Map of India | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide19891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023 | More stats

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Background: The Indus Valley civilization one of the oldest in the world goes back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest invaded about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier inhabitants created classical Indian culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkish in 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 strife all this despite impressive gains in economic investment and output.


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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 reference: Asia

Area
Total: 3,287,590 km²
Land: 2,973,190 km²
Water: 314,400 km²
Comparative: slightly more than one-third the size of the US

Land boundaries
Total: 14,103 km
Border countries: (6) 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
Contiguous zone: 24 NM
Continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin
Exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
Territorial sea: 12 NM

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
Extremes 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: 56%
Permanent crops: 1%
Permanent pastures: 4%
Forests and woodland: 23%
Other: 16% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 535,100 km² (1995/96 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: droughts flash floods severe thunderstorms common; earthquakes

Geography
Note: dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes


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Population: 1,029,991,145 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 1.55% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: 35% (1994 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Indian
Adjective: Indian

Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72% Dravidian 25% Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)

Languages
Note: 24 languages each spoken by a million or more persons; numerous other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually unintelligible

Religions: Hindu 81.3% Muslim 12% Christian 2.3% Sikh 1.9% other groups including Buddhist Jain Parsi 2.5% (2000)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 33.12% (male 175,630,537; female 165,540,672)
15-64 years: 62.2% (male 331,790,850; female 308,902,864)
65 years and over: 4.68% (male 24,439,022; female 23,687,200) (2001 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.55% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 24.28 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 8.74 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.08 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

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
International agreements party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.06 male/female
15-64 years: 1.07 male/female
65 years and over: 1.03 male/female
Total population: 1.07 male/female (2001 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 63.19 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 62.86 years
Male: 62.22 years
Female: 63.53 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.04 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.7% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 3.7 million (1999 est.)
Deaths: 310,000 (1999 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 52%
Male: 65.5%
Female: 37.7% (1995 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of India
Conventional short form: India

Government type: federal republic

Capital: New Delhi

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 Pondicherry* Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttaranchal Uttar Pradesh West Bengal

Dependent areas

Independence: 15 August 1947 (from UK)

National holiday: Republic Day 26 January (1950)

Constitution: 26 January 1950

Legal system: based on English common law; limited judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Kicheril Raman NARAYANAN (since 25 July 1997); Vice President Krishnan KANT (since 21 August 1997)
Head of government: Prime Minister Atal Behari VAJPAYEE (since 19 March 1998)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers 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; election last held 14 July 1997 (next to be held NA July 2002); vice president elected by both houses of Parliament for a five-year term; election last held 16 August 1997 (next to be held NA August 2002); prime minister elected by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections; election last held NA October 1999 (next to be held NA October 2004)
Election results: Kicheril Raman NARAYANAN elected president; percent of electoral college vote - NA%; Krishnan KANT elected vice president; percent of Parliament vote - NA%; Atal Behari VAJPAYEE elected prime minister; percent of vote - NA%

Legislative branch
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 alliance 33.8%, other 25.4%; seats by party - BJP alliance 304, Congress alliance 134, other 107

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president and remain in office until they reach the age of 65)

Political parties and leaders: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK [C. Jayalalitha JAYARAM]; All India Forward Bloc or AIFB [Prem Dutta PALIWAL (chairman) Chitta BASU (general secretary)]; Asom Gana Parishad [Prafulla Kumar MAHANTA]; Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [Kanshi RAM]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Bangaru LAXMAN president]; 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 [Vinod MISHRA]; Congress (I) Party [Sonia GANDHI president]; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or DMK (a regional party in Tamil Nadu) [M. KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National League [Suliaman SAIT]; Janata Dal (Secular) [H. D. Deve GOWDA]; Janata Dal (United) or JDU [Sharad YADAV president I. K. GUJRAL]; 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]; National Democratic Alliance a 16-party alliance including BJP DMK Janata Dal (U) SHS Shiromani Akali Dal Telugu Desam BJD Rinamool Congress]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Laloo Prasad YADAV]; Revolutionary Socialist Party or RSP [Tridip CHOWDHURY]; Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV president]; Shiromani Akali Dal [Prakash Singh BADAL]; Shiv Sena [Bal THACKERAY]; Tamil Maanila Congress [G. K. MOOPANAR]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP (a regional party in Andhra Pradesh) [Chandrababu NAIDU]; Trinamool Congress [Mamata BANERJEE]

