The Indus Valley civilization, one of the world's oldest, flourished during the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. and extended into northwestern India. Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated onto 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. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkic in the 12th were followed by those of 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 led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU brought 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. India's nuclear weapons testing in 1998 caused Pakistan to conduct its own tests that same year. Despite pressing problems such as significant overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and widespread corruption, rapid economic development is fueling the country's rise on the world stage.
Geography:
| Dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes; Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in the world, lies on the border with Nepal | |
| Location: | Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan |
| Geographic coordinates: | 20 00 N, 77 00 E |
| Area: | total: 3,287,263 sq km land: 2,973,193 sq km water: 314,070 sq km Size comparison: slightly more than one-third the size of the US |
| Land Boundaries: | total: 14,103 km border countries: 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 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: 48.83% permanent crops: 2.8% other: 48.37% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | 558,080 sq km (2003) |
| Natural hazards: | droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes |
| Current Environment 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 Environment 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 signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
People:
| Population: | 1,156,897,766 (July 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 2 |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 31.1% (male 190,075,426/female 172,799,553) 15-64 years: 63.6% (male 381,446,079/female 359,802,209) 65 years and over: 5.3% (male 29,364,920/female 32,591,030) (2009 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 25.3 years male: 24.9 years female: 25.8 years (2009 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 1.407% (2009 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 21.72 births/1,000 population (2009 est.) |
| Death rate: | 7.6 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | -0.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2009 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 50.78 deaths/1,000 live births male: 49.33 deaths/1,000 live births female: 52.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 66.09 years male: 65.13 years female: 67.17 years (2009 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 2.68 children born/woman (2009 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.3% (2007 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 2.4 million (2007 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 310,000 (2001 est.) |
| Nationality: | noun: Indian(s) adjective: Indian |
| Ethnic groups: | Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000) |
| Religions: | Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census) |
| Languages: | Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9% note: English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the most widely spoken language and primary tongue of 41% 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 (2001 census) |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 61% male: 73.4% female: 47.8% (2001 census) |
Government:
| 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 |
| Government type: | federal 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) |
| 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, Puducherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal |
| Independence: | 15 August 1947 (from the UK) |
| National holiday: | Republic Day, 26 January (1950) |
| Constitution: | 26 January 1950; amended many times |
| Legal system: | based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; separate personal law codes apply to Muslims, Christians, and Hindus |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: President Pratibha PATIL (since 25 July 2007); Vice President Hamid ANSARI (since 11 August 2007) head of government: Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH (since 22 May 2004) cabinet: Cabinet 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 (no term limits); election last held in July 2007 (next to be held in July 2012); vice president elected by both houses of Parliament for a five-year term; election last held in August 2007 (next to be held August 2012); prime minister chosen by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections; election last held April - May 2009 (next to be held no later than May 2014) election results: Pratibha PATIL elected president; percent of vote - Pratibha PATIL 65.8%, Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT - 34.2% |
| 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 whom 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 by the president; members serve five-year terms) elections: People's Assembly - last held in five phases 16, 22-23, 30 April and 7, 13 May 2009 (next must be held by May 2014) election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - INC 206, BJP 116, SP 23, BSP 21, JD (U) 20, AITC 19, DMK 18, CPI-M 16, BJD 14, SS 11, AIADMK 9, NCP 9, other 61, vacant 2 |
| Judicial branch: | Supreme Court (one chief justice and 25 associate justices are appointed by the president and remain in office until they reach the age of 65 or are removed for "proved misbehavior") |
