Legend:
 Definition
 Field
Listing
 Rank
Order
|
Background:
|
Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated onto the Indian
subcontinent about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier
Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture.
The Maurya Empire of the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. - which
reached its zenith under ASHOKA - united much of South Asia.
The Golden Age ushered in by the Gupta dynasty (4th to 6th
centuries A.D.) saw a flowering of Indian science, art, and
culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and
Turkic in the 12th were followed by those of European
traders, beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th
century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually
all Indian lands. Indian armed forces in the British army
played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent
resistance to British colonialism led by Mohandas GANDHI and
Jawaharlal NEHRU brought 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. India's nuclear weapons
testing in 1998 caused Pakistan to conduct its own tests
that same year. The dispute between the countries over the
state of Kashmir is ongoing, but discussions and
confidence-building measures have led to decreased tensions
since 2002. Despite impressive gains in economic investment
and output, India faces pressing problems such as
significant overpopulation, environmental degradation,
extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife. |
|
Location:
|
Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of
Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
|
|
Geographic coordinates:
|
20 00 N, 77 00 E
|
|
Map references:
|
Asia |
|
Area:
|
total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km
water: 314,400 sq km |
|
Area - comparative:
|
slightly more than one-third the size of the US |
|
Land boundaries:
|
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 |
|
Coastline:
|
7,000 km |
|
Maritime claims:
|
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the
continental margin |
|
Climate:
|
varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
|
|
Terrain:
|
upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling
plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
|
|
Elevation extremes:
|
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m |
|
Natural resources:
|
coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore,
manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural
gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land |
|
Land use:
|
arable land: 48.83%
permanent crops: 2.8%
other: 48.37% (2005)
|
|
Irrigated land:
|
558,080 sq km (2003)
|
|
Natural hazards:
|
droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and
destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe
thunderstorms; earthquakes |
|
Environment - current issues:
|
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 |
|
Environment - international agreements:
|
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 |
|
Geography - note:
|
dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian
Ocean trade routes; Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in
the world, lies on the border with Nepal
|
|
Population:
|
1,129,866,154 (July 2007 est.)
|
|
Age structure:
|
0-14 years: 31.8% (male 188,208,196/female
171,356,024)
15-64 years: 63.1% (male 366,977,821/female
346,034,565)
65 years and over: 5.1% (male 27,258,259/female
30,031,289) (2007 est.) |
|
Median age:
|
total: 24.8 years
male: 24.5 years
female: 25.2 years (2007 est.)
|
|
Population growth rate:
|
1.606% (2007 est.)
|
|
Birth rate:
|
22.69 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
|
Death rate:
|
6.58 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
|
Net migration rate:
|
-0.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
|
Sex ratio:
|
at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.098 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.061 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.908 male(s)/female
total population: 1.064 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
|
|
Infant mortality rate:
|
total: 34.61 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 39.42 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 29.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
|
|
Life expectancy at birth:
|
total population: 68.59 years
male: 66.28 years
female: 71.17 years (2007 est.)
|
|
Total fertility rate:
|
2.81 children born/woman (2007 est.)
