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 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. Indian armed forces in the British army played a vital role in both World Wars. 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
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
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: 54.4%
Permanent crops: 2.74%
Other: 42.86% (2001)

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: 1,065,070,607 (July 2004 est.)
Growth rate: 1.44% (2004 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: 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.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 24.4 years
Male: 24.4 years
Female: 24.4 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.44% (2004 est.)

Birth rate: 22.8 births/1000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate: 8.38 deaths/1000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.07 migrant(s)/1000 population (2004 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, 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
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 (2004 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 57.92 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 58.52 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 57.29 deaths/1000 live births (2004 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 63.99 years
Male: 63.25 years
Female: 64.77 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.85 children born/woman (2004 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 19 August 2002)
Head of government: Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH (since NA May 2004)
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 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 chosen by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections; election last held April - May 2004 (next to be held NA 2009)
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%

Legislative branch
Elections: People's Assembly - last held 20 April through 10 May 2004 (next to be held NA 2009)
Election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - INC 145, BJP 138, CPI(M) 43, SP 36, RJD 21, BSP 19, DMK 16, SS 12, BJD 11, CPI 10, NCP 9, JDU 8, SAD 8, PMK 6, TDP 5, TRS 5, JMM 5, LJSP 4, MDMK 4, independents 5, other 30

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 [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 Congress or INC [leader NA]; Indian National League [Suliaman SAITH]; Janata Dal (Secular) [H. D. Deve GOWDA]; Janata Dal (United) or JDU [Sharad YADAV]; Jharkhand Mukti Morcha or JMM [leader NA]; Kerala Congress (Mani faction) [K. M. MANI]; Lok Jan Shakti Party or LSP [leader NA]; Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or MDMK [VAIKO]; Muslim League [G. M. BANATWALA]; Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]; Pattali Makkal Katchi or PMK [leader NA]; 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 or SAD [G. S. TOHRA]; Shiv Sena or SS [Bal THACKERAY]; Tamil Maanila Congress [G. K. VASAN]; Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS [leader NA]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]; Trinamool Congress [Mamata BANERJEE]

International organization participation: AfDB ARF AsDB ASEAN (dialogue partner) BIS C CERN (observer) CP FAO G- 6 G-15 G-19 G-24 G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICFTU ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM (observer) ISO ITU MIGA MONUC NAM OAS (observer) ONUB OPCW PCA SAARC SACEP UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNIFIL UNMEE UNMIK UNMOVIC UNOCI UPU WCL WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Ranendra SEN
In the us chancery: 2,107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008; note - Consular Wing 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) 265-4,351
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador David C. MULFORD
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) 2,419-8,000
From the us fax: [91] (11) 2,419-0017
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. 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 60% of GDP.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 8.3% (2003 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,900 (2003 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 23.6%
Industry: 28.4%
Services: 48% (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: 6.5% (2003 est.)

Labor force: 472 million (2003)
By occupation agriculture: 60%
By occupation industry: 17%
By occupation services: 23% (1999)

Unemployment rate: 9.5% (2003)

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: $86.69 billion
Expenditures: $114.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $13.5 billion (2003)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt: 59.7% of GDP (2003)

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: 3.8% (2003 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: $3.41 billion (2003)

Exports: $57.24 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Commodities: textile goods gems and jewelry engineering goods chemicals leather manufactures
Partners: US 20.6% China 6.4% UK 5.3% Hong Kong 4.8% Germany 4.4% (2003)

Imports: $74.15 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Commodities: crude oil machinery gems fertilizer chemicals
Partners: US 6.4% Belgium 5.6% UK 4.8% China 4.3% Singapore 4% (2003)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $101.7 billion (2003 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Indian rupees per US dollar - 46.5806 (2003) 48.6103 (2002) 47.1864 (2001) 44.9416 (2000) 43.0554 (1999)


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Electricity
Production: 533.3 billion kWh (2001)
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 (1 January 2002)

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 48.917 million (2003)
Mobile cellular: 26,154,400 (2003)

Telephone system
General assessment: recent deregulation and liberalization of telecommunications laws and policies have prompted rapid change; 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 seven for each 100 persons nationwide but only one per 100 persons in rural areas and 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 5 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); nine gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai (Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, and Ernakulam; 5 submarine cables, including Sea-Me-We-3 with landing sites at Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay), 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 (2004)

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .in
Hosts: 86,871 (2003)
Users: 18.481 million (2003)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $14,019 million (2003)
Percent of gdp: 2.4% (2003)

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: 333 (2003 est.)
With paved runways total: 234
With paved runways over 3047 m: 14
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 47
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 78
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 74
With paved runways under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 99
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 9
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 42
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 45 (2004 est.)

Heliports: 20 (2003 est.)

Pipelines: gas 6,171 km; liquid petroleum gas 1195 km; oil 5,613 km; refined products 5,567 km (2004)

Railways
Total: 63,140 km (15,994 km electrified)
Broad gauge: 45,099 km 1.676-m gauge
Narrow gauge: 14,776 km 1.000-m gauge; 3,265 km 0.762-m gauge and 0.610-m gauge (2003)

Roadways

Waterways
Note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for mechanized vessels (2004)

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
Foreign owned: China 2, Portugal 1
Registered in other countries: 63 (2004 est.)

Ports and terminals


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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

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees country of origin: 92,394 (China), 60,922 (Sri Lanka)
Idps: 650,000 (Jammu and Kashmir conflicts; most IDPs are Kashmiri Hindus) (2004)

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