| Political parties and leaders: | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK [J. JAYALALITHAA]; All India Trinamool Congress or AITC [Mamata BANERJEE]; Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Nitin GADKARI]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]; Communist Party of India or CPI [B. BARDHAN]; Communist Party of India-Marxist or CPI-M [Prakash KARAT]; Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or DMK [Kalaignar M.KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National Congress or INC [Sonia GANDHI]; Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) [Sharad YADAV]; Left Front (an alliance of Indian leftist parties); Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]; Rashtriya Lok Dal or RLD [Ajit SINGH]; Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV]; Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD [Parkash Singh BADAL]; Shiv Sena or SS [Bal THACKERAY]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]; note - India has dozens of national and regional political parties; only parties or coalitions with four or more seats in the People's Assembly are listed |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | All Parties Hurriyat Conference in the Kashmir Valley (separatist group); Bajrang Dal (religious organization); National Socialist Council of Nagaland in the northeast (separatist group); Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [Mohan BHAGWAT] (religious organization); Vishwa Hindu Parishad [Ashok SINGHAL] (religious organization) other: numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations; various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy |
| International organization participation: | ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIMSTEC, BIS, C, CERN (observer), CICA, CP, EAS, FAO, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAS (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC, SACEP, SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Meera SHANKAR chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; note - Consular Wing located at 2536 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-7000 FAX: [1] (202) 265-4351 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Timothy J. ROEMER embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [91] (011) 2419-8000 FAX: [91] (11) 2419-0017 consulate(s) general: Chennai (Madras), Hyderabad; Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay) |
Economy:
| India is developing into an open-market economy, yet traces of its past autarkic policies remain. Economic liberalization, including reduced controls on foreign trade and investment, began in the early 1990s and has served to accelerate the country's growth, which has averaged more than 7% since 1997. India's diverse economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of services. Slightly more than half of the work force is in agriculture, but services are the major source of economic growth, accounting for more than half of India's output, with less than one-third of its labor force. India has capitalized on its large numbers of well-educated people, skilled in the English language, to become a major exporter of software services and software workers. An industrial slowdown early in 2008, followed by the global financial crisis, contributed to the deceleration in annual GDP growth to 6.1% in 2009. However, India escaped the brunt of the global financial crisis because of cautious banking policies and a relatively low dependence on exports for growth. Domestic demand, driven by purchases of consumer durables and automobiles, has re-emerged as a key driver of the economy, as exports have fallen since the global crisis started. India's fiscal deficit increased substantially in 2008 due to fuel and fertilizer subsidies, a debt waiver program for farmers, a job guarantee program for rural workers, and stimulus expenditures. The government abandoned its deficit target and allowed the deficit to reach 6.8% of GDP in FY09. The government has expressed a commitment to fiscal stimulus in 2010, and to deficit reduction the following two years. It has proposed limited privatization of government-owned industries, in part to offset the deficit. India's long term challenges include inadequate physical and social infrastructure, limited employment opportunities, and insufficient basic and higher education opportunities. In the long run, however, the huge and growing population is the fundamental social, economic, and environmental problem. | |
| GDP (purchasing power parity): | GDP (purchasing power parity): $3.548 trillion (2009 est.) $3.344 trillion (2008 est.) $3.113 trillion (2007 est.) note: data are in 2009 US dollars |
| GDP (official exchange rate): | GDP (official exchange rate): $1.243 trillion (2009 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | 6.1% (2009 est.) 7.4% (2008 est.) 9% (2007 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | GDP - per capita (PPP): $3,100 (2009 est.) $2,900 (2008 est.) $2,800 (2007 est.) note: data are in 2009 US dollars |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 17.5% industry: 20% services: 62.6% (2009 est.) |
| Labor force: | 467 million (2009 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 52% industry: 14% services: 34% (2003) |
| Unemployment rate: | 9.5% (2009 est.) 9.1% (2008 est.) |
| Population below poverty line: | 25% (2007 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 3.6% highest 10%: 31.1% (2005) |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 36.8 (2004) 37.8 (1997) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.8% (2009 est.) 8.3% (2008 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed): | Investment (gross fixed): 33.7% of GDP (2009 est.) |
| Budget: | revenues: $122.7 billion expenditures: $223 billion (2009 est.) |
| Public debt: | 60.1% of GDP (2009 est.) 56.4% of GDP (2008 est.) |
| Agriculture - products: | rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, lentils, potatoes; onions, dairy products, sheep, goats, poultry; fish |
| Industries: | textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software, pharmaceuticals |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 5.2% (2009 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 761.7 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
| Electricity - consumption: | 568 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
| Electricity - exports: | 216 million kWh (2007 est.) |
