Background: The Indus Valley civilization, one of the world's oldest, flourished during the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C. and extended into northwestern India. Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated 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. Islam spread across the subcontinent over a period of 700 years. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established the Delhi Sultanate. In the early 16th century, the Emperor BABUR established the Mughal Dynasty, which ruled India for more than three centuries. European explorers began establishing footholds in India during the 16th century.

Geographic coordinates: 20 00 N, 77 00 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total: 3,287,263 km²
Land: 2,973,193 km²
Water: 314,070 km²
Comparative: slightly more than one-third the size of the US

Land boundaries
Total: 13,888 km
Border countries: (6) Bangladesh 4,142 km; , Bhutan 659 km; , Burma 1468 km; , China 2,659 km; , Nepal 1770 km; , Pakistan 3,190 km

Coastline: 7,000 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Contiguouszone: 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
Highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,586 m
Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
Mean elevation: 160 m

Natural resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), antimony, iron ore, lead, manganese, mica, bauxite, rare earth elements, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land

Land use
Agricultural land: 60.5% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land arable land: 52.8% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent crops: 4.2% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent pasture: 3.5% (2018 est.)
Forest: 23.1% (2018 est.)
Other: 16.4% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land: 667,000 km² (2012)

Major rivers
By length in km: Brahmaputra (shared with China [s] and Bangladesh [m]) - 3,969 km; Indus (shared with China [s] and Pakistan [m]) - 3,610 km; Ganges river source (shared with Bangladesh [m]) - 2,704 km; Godavari - 1,465 km; Sutlej (shared with China [s] and Pakistan [m]) - 1,372 km; Yamuna - 1,370 km; Narmada - 1,289 km; Chenab river source (shared with Pakistan [m]) - 1,086 km; Ghaghara river mouth (shared with China [s] and Nepal) - 1,080 km

Major watersheds area km²: Indian Ocean drainage: Brahmaputra (651,335 km²), Ganges (1,016,124 km²), Indus (1,081,718 km²), Irrawaddy (413,710 km²)

Total water withdrawal
Municipal: 56 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)
Industrial: 17 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)
Agricultural: 688 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources: 1,910,900,000,000 cubic meters (2017 est.)

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; Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in the world, lies on the border with Nepal

Population
Distribution: with the notable exception of the deserts in the northwest, including the Thar Desert, and the mountain fringe in the north, a very high population density exists throughout most of the country; the core of the population is in the north along the banks of the Ganges, with other river valleys and southern coastal areas also having large population concentrations: 1,339,330,514 (July 2021 est.)
Growth rate: 1.04% (2021 est.)
Below poverty line: 21.9% (2011 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Indian(s)
Adjective: Indian

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

Languages: Hindi 43.6%, Bengali 8%, Marathi 6.9%, Telugu 6.7%, Tamil 5.7%, Gujarati 4.6%, Urdu 4.2%, Kannada 3.6%, Odia 3.1%, Malayalam 2.9%, Punjabi 2.7%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.1%, other 5.6%; note - English enjoys the status of subsidiary official language but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; there are 22 other officially recognized languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2011 est.)
Major language samples:

Religions: Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, other and unspecified 2% (2011 est.)

Age structure
0-14 years: 26.31% (male 185,017,089/female 163,844,572)
15-24 years: 17.51% (male 123,423,531/female 108,739,780)
25-54 years: 41.56% (male 285,275,667/female 265,842,319)
55-64 years: 7.91% (male 52,444,817/female 52,447,038)
65 years and over: 6.72% (male 42,054,459/female 47,003,975) (2020 est.)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 48.7
Youth dependency ratio: 38.9
Elderly dependency ratio: 9.8
Potential support ratio: 10.2 (2020 est.)

Median age
Total: 28.7 years
Male: 28 years
Female: 29.5 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.04% (2021 est.)

Birth rate: 17.53 births/1000 population (2021 est.)

Death rate: 7.1 deaths/1000 population (2021 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.04 migrant(s)/1000 population (2021 est.)

