities:
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crude oil,
machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals |
|
Imports - partners:
|
US 6.9%, Belgium
6.4%, China 4.5%, Singapore 4.4%, UK 4.4% (2002) |
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Debt - external:
|
$95.3 billion
(2003 est.) |
|
Economic aid - recipient:
|
$2.9 billion
(FY98/99) |
|
Currency:
|
Indian rupee (INR) |
|
Currency code:
|
INR |
|
Exchange rates:
|
Indian rupees per
US dollar - 46.58 (2003), 48.61 (2002), 47.19 (2001), 44.94
(2000), 43.06 (1999) |
|
Fiscal year:
|
1 April - 31
March |
|
Telephones - main lines in use:
|
41.42 million
(2002) |
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Telephones - mobile cellular:
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21,991,743 (2003) |
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Telephone system:
|
general
assessment: mediocre service; local and long distance
service provided throughout all regions of the country, with
services primarily concentrated in the urban areas; major
objective is to continue to expand and modernize long-distance
network to keep pace with rapidly growing number of local
subscriber lines; steady improvement is taking place with the
recent admission of private and private-public investors, but,
with telephone density at about two for each 100 persons and a
waiting list of over 2 million, demand for main line telephone
service will not be satisfied for a very long time
domestic: local service is provided by microwave radio
relay and coaxial cable, with open wire and obsolete
electromechanical and manual switchboard systems still in use
in rural areas; starting in the 1980s, a substantial amount of
digital switch gear has been introduced for local and
long-distance service; long-distance traffic is carried mostly
by coaxial cable and low-capacity microwave radio relay; since
1985, significant trunk capacity has been added in the form of
fiber-optic cable and a domestic satellite system with 254
earth stations; mobile cellular service was introduced in 1994
and is organized nation-wide into four metropolitan cities and
19 telecom circles
international: country code - 91; satellite earth
stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian
Ocean region); nine gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai
(Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras),
Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, and Ernakulam; 4
submarine cables - LOCOM linking Chennai (Madras) to Penang;
Indo-UAE-Gulf cable linking Mumbai (Bombay) to Al Fujayrah,
UAE; India-SEA-ME-WE-3, SEA-ME-WE-2 with landing sites at
Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay); Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe
(FLAG) with landing site at Mumbai (Bombay) (2000) |
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Radio broadcast stations:
|
AM 153, FM 91,
shortwave 68 (1998) |
|
Television broadcast stations:
|
562 (of which 82
stations have 1 kW or greater power and 480 stations have less
than 1 kW of power) (1997) |
|
Internet country code:
|
.in |
|
Internet hosts:
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78,595 (2002) |
|
Internet users:
|
16.58 million
(2002) |
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Railways:
|
total:
63,518 km (15,009 km electrified)
broad gauge: 45,142 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 15,013 km 1.000-m gauge; 3,363 km 0.762-m
gauge and 0.610-m gauge (2002) |
|
Highways:
|
total:
3,319,644 km
paved: 1,517,077 km
unpaved: 1,802,567 km (1999 est.) |
|
Waterways:
|
16,180 km
note: 3,631 km navigable by large vessels |
|
Pipelines:
|
gas 5,798 km;
liquid petroleum gas 1,195 km; oil 5,613 km; refined products
5,567 km (2003) |
|
Ports and harbors:
|
Chennai (Madras),
Cochin, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai
(Bombay), Vishakhapatnam |
|
Merchant marine:
|
total: 306
ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,555,507 GRT/11,069,791 DWT
by type: bulk 90, cargo 77, chemical tanker 14,
combination bulk 1, combination ore/oil 2, container 10,
liquefied gas 10, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 93, roll
on/roll off 1, short-sea/passenger 2, specialized tanker 1
registered in other countries: 63 (2003 est.)
foreign-owned: China 2, Portugal 1 |
|
Airports:
|
333 (2003 est.) |
|
Airports - with paved runways:
|
total: 234
over 3,047 m: 14
2,438 to 3,047 m: 47
914 to 1,523 m: 74
under 914 m: 21 (2003 est.)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 78 |
|
Airports - with unpaved runways:
|
total: 99
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 9
under 914 m: 45 (2003 est.)
914 to 1,523 m: 42 |
|
Heliports:
|
20 (2003 est.) |
|
Military branches:
|
Army, Navy
(including naval air arm), Air Force, Coast Guard, various
security or paramilitary forces (including Border Security
Force, Assam Rifles, National Security Guards, Indo-Tibetan
Border Police, Special Frontier Force, Central Reserve Police
Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Railway Protection
Force, and Defense Security Corps) |
|
Military manpower - military age:
|
17 years of age
(2004 est.) |
|
Military manpower - availability:
|
males age
15-49: 293,677,117 (2004 est.) |
|
Military manpower - fit for military service:
|
males age
15-49: 172,153,371 (2004 est.) |
|
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
|
males:
11,174,415 (2004 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
|
$14,018.8 million
(2003) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
|
2.4% (2003) |
|
Disputes - international:
|
Kashmir remains
the world's most highly militarized territorial dispute with
portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai
Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir
and Northern Areas), but recent discussions and
confidence-building measures among parties are beginning to
defuse tensions; India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding
lands to China in the 1965 boundary agreement; disputes with
Pakistan over Indus River water sharing and the terminus of
the Sir Creek Estuary at the mouth of the Rann of Kutch, which
prevents maritime boundary delimitation; Pakistani maps
continue to show Junagadh claim in Indian Gujarat State; most
of the rugged, militarized boundary with China is in dispute,
but sides have committed to begin resolution with discussions
on the least disputed Middle Sector; Joint Border Committee
with Nepal continues to work on resolution of minor disputed
boundary sections; discussions with Bangladesh remain stalled
to delimit a small section of river boundary, to exchange 162
miniscule enclaves in both countries, to allocate divided
villages, and to stop illegal cross-border trade, migration,
and violence; Bangladesh protests India's attempts to fence
off high-traffic sections of the porous boundary; dispute with
Bangladesh over volcanic New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha
Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary
delimitation; India seeks cooperation from Bhutan and Burma to
keep out Indian Nagaland insurgents; joint border commission
continues to work on small disputed sections of boundary with
Nepal; India has instituted a stricter border regime to
restrict transit of Maoist insurgents and illegal cross-border
activities from Nepal |
|
Illicit drugs:
|
world's largest
producer of licit opium for the pharmaceutical trade, but an
undetermined quantity of opium is diverted to illicit
international drug markets; transit point for illicit
narcotics produced in neighboring countries; illicit producer
of methaqualone; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering
through the hawala system |
This page was last updated on 11 May, 2004
|