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.

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

Land use
Arable land: 56%
Permanent crops: 1%
Permanent pastures: 4%
Forests and woodland: 23%
Other: 16% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 480,000 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms common; earthquakes

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

Population: 984,003,683 (July 1998 est.)
Growth rate: 1.71% (1998 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Indian(s)
Adjective: Indian

Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3%

Languages: English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication, Hindi the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people, Bengali (official), Telugu (official), Marathi (official), Tamil (official), Urdu (official), Gujarati (official), Malayalam (official), Kannada (official), Oriya (official), Punjabi (official), Assamese (official), Kashmiri (official), Sindhi (official), Sanskrit (official), Hindustani a popular variant of Hindu/Urdu, is spoken widely throughout northern India
Note: 24 languages each spoken by a million or more persons; numerous other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually unintelligible

Religions: Hindu 80%, Muslim 14%, Christian 2.4%, Sikh 2%, Buddhist 0.7%, Jains 0.5%, other 0.4%

Age structure
0-14 years: 34% (male 174,578,403; female 164,755,937)
15-64 years: 61% (male 310,995,355; female 288,344,336)
65 years and over: 5% (male 23,051,278; female 22,278,374) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.71% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 25.91 births/1000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 8.69 deaths/1000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.08 migrant(s)/1000 population (1998 est.)

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 rapidly growing population is overstraining natural resources
International agreements party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, 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
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.04 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 63.14 deaths/1000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 62.9 years
Male: 62.11 years
Female: 63.73 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.24 children born/woman (1998 est.)

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

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

Government type: federal republic

Capital: New Delhi

Administrative divisions: 25 states and 7 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*, Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Pondicherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal

Independence: 15 August 1947 (from UK)

National holiday: Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic, 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

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Kicheril Raman NARAYANAN (since NA July 1997); Vice President Krishnan KANT (since NA September 1997): ead 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
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; vice president elected by both houses of Parliament; prime minister elected by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections
Election results: Kicheril Raman NARAYANAN elected president; percent of electoral college vote_NA; Krishnan KANT elected vice president; percent of Parliament vote - NA; Atal Bihari VAJPAYEE elected prime minister; percent of vote_NA

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 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; members serve five-year terms)
Elections: People's Assembly_last held 16 February through 7 March 1998 (next to be held NA March 2003)
Election results: People's Assembly_percent of vote by party_NA; seats by party - NA

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

International organization participation: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, BIS (pending member), C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, 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, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIPONUH, MONUA, NAM, OAS (observer), PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNOMIL, UNU, UPU, 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 CELESTE
From the us embassy: Shanti Path, Chanakyapuri 110,021, New Delhi
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) 419-0017
From the us consulates general: Calcutta, Chennai (Madras), 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

Economy overview: India's economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of support services. 67% of India's labor force of nearly 400 million work in agriculture, which contributes 30% of the country's GDP. Production, trade, and investment reforms since 1991 have provided new opportunities for Indian businesspersons and an estimated 300 million middle class consumers. New Delhi has avoided debt rescheduling, attracted foreign investment, and revived confidence in India's economic prospects since 1991. Many of the country's fundamentals - including savings rates (26% of GDP) and reserves (now about $24 billion) - are healthy. Inflation eased to 7% in 1997, and interest rates dropped to between 10% and 13%. Even so, the Indian Government needs to restore the early momentum of reform, especially by continuing reductions in the extensive remaining government regulations. Moreover, economic policy changes have not yet significantly increased jobs or reduced the risk that international financial strains will reemerge within the next few years. Nearly 40% of the Indian population remains too poor to afford an adequate diet. India's exports, currency, and foreign institutional investment were affected by the East Asian crisis in late 1997 and early 1998, but capital account controls, a low ratio of short-term debt to reserves, and enhanced supervision of the financial sector helped insulate it from near term balance-of-payments problems. Export growth, has been slipping in 1996-97, averaging only about 4% to 5%_a large drop from the more than 20% increases it was experiencing over the prior three years_mainly because of the fall in Asian currencies relative to the rupee. Energy, telecommunications, and transportation shortages and the legacy of inefficient factories constrain industrial growth which expanded only 6.7% in 1997_down from more than 11% in 1996. Growth of the agricultural sector is still fairly slow rebounding to only 5.7% in 1997 from a fall of 0.1% in 1996. Agricultural investment has slowed, while costly subsidies on fertilizer, food distribution, and rural electricity remain. Nevertheless, even if a series of weak coalition governments continue to rule in New Delhi over the next few years and are unable to push reforms aggressively, parts of the economy that have already benefited from deregulation will continue to grow. Indian think tanks project GDP growth of at least 5.5% in 1998.