Population distribution: with the notable exception of the deserts in the northwest, including the Thar Desert, and the mountain fringe in the north, a very high population density exists throughout most of the country; the core of the population is in the north along the banks of the Ganges, with other river valleys and southern coastal areas also having large population concentrations

Urbanization
Urban population: 35.4% of total population (2021)
Rate of urbanization: 2.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: 31.181 million NEW DELHI (capital), 20.668 million Mumbai, 14.974 million Kolkata, 12.765 million Bangalore, 11.235 million Chennai, 10.269 million Hyderabad (2021)

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; preservation and quality of forests; biodiversity loss
International agreements party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants
Particulate matter emissions: 65.2 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 2,407.67 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 559.11 megatons (2020 est.)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.11 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.13 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.14 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 21 years (2015/16)
Note: median age a first birth among women 25-49

Maternal mortality ratio: 145 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 39.55 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 39.47 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 39.63 deaths/1000 live births (2021 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 70.03 years
Male: 68.71 years
Female: 71.49 years (2021 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.28 children born/woman (2021 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 53.5% (2015/16)

Drinking water source
Improved urban: 96% of population
Improved rural: 91% of population
Improved total: 92.7% of population
Unimproved urban: 4% of population
Unimproved rural: 9% of population
Unimproved total: 7.2% of population (2017 est.)

Current health expenditure: 3.5% (2018)

Physicians density: 0.86 physicians/1000 population (2018)

Hospital bed density: 0.5 beds/1000 population (2017)

Sanitation facility access
Improved urban: 93.7% of population
Improved rural: 61.1% of population
Improved total: 72% of population
Unimproved urban: 6.3% of population
Unimproved rural: 38.9% of population
Unimproved total: 28% of population (2017 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2017 est.)
People living with hivaids: 2.3 million (2020 est.)
Deaths: 69,000 (2017 est.)

Major infectious diseases
Degree of risk: very high (2020)
Food or water borne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
Vector borne diseases: dengue fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria
Watercontactdiseases: leptospirosis
Animalcontactdiseases: rabies
Note: clusters of cases of a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) are being reported across 27 States and Union Territories in India; as of 6 October 2021, India has reported a total of 33,871,881 cases of COVID-19 or 2,454.48 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with 32.58 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 5 October 2021, 48% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine; effective 4 May 2021, the US has banned most travel from India to the US

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 3.9% (2016)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 33.4% (2016/18)

Education expenditures: 3.5% of GDP (2016)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 74.4%
Male: 82.4%
Female: 65.8% (2018)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 12 years
Male: 12 years
Female: 12 years (2020)

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15-24 total: 19.8%
Rate ages 15-24 male: 19.5%
Rate ages 15-24 female: 21% (2020 est.)

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
Etymology: the English name derives from the Indus River; the Indian name 'Bharat' may derive from the 'Bharatas' tribe mentioned in the Vedas of the second millennium B.C.; the name is also associated with Emperor Bharata, the legendary conqueror of all of India

Government type: federal parliamentary 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)
Etymology: he city's name is associated with various myths and legends; the original name for the city may have been Dhilli or Dhillika; alternatively, the name could be a corruption of the Hindustani words 'dehleez' or 'dehali' - both terms meaning 'threshold' or 'gateway' - and indicative of the city as a gateway to the Gangetic Plain; after the British decided to move the capital of their Indian Empire from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911, they created a new governmental district south of the latter designated as New Delhi; the new capital was not formally inaugurated until 1931

Administrative divisions: 28 states and 8 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir*, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh*, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Puducherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal
Note: although its status is that of a union territory, the official name of Delhi is National Capital Territory of Delhi

Independence: 15 August 1947 (from the UK)

National holiday: Republic Day, 26 January (1950)

Constitution
History: previous 1935 (preindependence); latest draft completed 4 November 1949, adopted 26 November 1949, effective 26 January 1950
Amendments: proposed by either the Council of States or the House of the People; passage requires majority participation of the total membership in each house and at least two-thirds majority of voting members of each house, followed by assent of the president of India; proposed amendments to the constitutional amendment procedures also must be ratified by at least one half of the India state legislatures before presidential assent; amended many times, last in 2020

Legal system: common law system based on the English model; separate personal law codes apply to Muslims, Christians, and Hindus; judicial review of legislative acts; note - in late 2019 the Government of India began discussions to overhaul its penal code, which dates to the British colonial period

International law organization participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; non-party state to the ICCt