| Electricity - imports: | 4.96 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
| Oil - production: | 883,500 bbl/day (2008 est.) |
| Oil - consumption: | 2.94 million bbl/day (2008 est.) |
| Oil - exports: | 671,200 bbl/day (2007 est.) |
| Oil - imports: | 2.518 million bbl/day (2007 est.) |
| Oil - proved reserves: | 5.625 billion bbl (1 January 2009 est.) |
| Natural gas - production: | 32.2 billion cu m (2008 est.) |
| Natural gas - consumption: | 42.99 billion cu m (2008 est.) |
| Natural gas - exports: | 0 cu m (2008 est.) |
| Natural gas - imports: | 10.79 billion cu m (2008 est.) |
| Natural gas - proved reserves: | 1.075 trillion cu m (1 January 2009 est.) |
| Current account balance: | $-4.294 billion (2009 est.) $-36.09 billion (2008 est.) |
| Exports: | $155 billion (2009 est.) $187.9 billion (2008 est.) |
| Exports - commodities: | petroleum products, textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures |
| Exports - partners: | US 12.3%, UAE 9.4%, China 9.3% (2008) |
| Imports: | $232.3 billion (2009 est.) $315.1 billion (2008 est.) |
| Imports - commodities: | crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals |
| Imports - partners: | China 11.1%, Saudi Arabia 7.5%, US 6.6%, UAE 5.1%, Iran 4.2%, Singapore 4.2%, Germany 4.2% (2008) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $282 billion (31 October 2009 est.) $254 billion (31 December 2008 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $232.5 billion (31 December 2009 est.) $229.3 billion (31 December 2008 est.) |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: | $156.3 billion (31 December 2009 est.) $144.2 billion (31 December 2008 est.) |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: | $76.59 billion (31 December 2009 est.) $61.77 billion (31 December 2008 est.) |
| Market value of publicly traded shares: | $645.5 billion (31 December 2008) $1.819 trillion (31 December 2007) $818.9 billion (31 December 2006) |
| Exchange rates: | Indian rupees (INR) per US dollar - 48.766 (2009), 43.319 (2008), 41.487 (2007), 45.3 (2006), 44.101 (2005) |
Communication:
| Telephones in use: | 37.54 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 7 |
| Cellular Phones in use: | 427.3 million (2009) |
| Telephone system: | general assessment: recent deregulation and liberalization of telecommunications laws and policies have prompted rapid growth; 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 combined fixed and mobile telephone density remains low at about 40 for each 100 persons nationwide and much lower for persons in rural areas; extremely rapid growth in cellular service with modest declines in fixed lines domestic: mobile cellular service introduced in 1994 and organized nationwide into four metropolitan areas and 19 telecom circles each with multiple private service providers and one or more state-owned service providers; 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 6 satellites supporting 33,000 very small aperture terminals (VSAT) international: country code - 91; a number of major international submarine cable systems, including Sea-Me-We-3 with landing sites at Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay), Sea-Me-We-4 with a landing site at Chennai, Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) with a landing site at Mumbai (Bombay), South Africa - Far East (SAFE) with a landing site at Cochin, the i2i cable network 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; satellite earth stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean region); 9 gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai (Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, and Ernakulam (2008) |
| Radio broadcast stations: | AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998) |
| Television broadcast stations: | 562 (1997) |
| Internet country code: | .in |
| Internet hosts: | 3.611 million (2009) |
| Internet users: | 81 million (2008) |
Transportation:
| Airports: | 349 (2009) country comparison to the world: 23 |
| Airports (paved runways): | total: 250 over 3,047 m: 20 2,438 to 3,047 m: 56 1,524 to 2,437 m: 76 914 to 1,523 m: 84 under 914 m: 14 (2009) |
| Airports (unpaved runways): | total: 99 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 42 under 914 m: 47 (2009) |
| Heliports: | 37 (2009) |
| Pipelines: | condensate/gas 2 km; gas 6,061 km; liquid petroleum gas 2,156 km; oil 7,678 km; refined products 6,876 km (2008) |
| Railways: | total: 63,327 km broad gauge: 49,820 km 1.676-m gauge (17,786 km electrified) narrow gauge: 10,621 km 1.000-m gauge (135 km electrified); 2,886 km 0.762-m gauge and 0.610-m gauge (2007) |
| Roadways: | total: 3,316,452 km (includes 200 km of expressways) (2006) |
| Waterways: | 14,500 km note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for mechanized vessels (2008) |
| Merchant marine: | total: 501 by type: bulk carrier 102, cargo 241, carrier 1, chemical tanker 19, container 13, liquefied gas 18, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 11, petroleum tanker 92, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: 12 (China 1, Germany 2, Hong Kong 1, UAE 6, UK 2) registered in other countries: 61 (Barbados 1, Comoros 2, Cyprus 2, Dominica 2, Liberia 2, Malta 2, Marshall Islands 1, Panama 27, Saint Kitts and Nevis 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 7, Singapore 13, unknown 1) (2008) |
| Ports and terminals: | Chennai, Haldia, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mormugao, Mumbai (Bombay), New Mangalore, Vishakhapatnam |
Military:
| Military branches: | Army, Navy (includes naval air arm), Air Force (Bharatiya Vayu Sena), Coast Guard (2009) |
| Military service age and obligation: | 16 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; women officers allowed in noncombat roles only (2008) |
| Manpower available for military service: | males age 16-49: 301,094,084 females age 16-49: 283,047,141 (2008 est.) |
| Manpower fit for military service: | males age 16-49: 237,042,868 females age 16-49: 243,276,310 (2009 est.) |
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Haider Ajaz
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