|
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
|
0.9% (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
|
5.1 million (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
|
310,000 (2001 est.) |
|
Major infectious diseases:
|
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea,
hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and
Japanese encephalitis are high risks in some locations
animal contact disease: rabies
note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been
identified among birds in this country or surrounding
region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases
possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds
(2007) |
|
Nationality:
|
noun: Indian(s)
adjective: Indian |
|
Ethnic groups:
|
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
|
|
Religions:
|
Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other
1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
|
|
Languages:
|
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
|
|
Literacy:
|
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 61%
male: 73.4%
female: 47.8% (2001 census)
|
|
Country name:
|
conventional long form: Republic of India
conventional short form: India
local long form: Republic of India/Bharatiya
Ganarajya
local short form: India/Bharat |
|
Government type:
|
federal republic
|
|
Capital:
|
name: New Delhi
geographic coordinates: 28 36 N, 77 12 E
time difference: UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of
Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
|
Administrative divisions:
|
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, Puducherry*, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, West Bengal |
|
Independence:
|
15 August 1947 (from UK) |
|
National holiday:
|
Republic Day, 26 January (1950) |
|
Constitution:
|
26 January 1950; amended many times |
|
Legal system:
|
based on English common law; judicial review of legislative
acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations;
separate personal law codes apply to Muslims, Christians,
and Hindus |
|
Suffrage:
|
18 years of age; universal |
|
Executive branch:
|
chief of state: President Pratibha PATIL (since 25
July 2007); Vice President Hamid ANSARI (since 11 August
2007)
head of government: Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH
(since 22 May 2004)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the
recommendation of the prime minister
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 (no
term limits); election last held 21 July 2007 (next to be
held in July 2012); vice president elected by both houses of
Parliament for a five-year term; election last held 12
August 2002 (next to be held August 2007); prime minister
chosen by parliamentary members of the majority party
following legislative elections; election last held April -
May 2004 (next to be held May 2009)
election results: Pratibha PATIL elected president;
percent of vote - 65.8%; Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT - 34.2%
|
|
Legislative branch:
|
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 whom 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 20 April
through 10 May 2004 (next must be held before May 2009)
election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote
by party - NA; seats by party - INC 147, BJP 129, CPI (M)
43, SP 38, RJD 23, DMK 16, BSP 15, SS 12, BJD 11, CPI 10,
NCP 10, JD (U) 8, SAD 8, PMK 6, JMM 5, LJSP 4, MDMK 4, TDP
4, TRS 4, independent 6, other 29, vacant 13; note - seats
by party as of December 2006
|
|
Judicial branch:
|
Supreme Court (one chief justice and 25 associate justices
are appointed by the president and remain in office until
they reach the age of 65 or are removed for "proved
misbehavior") |
|
Political parties and leaders:
|
Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata
Party or BJP [Rajnath SINGH]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen
PATNAIK]; Communist Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu Bhushan
BARDHAN]; Communist Party of India-Marxist or CPI-M [Prakash
KARAT]; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or DMK [M. KARUNANIDHI];
Indian National Congress or INC [Sonia GANDHI]; Janata Dal
(United) or JD(U) [Sharad YADEV]; Jharkhand Mukti Morcha or
JMM [Shibu SOREN]; Lok Jan Shakti Party or LJSP [Ram Vilas
PASWAN]; Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or MDMK
[VAIKU]; Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR];
Pattali Makkal Katchi or PMK [S. RAMADOSS]; Rashtriya Janata
Dal or RJD [Laloo Prasad YADAV]; Samajwadi Party or SP
[Mulayam Singh YADAV]; Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD [Prakash
Singh BADAL]; Shiv Sena or SS [Bal THACKERAY]; Telangana
Rashtra Samithi or TRS [K. Chandrasekhar RAO]; Telugu Desam
Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]; note - India has dozens of
national and regional political parties; only parties with
four or more seats in the People's Assembly are listed |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders:
|
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 in the Kashmir Valley and the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland in the Northeast |
|
International organization participation:
|
AfDB, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIMSTEC, BIS, C,
CERN (observer), CP, EAS, FAO, G- 6, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF,
IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO,
ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW,
PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC, SACEP, SCO (observer), UN,
UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIS,
UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WTO
|
|
Diplomatic representation in the US:
|
chief of mission: Ambassador Ranendra SEN
chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20008; note - Consular Wing located at 2536 Massachusetts
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 939-7000
FAX: [1] (202) 265-4351
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York, San
Francisco |
|
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) 2419-8000
FAX: [91] (11) 2419-0017
consulate(s) general: Chennai (Madras), Kolkata
(Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay) |
|
Flag description:
|
three equal horizontal bands of saffron (subdued orange)
(top), white, and green with a blue chakra (24-spoked wheel)
centered in the white band; similar to the flag of Niger,
which has a small orange disk centered in the white band
|
|
Economy - overview:
|
India's diverse economy encompasses traditional village
farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of
modern industries, and a multitude of services. Services are
the major source of economic growth, accounting for more
than half of India's output with less than one third of its
labor force. About three-fifths of the work force is in
agriculture, leading the UPA government to articulate an
economic reform program that includes developing basic
infrastructure to improve the lives of the rural poor and
boost economic performance. The government has reduced
controls on foreign trade and investment. Tariffs averaged
12.5% on non-agricultural items in 2006. Higher limits on
foreign direct investment were permitted in a few key
sectors, such as telecommunications. However, tariff spikes
in sensitive categories, including agriculture, and
incremental progress on economic reforms still hinder
foreign access to India's vast and growing market.