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descentonly: at least one parent must be a citizen of India
Dual citizenship recognized: no
Residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Ram Nath KOVIND (since 25 July 2017); Vice President M. Venkaiah NAIDU (since 11 August 2017) 
Head of government: Prime Minister Narendra MODI (since 26 May 2014) 
Cabinet: Union Council of Ministers recommended by the prime minister, appointed by the president
Elections and appointments: president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament for a 5-year term (no term limits); election last held on 17 July 2017 (next to be held in July 2022); vice president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament for a 5-year term (no term limits); election last held on 5 August 2017 (next to be held in August 2022); following legislative elections, the prime minister is elected by Lok Sabha members of the majority party
Election results: Ram Nath KOVIND elected president; percent of electoral college vote - Ram Nath KOVIND (BJP) 65.7% Meira KUMAR (INC) 34.3%; M. Venkaiah NAIDU elected vice president; electoral college vote - M. Venkaiah NAIDU (BJP) 516, Gopalkrishna GANDHI (independent) 244

Legislative branch
Description: bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of:
Council of States or Rajya Sabha (245 seats; 233 members indirectly elected by state and territorial assemblies by proportional representation vote and 12 members appointed by the president; members serve 6-year terms)
House of the People or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 2 appointed by the president; members serve 5-year terms)
Elections:
Election results:

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Supreme Court (consists of 28 judges, including the chief justice)
Judge selection and term of office: justices appointed by the president to serve until age 65
Subordinate courts: High Courts; District Courts; Labour Court
Note: in mid-2011, India’s Cabinet approved the 'National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reform' to eliminate judicial corruption and reduce the backlog of cases

Political parties and leaders: Aam Aadmi Party or AAP [Arvind KEJRIWAL]
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK [Edappadi PALANISWAMY, Occhaathevar PANNEERSELVAM]
All India Trinamool Congress or AITC [Mamata BANERJEE]
Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]
Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Amit SHAH]
Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]
Communist Party of India-Marxist or CPI(M) [Sitaram YECHURY]
Indian National Congress or INC
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) [Ram Vilas PASWAN]
Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]
Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Lalu Prasad YADAV]
Samajwadi Party or SP [Akhilesh YADAV]
Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD [Sukhbir Singh BADAL]
Shiv Sena or SS [Uddhav THACKERAY]
Telegana Rashtra Samithi or TRS [K. Chandrashekar RAO]
Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]
YSR Congress or YSRC [Jagan Mohan REDDY]
Note: India has dozens of national and regional political parties

International organization participation: ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIMSTEC, BIS, BRICS, C, CD, CERN (observer), CICA, CP, EAS, FAO, FATF, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-5, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAS (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, Pacific Alliance (observer), PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC, SACEP, SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNITAR, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador From the us embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi - 110,021
From the us mailing address: 9,000 New Delhi Place, Washington DC  20,521-9,000
From the us telephone: [91] (11) 2,419-8,000
From the us FAX: [91] (11) 2,419-0017
From the us email address and website:

acsnd@state.gov
[link]

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; saffron represents courage, sacrifice, and the spirit of renunciation; white signifies purity and truth; green stands for faith and fertility; the blue chakra symbolizes the wheel of life in movement and death in stagnation
Note: similar to the flag of Niger, which has a small orange disk centered in the white band

National symbols: the Lion Capital of Ashoka, which depicts four Asiatic lions standing back to back mounted on a circular abacus, is the official emblem; Bengal tiger; lotus flower; national colors: saffron, white, green

National anthem
Name: 'Jana-Gana-Mana' (Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People)
Lyrics and music: Rabindranath TAGORE
Note: adopted 1950; Rabindranath TAGORE, a Nobel laureate, also wrote Bangladesh's national anthem

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Note: data are in 2010 dollars

Real gdp growth rate: 4.86% (2019 est.)

6.78% (2018 est.)

6.55% (2017 est.)

Real gdp per capita:
Note: data are in 2010 dollars

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 59.1% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 11.5% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 28.5% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: 3.9% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 19.1% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -22% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 15.4% (2016 est.)
Industry: 23% (2016 est.)
Services: 61.5% (2016 est.)

Agriculture products: sugar cane, rice, wheat, buffalo milk, milk, potatoes, vegetables, bananas, maize, mangoes/guavas

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

Industrial production growth rate: 5.5% (2017 est.)

