Map of India | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | 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 the 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 and religious 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
Territorial sea: 12 NM
Continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin
Exclusive economic zone: 200 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: 54.35%
Permanent crops: 2.66%
Other: 42.99% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 590,000 km² (1998 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: droughts; flash floods as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes

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


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Population: 1,049,700,118 (July 2003 est.)
Growth rate: 1.47% (2003 est.)
Below poverty line: 25% (2002 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Indian
Adjective: Indian

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

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

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: 32.2% (male 173,973,350; female 163,979,116)
15-64 years: 63% (male 342,620,712; female 319,259,867)
65 years and over: 4.8% (male 25,281,756; female 24,585,317) (2003 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 24.1 years
Male: 24.1 years
Female: 24.2 years (2002)

Population growth rate: 1.47% (2003 est.)

Birth rate: 23.28 births/1000 population (2003 est.)

Death rate: 8.49 deaths/1000 population (2003 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.07 migrant(s)/1000 population (2003 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, 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 (2003 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 59.59 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 58.93 deaths/1000 live births (2003 est.)
Male: 60.23 deaths/1000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 63.62 years
Male: 62.92 years
Female: 64.37 years (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.91 children born/woman (2003 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.8% (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: 3.97 million (2001 est.)
Deaths: 310,000 (2001 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: 59.5%
Male: 70.2%
Female: 48.3% (2003 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 Abdul KALAM (since 26 July 2002); Vice President Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT (since 12 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 NA 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 NA 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 - NA%; Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT elected vice president; percent of Parliament vote - 59.8%; Atal Bihari 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 (I) alliance 33.8%, other 25.4%; seats by party - BJP alliance 304, Congress (I) 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 [D. BISWAS (general secretary)]; Asom Gana Parishad [Brindaban GOSWAMI]; Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Jana KRISNAMURTHY]; 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]

International organization participation: AfDB ARF (dialogue partner) AsDB ASEAN (dialogue partner) BIS C 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 Interpol IOC IOM (observer) ISO ITU MIPONUH MONUC NAM OAS (observer) OPCW PCA SAARC UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNIFIL UNIKOM UNMEE UNMIBH UNMIK UNMOVIC UNU UPU WCL WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Lalit MANSINGH
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco
In the us fax: [1] (202) 483-3,972
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 939-7,000
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
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Robert D. BLACKWILL
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) 419-8,000
From the us fax: [91] (11) 419-0017
From the us consulates 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

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. Overpopulation severely handicaps the economy and about a quarter of the population is too poor to be able to afford an adequate diet. Government controls have been reduced on imports and foreign 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 has large numbers of well-educated people skilled in the English language; India is a major exporter of software services and software workers; the information technology sector leads the strong growth pattern. The World Bank and others worry about the continuing public-sector budget deficit running at approximately 10% of GDP in 1997-2002. In 2003 the state-owned Indian Bank substantially reduced non-performing loans attracted new customers and turned a profit. Deep-rooted problems remain notably conflicts among political and cultural groups.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 4.3% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2002 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 25%
Industry: 25%
Services: 50% (2002 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: 6% (2002 est.)

Labor force: 406 million (1999)
By occupation agriculture: 60%
By occupation services: 23%
By occupation industry: 17% (1999)

Unemployment rate: 8.8% (2002)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 25% (2002 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: 37.8 (1997)

Budget
Revenues: $48.3 billion
Expenditures: $78.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $14 (FY01/02 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: 5.4% (2002 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: $44.5 billion f.o.b. (2001)
Commodities: textile goods gems and jewelry engineering goods chemicals leather manufactures
Partners: US 22.5% UK 5.1% UAE 5.1% Hong Kong 4.5% Germany 4.3% China 4.1% (2002)

Imports: $53.8 billion f.o.b. (2001)
Commodities: crude oil machinery gems fertilizer chemicals
Partners: US 7.1% Belgium 6.7% China 4.6% Singapore 4.6% UK 4.6% (2002)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $100.6 billion (2001 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Indian rupees per US dollar - 48.61 (2002) 47.19 (2001) 44.94 (2000) 43.06 (1999) 41.26 (1998)


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Electricity
Production: 533.3 billion kWh (2001)
Production by source fossil fuel: 81.7%
Production by source hydro: 14.5%
Production by source other: 0.3% (2001)
Production by source nuclear: 3.4%
Consumption: 497.2 billion kWh (2001)
Exports: 321 million kWh (2001)
Imports: 1.54 billion kWh (2001)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas
Production: 22.75 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Consumption: 22.75 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Imports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Proven reserves: 542.4 billion m³ (37,257)

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 27.7 million (October 2000)
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 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
Service providers isps: 43 (2000)
Users: 7 million (2002)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $11.52 billion (FY02)
Percent of gdp: 2.3% (FY02)

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: 334 (2002)
With paved runways total: 232
With paved runways over 3047 m: 14
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 47
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 73
With paved runways under 914 m: 20 (2002)
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 78
With unpaved runways total: 102
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 9
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 48 (2002)
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 42

Heliports: 19 (2002)

Pipelines: gas 5,798 km; liquid petroleum gas 1195 km; oil 5,613 km; refined products 5,567 km (2003)

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)

Roadways

Waterways
Note: 3,631 km navigable by large vessels

Merchant marine
Total: 305 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 5,753,279 GRT/9,621,911 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 100, cargo 82, chemical tanker 15, combination bulk 2, combination ore/oil 2, container 10, liquefied gas 10, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 75, roll on/roll off 1, short-sea passenger 2, specialized tanker 1
Note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: China 1, UAE 10, UK 1 (2002 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: much of the rugged militarized boundary with China is in dispute but the two sides have participated in more than 13 rounds of joint working group sessions on this issue; India objects to Pakistan ceding lands to China in 1965 boundary agreement that India believes are part of disputed Kashmir; with Pakistan armed stand-off over the status and sovereignty of Kashmir continues; disputes with Pakistan over Indus River water sharing and the terminus of the Rann of Kutch which prevents maritime boundary delimitation; Joint Border Committee with Nepal continues to work on resolution of disputed boundary sections; dispute with Bangladesh over New Moore/South Talpatty Island in the Bay of Bengal prevents maritime boundary delimitation

Refugees and internally displaced persons

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