Privatization of government-owned industries remained
stalled in 2006, and continues to generate political debate;
populist pressure from within the UPA government and from
its Left Front allies continues to restrain needed
initiatives. The economy has posted an average growth rate
of more than 7% in the decade since 1996, reducing poverty
by about 10 percentage points. India achieved 8.5% GDP
growth in 2006, significantly expanding manufacturing. 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. Economic
expansion has helped New Delhi continue to make progress in
reducing its federal fiscal deficit. However, strong growth
- more than 8 percent growth in each of the last three years
- combined with easy consumer credit and a real estate boom
is fueling inflation concerns. The huge and growing
population is the fundamental social, economic, and
environmental problem. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity):
|
$4.164 trillion (2006 est.) |
|
GDP (official exchange rate):
|
$805.5 billion (2006 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate:
|
9.4% (2006 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita (PPP):
|
$3,800 (2006 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture: 17.5%
industry: 27.9%
services: 54.6% (2005 est.)
|
|
Labor force:
|
506.9 million (2006 est.) |
|
Labor force - by occupation:
|
agriculture: 60%
industry: 12%
services: 28% (2003) |
|
Unemployment rate:
|
7.8% (2006 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line:
|
25% (2002 est.)
|
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
|
lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 31.1% (2004) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
|
36.8 (2004)
|
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
6.2% (2006 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed):
|
29.5% of GDP (2006 est.) |
|
Budget:
|
revenues: $97.16 billion
expenditures: $128.7 billion; including capital
expenditures of $15 billion (2006 est.) |
|
Public debt:
|
60% of GDP (federal and state debt combined) (2006 est.)
|
|
Agriculture - products:
|
rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane,
potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish
|
|
Industries:
|
textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation
equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software
|
|
Industrial production growth rate:
|
7.5% (2006 est.) |
|
Electricity - production:
|
661.6 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - consumption:
|
488.5 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - exports:
|
67 million kWh (2005)
|
|
Electricity - imports:
|
1.764 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Oil - production:
|
785,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
|
Oil - consumption:
|
2.45 million bbl/day (2004 est.)
|
|
Oil - exports:
|
350,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
|
Oil - imports:
|
2.098 million bbl/day (2004 est.)
|
|
Oil - proved reserves:
|
5.6 billion bbl (2006 est.) |
|
Natural gas - production:
|
28.68 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption:
|
34.47 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports:
|
0 cu m (2005 est.) |
|
Natural gas - imports:
|
5.793 billion cu m (2005) |
|
Natural gas - proved reserves:
|
1.056 trillion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
|
Current account balance:
|
-$10.36 billion (2006 est.) |
|
Exports:
|
$123.2 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
|
|
Exports - commodities:
|
textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods,
chemicals, leather manufactures |
|
Exports - partners:
|
US 17%, UAE 8.3%, China 7.8%, UK 4.3% (2006) |
|
Imports:
|
$184.4 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
|
|
Imports - commodities:
|
crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals |
|
Imports - partners:
|
China 8.7%, US 6%, Germany 4.6%, Singapore 4.6%, Australia
4% (2006) |
|
Economic aid - recipient:
|
$1.724 billion (2005)
|
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
|
$176.1 billion (2006 est.) |
|
Debt - external:
|
$131.1 billion (2006 est.) |
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
|
$67.72 billion (2006 est.) |
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
|
$21.11 billion (2006 est.) |
|
Market value of publicly traded shares:
|
$818.9 billion (2006)
|
|
Currency (code):
|