Real gdp growth rate: 5% (1997 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity: $1,600 (1997 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 30%
Industry: 28%
Services: 42% (1996 est.)

Agriculture products: rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish catch of about 3 million metric tons ranks India among the world's top 10 fishing nations

Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery

Industrial production growth rate: 6.7% (1997 est.)

Labor force
Total: 390 million (1997 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 67%
By occupation services: 18%
By occupation industry: 15% (1995 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget
Revenues: $39 billion
Expenditures: $61 billion, including capital expenditures of $10 billion (FY97/98 est.)

Fiscal year: 1 April_31 March

Exports: total value:$33.9 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
Commodoties: gems and jewelry, clothing, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures, cotton yarn, and fabric
Partners: US, Hong Kong, UK, Germany

Imports: total value:$39.7 billion (c.i.f., 1997)
Commodoties: crude oil and petroleum products, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals
Partners: US, Belgium, Germany, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UK, Japan

Debt external: $90.7 billion (1997)

Exchange rates: Indian rupees (Rs) per US$1_39.358 (January 1998), 36.313 (1997), 35.433 (1996), 32.427 (1995), 31.374 (1994), 30.493 (1993)

Electricity
Capacity: 83.288 million kW (1996)
Production: 398.28 billion kWh (1995)
Consumption per capita: 427 kWh (1995)

Telephones: 12 million (1996)

Telephone system: probably the least adequate telephone system of any of the industrializing countries; three of every four villages have no telephone service; only 5% of India's villages have long-distance service; poor telephone service significantly impedes commercial and industrial growth and penalizes India in global markets; slow improvement is taking place with the recent admission of private and private-public investors, but demand for communication services is also growing rapidly
Domestic: local service is provided mostly by open wire and obsolete electromechanical and manual switchboard systems; within the last 10 years a substantial amount of digital switch gear has been introduced for local service; long-distance traffic is carried mostly by open wire, coaxial cable, and low-capacity microwave radio relay; since 1985, however, significant trunk capacity has been added in the form of fiber-optic cable and a domestic satellite system with over 100 earth stations
International: satellite earth stations_8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean Region); submarine cables to Malaysia and UAE

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $8 billion (FY95/96)
Percent of gdp: 2.7% (FY95/96)

Airports: 343 (1997 est.)
With paved runways total: 237
With paved runways over 3047 m: 12
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 47
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 87
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 72
With paved runways under 914 m: 19 (1997 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 106
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 6
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 47
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 51 (1997 est.)

Heliports: 16 (1997 est.)

Pipelines: crude oil 3,005 km; petroleum products 2,687 km; natural gas 1,700 km (1995)

Railways
Total: 62,660 km (12,296 km electrified; 12,617 km double track)
Broad gauge: 39,612 km 1.676-m gauge
Narrow gauge: 19,210 km 1.000-m gauge; 3,838 km 0.762-m and 0.610-m gauge (1995 est.)

Waterways: 16,180 km; 3,631 km navigable by large vessels

Merchant marine
Total: 299 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,605,619 GRT/10,988,439 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 126, cargo 58, chemical tanker 9, combination bulk 1, combination ore/oil 3, container 11, liquefied gas tanker 9, oil tanker 75, passenger-cargo 5, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1, short-sea passenger 1 (1997 est.)

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

Illicit drugs: world's largest licit producer of opium for the pharmaceutical trade, but an undetermined quantity of opium is diverted to illicit international drug markets; major transit country for illicit narcotics produced in neighboring countries; illicit producer of hashish and methaqualone; cultivated 2,050 hectares of opium in 1997, a 34% decrease from 1996, with a potential production of 30 metric tons, a 36% decrease from 1996