Labor force: 521.9 million (2017 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 47%
By occupation industry: 22%
By occupation services: 31% (FY 2014 est.)

Unemployment rate: 8.5% (2017 est.)

8.5% (2016 est.)

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15-24 total: 19.8%
Rate ages 15-24 male: 19.5%
Rate ages 15-24 female: 21% (2020 est.)

Population below poverty line: 21.9% (2011 est.)

Gini index
Coefficient distribution of family income: 35.7 (2011 est.)

37.8 (1997)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 3.6%
Highest 10: 29.8% (2011)

Budget
Revenues: $238.2 billion (2017 est.)
Expenditures: $329 billion (2017 est.)
Surplus or deficit: $-3.5% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Taxes and other revenues: 9.2% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt: 71.2% of GDP (2017 est.)
Note: data cover central government debt, and exclude debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data exclude debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions

Revenue
From forest resources forest revenues: 0.14% of GDP (2018 est.)
From coal coal revenues: 1.15% of GDP (2018 est.)

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: 3.7% (2019 est.)

3.9% (2018 est.)

3.3% (2017 est.)

Current account balance: -$29.748 billion (2019 est.)

-$65.939 billion (2018 est.)

Exports: $484.95 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2020 est.)

$546.03 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2019 est.)

$537.04 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2018 est.)
Partners: United States 17%, United Arab Emirates 9%, China 5% (2019)
Commodities: refined petroleum, diamonds, packaged medicines, jewelry, cars (2019)

Imports: $493.18 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2020 est.)

$619.48 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2019 est.)

$642.96 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2018 est.)
Partners: China 15%, United States 7%, United Arab Emirates 6%, Saudi Arabia 5% (2019)
Commodities: crude petroleum, gold, coal, diamonds, natural gas (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $409.8 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$359.7 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

Debt external: $555.388 billion (2019 est.)

$518.34 billion (2018 est.)

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Access electrification total population: 99% (2019)
Access electrification urban areas: 99% (2019)
Access electrification rural areas: 99% (2019)
Production: 1.386 trillion kWh (2016 est.)
Consumption: 1.137 trillion kWh (2016 est.)
Exports: $5.15 billion kWh (2015 est.)
Imports: 5.617 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Installed generating capacity: 367.8 million kW (2016 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels: 71% of total installed capacity (2016 est.)
Generation sources nuclear: 2% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 12% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources: 16% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 709,000 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil exports: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Crude oil imports: 4.057 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves: 4.495 billion bbl (1 January 2018 est.)

Refined petroleum
Products production: 4.897 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products consumption: 4.521 million bbl/day (2016 est.)
Products exports: 1.305 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products imports: 653,300 bbl/day (2015 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 31.54 billion m³ (2017 est.)
Consumption: 55.43 billion m³ (2017 est.)
Exports: 76.45 million m³ (2017 est.)
Imports: 23.96 billion m³ (2017 est.)
Proven reserves: 1.29 trillion m³ (1 January 2018 est.)

Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 20,052,162 (2020)
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 1.45 (2020 est.)
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 1,153,709,832 (2020)
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 83.6 (2020 est.)

Broadcast media: Doordarshan, India's public TV network, has a monopoly on terrestrial broadcasting and operates about 20 national, regional, and local services; a large and increasing number of privately owned TV stations are distributed by cable and satellite service providers; in 2018, 197 million homes had access to cable and satellite TV offering 850 TV channels; government controls AM radio with All India Radio operating domestic and external networks; news broadcasts via radio are limited to the All India Radio Network; since 2000, privately owned FM stations have been permitted and their numbers have increased rapidly (2018)

Internet
Country code: .in
Users total: 624 million (2021 est.)
Users percent of population: 34.45% (2019 est.)

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 22.29 million (2020)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 1.62 (2020 est.)

Military expenditures: 2.6% of GDP (2020 est.)