International organization participation: AfDB ARF (dialogue partner) AsDB ASEAN (dialogue partner) BIS C CCC CP ESCAP FAO G- 6 G-15 G-19 G-24 G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICFTU ICRM IDA IEA (observer) IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO Inmarsat Intelsat Interpol IOC IOM (observer) ISO ITU MINURSO MIPONUH MONUC NAM OAS (observer) OPCW PCA SAARC UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNIFIL UNIKOM UNMEE UNMIBH UNMIK UNU UPU WCL WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Naresh CHANDRA
In the us chancery: 2,107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008; note - Embassy located at 2,536 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 939-7,000
In the us fax: [1] (202) 483-3,972
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Richard F. CELESTE
From the us embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110,021
From the us mailing address: use embassy street address
From the us telephone: [91] (11) 688-9,033, 611-3,033
From the us fax: [91] (11) 419-0025
From the us consulates general: Chennai (Madras), Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay)

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of 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

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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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. More than a third of the population is too poor to be able to afford an adequate diet. India's international payments position remained strong in 2000 with adequate foreign exchange reserves moderately depreciating nominal exchange rates and booming exports of software services. Growth in manufacturing output slowed and electricity shortages continue in many regions.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 6% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita ppp

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 25%
Industry: 24%
Services: 51% (2000)

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% (2000 est.)

Labor force: NA
By occupation agriculture: 67%
By occupation services: 18%
By occupation industry: 15% (1995 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 35% (1994 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 3.5%
Highest 10: 33.5% (1997)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $44.3 billion
Expenditures: $73.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est.)

Public debt

Taxes and other revenues

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Current account balance

Inflation rate consumer prices: 5.4% (2000 est.)

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $43.1 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: textile goods gems and jewelry engineering goods chemicals leather manufactures
Partners: US 22% UK 6% Germany 5% Japan 5% Hong Kong 5% UAE 4% (1999)

Imports: $60.8 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: crude oil machinery gems fertilizer chemicals
Partners: US 9% Benelux 8% UK 6% Saudi Arabia 6% Japan 6% Germany 5% (1999)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $99.6 billion (2000)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Indian rupees per US dollar - 46.540 (January 2001) 44.942 (2000) 43.055 (1999) 41.259 (1998) 36.313 (1997) 35.433 (1996)


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Electricity access

Electricity production: 454.561 billion kWh (1999)
By source fossil fuel: 79.41%
By source hydro: 17.77%
By source nuclear: 2.52%
By source other: 0.3% (1999)

Electricity consumption: 424.032 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity exports: 200 million kWh (1999)

Electricity imports: 1.49 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity installed generating capacity

Electricity transmission distribution losses

Electricity generation sources

Petroleum

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones fixed lines

Telephones mobile cellular: 2.93 million (November 2000)

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 in order 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 is provided in four metropolitan cities
International: 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, Gaidhinagar, 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)

Broadcast media

Internet country code: .in

Internet users: 4.5 million (2000)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $13.02 billion (FY01)
Percent of gdp: 2.5% (FY00)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 337 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 235
With paved runways over 3047 m: 13
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 48
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 81
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 77
With paved runways under 914 m: 16 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 102
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 6
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 40
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 55 (2000 est.)

Airports with paved runways
Total: 235
Over 3047 m: 13
2438 to 3047 m: 48
15-24 to 2437 m: 81
914 to 1523 m: 77
Under 914 m: 16 (2000 est.)

Airports with unpaved runways
Total: 102
2438 to 3047 m: 1
15-24 to 2437 m: 6
914 to 1523 m: 40
Under 914 m: 55 (2000 est.)

Heliports: 16 (2000 est.)

Pipelines: crude oil 3,005 km; petroleum products 2,687 km; natural gas 1700 km (1995)

Railways
Total: 62,915 km (12,307 km electrified; 12,617 km double track)
Broad gauge: 40,620 km 1.676-m gauge
Narrow gauge: 18,501 km 1.000-m gauge; 3,794 km 0.762-m and 0.610-m gauge (1998 est.)

Roadways

Waterways
Note: 3,631 km navigable by large vessels

Merchant marine
Total: 315 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,433,831 GRT/10,691,973 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 117, cargo 70, chemical tanker 15, combination bulk 1, combination ore/oil 3, container 15, liquefied gas 9, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 76, short-sea passenger 2, specialized tanker 2 (2000 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: boundary with China in dispute; status of Kashmir with Pakistan; water-sharing problems with Pakistan over the Indus River (Wular Barrage); a portion of the boundary with Bangladesh is indefinite; exchange of 151 enclaves along border with Bangladesh subject to ratification by Indian parliament; dispute with Bangladesh over New Moore/South Talpatty Island

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs