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India
Background: 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.
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 references: Asia Area:
Area - comparative: slightly more than one-third the size of the US Land boundaries:
Coastline: 7,000 km Maritime claims:
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:
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:
Irrigated land: 480,000 sq km (1993 est.) Natural hazards: droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms common; earthquakes 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 Environment - international agreements:
Geography - note: dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes
Population: 1,014,003,817 (July 2000 est.) Age structure:
Population growth rate: 1.58% (2000 est.) Birth rate: 24.79 births/1,000 population (2000 est.) Death rate: 8.88 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.) Net migration rate: -0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.) Sex ratio:
Infant mortality rate: 64.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.) Life expectancy at birth:
Total fertility rate: 3.11 children born/woman (2000 est.) Nationality:
Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% Religions: Hindu 80%, Muslim 14%, Christian 2.4%, Sikh 2%, Buddhist 0.7%, Jains 0.5%, other 0.4% 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 Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India)
Literacy:
Country name:
Data code: IN 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:
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 by the president; members serve five-year terms)
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: Akali Dal (representing Sikh religious community in Punjab) [Prakash Singh BADAL]; All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK [J. JAYALALITHA]; All India Forward Bloc or AIFB [Prem Dutta PALIWAL (chairman), Chitta BASU (general secretary)]; Asom Gana Parishad [Prafulla Kumar MAHANTA]; Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [Kanshi RAM]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Kushabhau THAKRE, president, L. K. ADVANI, A. B. VAJPAYEE]; Bihar Peoples Party [Anand Mohan SINGH]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Navin PATNAIK]; Communist Party of India or CPI [Indrajit GUPTA]; Communist Party of India/Marxist or CPI/M [Harkishan Singh SURJEET]; Communist Party of India/Marxist-Leninist or CPI/ML [Vinod MISHRA]; Congress (I) Party [Sonia GANDHI, president]; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or DMK (a regional party in Tamil Nadu) [M. KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National League [Suliaman SAIT]; Janata Dal (Ajit) [Ajit SINGH]; Janata Dal United Party or JDU [Sharad YADAV, president, I. K. GUJRAL]; Kerala Congress (Mani faction) [K. M. MANI]; Muslim League [G. M. BANATWALA]; National Conference or NC (a regional party in Jammu and Kashmir) [Farooq ABDULLAH]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Laloo Prasad YADAV]; Revolutionary Socialist Party or RSP [Tridip CHOWDHURY]; Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV, president]; Samata Party or SAP (formerly Janata Dal members) [George FERNANDES]; Shiv Sena or SHS [Bal THACKERAY]; Tamil Maanila Congress [G. K. MOOPANAR]; Telugu Desam (a regional party in Andhra Pradesh) [Chandrababu NAIDU]; Trinamool Congress [Mamata BANNERJEE] Political pressure groups and leaders: numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy International organization participation: AfDB, AsDB, BIS, C, CCC, 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, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO Diplomatic representation in the US:
Diplomatic representation from the US:
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. More than a third of the population is too poor to be able to afford an adequate diet, and market surveys indicate that fewer than 5% of all households had an annual income equivalent to $2,300 or more in 1995-96. India's international payments position remained strong in 1999 with adequate foreign exchange reserves, reasonably stable exchange rates, and booming exports of software services. Lower production of some nonfoodgrain crops offset recovery in industrial production. Strong demand for India's high technology exports will bolster growth in 2000. GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.805 trillion (1999 est.) GDP - real growth rate: 5.5% (1999 est.) GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,800 (1999 est.) GDP - composition by sector:
Population below poverty line: 35% (1994 est.) Household income or consumption by percentage share:
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.7% (1999 est.) Labor force: NA Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 67%, services 18%, industry 15% (1995 est.) Unemployment rate: NA% Budget:
Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery Industrial production growth rate: 6% (1999 est.) Electricity - production: 448.6 billion kWh (FY98/99 est.) Electricity - production by source:
Electricity - consumption: 416.346 billion kWh (1998) Electricity - exports: 130 million kWh (1998) Electricity - imports: 1.575 billion kWh (1998) Agriculture - products: rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish Exports: $36.3 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.) Exports - commodities: textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures Exports - partners: US 21%, UK 6%, Germany 6%, Hong Kong 5%, Japan 5%, UAE 4% (1998) Imports: $50.2 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.) Imports - commodities: crude oil and petroleum products, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals Imports - partners: US 10%, Belgium 7%, UK 6%, Germany 6%, Saudi Arabia 6%, Japan 6% (1998) Debt - external: $98 billion (March 1999) Economic aid - recipient: $2.9 billion (FY98/99) Currency: 1 Indian rupee (Re) = 100 paise Exchange rates: Indian rupees (Rs) per US$1 - 43.552 (January 2000), 43.055 (1999), 41.259 (1998), 36.313 (1997), 35.433 (1996), 32.427 (1995) Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
Telephones - main lines in use: 18.95 million (1999) Telephones - mobile cellular: 1.9 million (April 1998) Telephone system:
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 in order 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 demand for communication services is also growing rapidly
Radio broadcast stations: AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998) Radios: 116 million (1997) Television broadcast stations: 562 (of which 82 stations have 1 kW or greater power and 480 stations have less than 1 kW of power) (1997) Televisions: 63 million (1997) Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (1999)
Railways:
Highways:
Waterways: 16,180 km; 3,631 km navigable by large vessels Pipelines: crude oil 3,005 km; petroleum products 2,687 km; natural gas 1,700 km (1995) Ports and harbors: Calcutta, Chennai (Madras), Cochin, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Mumbai (Bombay), Vishakhapatnam Merchant marine:
Airports: 346 (1999 est.) Airports - with paved runways:
Airports - with unpaved runways:
Heliports: 16 (1999 est.)
Military branches: Army, Navy (including naval air arm), Air Force, various security or paramilitary forces (includes Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, and Rashtriya Rifles) Military manpower - military age: 17 years of age Military manpower - availability:
Military manpower - fit for military service:
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $10.055 billion (FY00) Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.5% (FY00)
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; dispute with Bangladesh over New Moore/South Talpatty Island 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; major transit country for illicit narcotics produced in neighboring countries; illicit producer of hashish and methaqualone Please click here for a guide to the country profiles Click here for all other countries
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