Indian rupee (INR)
|
|
Exchange rates:
|
Indian rupees per US dollar - 45.3 (2006), 44.101 (2005),
45.317 (2004), 46.583 (2003), 48.61 (2002)
|
|
Fiscal year:
|
1 April - 31 March
|
|
Telephones - main lines in use:
|
49.75 million (2005) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular:
|
166.1 million (2006) |
|
Telephone system:
|
general assessment: recent deregulation and
liberalization of telecommunications laws and policies have
prompted rapid growth; local and long distance service
provided throughout all regions of the country, with
services primarily concentrated in the urban areas; steady
improvement is taking place with the recent admission of
private and private-public investors, but telephone density
remains low at about 10 for each 100 persons nationwide and
only 1 per 100 persons in rural areas; there remains a
national waiting list of over 1.7 million; fastest growth is
in cellular service with modest growth in fixed lines
domestic: expansion of domestic service, although
still weak in rural areas, resulted from increased
competition and dramatic reductions in price led in large
part by wireless service; mobile cellular service (both CDMA
and GSM) introduced in 1994 and organized nationwide into
four metropolitan cities and 19 telecom circles each with
about three private service providers and one state-owned
service provider; in recent years significant trunk capacity
added in the form of fiber-optic cable and one of the
world's largest domestic satellite systems, the Indian
National Satellite system (INSAT), with 6 satellites
supporting 33,000 very small aperture terminals (VSAT)
international: country code - 91; satellite earth
stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian
Ocean region); 9 gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai
(Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras),
Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, and Ernakulam; 6
submarine cables, including Sea-Me-We-3 with landing sites
at Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay), Sea-Me-We-4 with landing site
at Chennai, Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) with
landing site at Mumbai (Bombay), South Africa - Far East
(SAFE) with landing site at Cochin, i2icn linking to
Singapore with landing sites at Mumbai (Bombay) and Chennai
(Madras), and Tata Indicom linking Singapore and Chennai
(Madras), provide a significant increase in the bandwidth
available for both voice and data traffic (2006) |
|
Radio broadcast stations:
|
AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998) |
|
Television broadcast stations:
|
562 (1997) |
|
Internet country code:
|
.in |
|
Internet hosts:
|
2.306 million (2007) |
|
Internet users:
|
60 million (2005) |
|
Airports:
|
346 (2007) |
|
Airports - with paved runways:
|
total: 250
over 3,047 m: 18
2,438 to 3,047 m: 52
1,524 to 2,437 m: 75
914 to 1,523 m: 84
under 914 m: 21 (2007)
|
|
Airports - with unpaved runways:
|
total: 96
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 40
under 914 m: 47 (2007)
|
|
Heliports:
|
30 (2007) |
|
Pipelines:
|
condensate/gas 8 km; gas 5,184 km; liquid petroleum gas
1,993 km; oil 6,500 km; refined products 6,152 km (2006)
|
|
Railways:
|
total: 63,221 km
broad gauge: 46,807 km 1.676-m gauge (17,343 km
electrified)
narrow gauge: 13,290 km 1.000-m gauge (165 km
electrified); 3,124 km 0.762-m gauge and 0.610-m gauge
(2006) |
|
Roadways:
|
total: 3,383,344 km
paved: 1,603,705 km
unpaved: 1,779,639 km (2002)
|
|
Waterways:
|
14,500 km
note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals
suitable for mechanized vessels (2006)
|
|
Merchant marine:
|
total: 477 ships (1000 GRT or over) 8,350,093
GRT/14,339,440 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 101, cargo 220, chemical tanker
18, combination ore/oil 1, container 9, liquefied gas 19,
passenger 3, passenger/cargo 10, petroleum tanker 95, roll
on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 5 (China 1, Hong Kong 1, UAE 2, UK 1)
registered in other countries: 54 (Barbados 1,
Comoros 2, Cyprus 1, Dominica 2, North Korea 1, Liberia 2,
Malta 3, Mauritius 2, Panama 25, Singapore 9, St Kitts and
Nevis 1, St Vincent and The Grenadines 5, unknown 2) (2007)
|
|
Ports and terminals:
|
Chennai, Haldia, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata
(Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), New Mangalore, Vishakhapatnam
|
|