2.4% of GDP (2019)

2.4% of GDP (2018)

2.5% of GDP (2017)

2.5% of GDP (2016)

Military and security forces: Indian Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard; Defense Security Corps (provides security for Ministry of Defense sites); Ministry of Home Affairs paramilitary forces: Central Armed Police Forces (includes Assam Rifles, Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Security Guards, Sashastra Seema Bal) (2021)

note - the Assam Rifles are under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs, while operational control falls under the Ministry of Defense (Indian Army)

Military service age and obligation: 16-18 years of age for voluntary military service (Army 17 1/2, Air Force 17, Navy 16 1/2); no conscription; women may join as officers, currently serve in combat roles as Air Force pilots, and under consideration for Army and Navy combat roles (currently can fly naval reconnaissance aircraft) (2021)

Terrorist groups: Harakat ul-Mujahidin; Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami; Hizbul Mujahideen; Indian Mujahedeen; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham – India; Jaish-e-Mohammed;
Note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in Appendix T

National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 14 (2020)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 485
Annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 164,035,637 (2018)
Annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 2,703,960,000 mt-km (2018)

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: VT

Airports
Total: 346 (2013)
With paved runways total: 253
With paved runways over 3047 m: 22
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 59
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 76
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 82
With paved runways under 914 m: 14 (2017)
With unpaved runways total: 93
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 6
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 38
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 45 (2013)

Heliports: 45 (2013)

Pipelines: 17,389 km natural gas, 10, 419 km crude oil, 3,544 liquid petroleum gas, 14,729 km refined products (2020) 9 km condensate/gas, 20 km oil/gas/water (2013)  (2013)

Railways
Total: 68,525 km (2014)
Narrowgauge: 1,604 km 1.000-m gauge (2014)
Broadgauge: 63,950 km (39, 329 km electrified) (2014)

Roadways
Total: 6,386,297 km note: includes 132,500 km of national highways and expressways, 186,528 km of state highways , and 6,067,269 km of other roads (2015)
Note: includes 96,214 km of national highways and expressways, 147,800 km of state highways, and 4,455,010 km of other roads

Waterways: 14,500 km (5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for mechanized vessels) (2012)

Merchant marine
Total: 1,801
By type: bulk carrier 63, container ship 22, general cargo 587, oil tanker 136, other 993 (2021)

Ports and terminals
Major seaport: Chennai, Jawaharal Nehru Port, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), Sikka, Vishakhapatnam
Container ports teus: Jawaharal Nehru Port (5,100,891), Mundra (4,732,699) (2019)
Lng terminals import: Dabhol, Dahej, Hazira

Disputes international: since China and India launched a security and foreign policy dialogue in 2005, consolidated discussions related to the dispute over most of their rugged, militarized boundary, regional nuclear proliferation, Indian claims that China transferred missiles to Pakistan, and other matters continue; Kashmir remains the site of the world's largest and most 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); India and Pakistan resumed bilateral dialogue in February 2011 after a two-year hiatus, have maintained the 2003 cease-fire in Kashmir, and continue to have disputes over water sharing of the Indus River and its tributaries; UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan has maintained a small group of peacekeepers since 1949; India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China in 1964; to defuse tensions and prepare for discussions on a maritime boundary, India and Pakistan seek technical resolution of the disputed boundary in Sir Creek estuary at the mouth of the Rann of Kutch in the Arabian Sea; Pakistani maps continue to show its Junagadh claim in Indian Gujarat State; Prime Minister Singh's September 2011 visit to Bangladesh resulted in the signing of a Protocol to the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh, which had called for the settlement of longstanding boundary disputes over undemarcated areas and the exchange of territorial enclaves, but which had never been implemented; Bangladesh referred its maritime boundary claims with Burma and India to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea; Joint Border Committee with Nepal continues to examine contested boundary sections, including the 400 km² dispute over the source of the Kalapani River; India maintains a strict border regime to keep out Maoist insurgents and control illegal cross-border activities from Nepal

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees country of origin: 93,259 (Sri Lanka), 73,407 (Tibet/China), 19,398 (Burma), 8,275 (Afghanistan) (2020)
IDPs: 473,000 (armed conflict and intercommunal violence) (2020)
Stateless persons: 18,174 (2020)

Illicit drugs: source and transit point for illicit narcotics and precursor chemicals bound for Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, and North America; in 2020 India exported over $19 billion of illegal pharmaceutical drugs; illegal opium poppy growing in the  the Northeast; traffickers retool commercial chemical factories to produce large volumes of ephedrine, methamphetamine, and other drugs illicitly