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- #CARD:India:Geography
- #IMAGE 49 66 TWPCX \maps\India.PCX
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK Click Here for MAP
- India
- Geography
-
-
- Location:
- South Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between
- Bangladesh and Pakistan
- Map references:
- Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World
- Area:
- total area:
- 3,287,590 km2
- land area:
- 2,973,190 km2
- comparative area:
- slightly more than one-third the size of the US
- Land boundaries:
- total 14,103 km, 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 the edge of continental margin
- exclusive economic zone:
- 200 nm
- territorial sea:
- 12 nm
- International disputes:
- boundaries with Bangladesh and China; status of Kashmir with Pakistan;
- water-sharing problems with downstream riparians, Bangladesh over the Ganges
- and Pakistan over the Indus
- 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
- 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:
- 55%
- permanent crops:
- 1%
- meadows and pastures:
- 4%
- forest and woodland:
- 23%
- other:
- 17%
- Irrigated land:
- 430,390 km2 (1989)
- Environment:
- droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms common; deforestation; soil
- erosion; overgrazing; air and water pollution; desertification
- Note:
- dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:India:People
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- India
- People
-
-
- Population:
- 903,158,968 (July 1993 est.)
- Population growth rate:
- 1.86% (1993 est.)
- Birth rate:
- 29.11 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Death rate:
- 10.52 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Net migration rate:
- 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Infant mortality rate:
- 80.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
- Life expectancy at birth:
- total population:
- 58.12 years
- male:
- 57.69 years
- female:
- 58.59 years (1993 est.)
- Total fertility rate:
- 3.57 children born/woman (1993 est.)
- Nationality:
- noun:
- Indian(s)
- adjective:
- Indian
- Ethnic divisions:
- Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3%
- Religions:
- Hindu 82.6%, Muslim 11.4%, 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 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
- Literacy:
- age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
- total population:
- 48%
- male:
- 62%
- female:
- 34%
- Labor force:
- 284.4 million
- by occupation:
- agriculture 67% (FY85)
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:India:Government
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- India
- Government
-
-
- Names:
- conventional long form:
- Republic of India
- conventional short form:
- India
- Digraph:
- IN
- 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)
- Constitution:
- 26 January 1950
- Legal system:
- based on English common law; limited judicial review of legislative acts;
- accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
- National holiday:
- Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic, 26 January (1950)
- Political parties and leaders:
- Congress (I) Party, P. V. Narasimha RAO, president; Bharatiya Janata Party,
- M. M. JOSHI; Janata Dal Party; Communist Party of India/Marxist (CPI/M),
- Harkishan Singh SURJEET; Communist Party of India (CPI), C. Rajeswara RAO;
- Telugu Desam (a regional party in Andhra Pradesh), N. T. Rama RAO; All-India
- Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK; a regional party in Tamil Nadu),
- JAYALALITHA Jeyaram; Samajwadi Janata Party, CHANDRA SHEKHAR; Shiv Sena, Bal
- THACKERAY; Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Tridip CHOWDHURY; Bahujana
- Samaj Party (BSP), Kanshi RAM; Congress (S) Party, leader NA; Communist
- Party of India/Marxist-Leninist (CPI/ML), Satyanarayan SINGH; Dravida
- Munnetra Kazagham (a regional party in Tamil Nadu), M. KARUNANIDHI; Akali
- Dal factions representing Sikh religious community in the Punjab; National
- Conference (NC; a regional party in Jammu and Kashmir), Farooq ABDULLAH;
- Asom Gana Parishad (a regional party in Assam), Prafulla MAHANTA
- Other political or pressure groups:
- various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy;
- numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Adam
- Sena, Ananda Marg, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
- Suffrage:
- 18 years of age; universal
- Elections:
- People's Assembly:
- last held 21 May, 12 and 15 June 1991 (next to be held by November 1996);
- results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (545 total, 543 elected, 2
- appointed) Congress (I) Party 245, Bharatiya Janata Party 119, Janata Dal
- Party 39, Janata Dal (Ajit Singh) 20, CPI/M 35, CPI 14, Telugu Desam 13,
- AIADMK 11, Samajwadi Janata Party 5, Shiv Sena 4, RSP 4, BSP 1, Congress (S)
- Party 1, other 23, vacant 9
- Executive branch:
- president, vice president, prime minister, Council of Ministers
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:India:Government
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- India
- Government
- Legislative branch:
- bicameral Parliament (Sansad) consists of an upper house or Council of
- States (Rajya Sabha) and a lower house or People's Assembly (Lok Sabha)
- Judicial branch:
- Supreme Court
- Leaders:
- Chief of State:
- President Shankar Dayal SHARMA (since 25 July 1992); Vice President K.R.
- NARAYANAN (since 21 August 1992)
- Head of Government:
- Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha RAO (since 21 June 1991)
- Member of:
- AG (observer), AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-6, G-15, G-19, AfDB, G-24,
- G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,
- INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM,
- ONUSAL, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNOMOZ,
- UNTAC, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
- Diplomatic representation in US:
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Siddhartha Shankar RAY
- chancery:
- 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
- telephone:
- (202) 939-7000
- consulates general:
- Chicago, New York, and San Francisco
- US diplomatic representation:
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering
- embassy:
- Shanti Path, Chanakyapuri 110021, New Delhi
- mailing address:
- use embassy street address
- telephone:
- [91] (11) 600651
- FAX:
- [91] (11) 687-2028, 687-2391
- consulates general:
- Bombay, Calcutta, Madras
- Flag:
- 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
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:India:Economy
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- India
- Economy
-
-
- Overview:
- India's economy is a mixture of traditional village farming, modern
- agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude
- of support services. Faster economic growth in the 1980s permitted a
- significant increase in real per capita private consumption. A large share
- of the population, perhaps as much as 40%, remains too poor to afford an
- adequate diet. Financial strains in 1990 and 1991 prompted government
- austerity measures that slowed industrial growth but permitted India to meet
- its international payment obligations without rescheduling its debt. Policy
- reforms since 1991 have extended earlier economic liberalization and greatly
- reduced government controls on production, trade, and investment.
- National product:
- GDP - exchange rate conversion - $240 billion (FY93 est.)
- National product real growth rate:
- 4% (FY93 est.)
- National product per capita:
- $270 (FY93 est.)
- Inflation rate (consumer prices):
- 11.9% (1992 est.)
- Unemployment rate:
- NA%
- Budget:
- revenues $39.2 billion; expenditures $41.06 billion, including capital
- expenditures of $10.2 billion (FY92)
- Exports:
- $19.8 billion (f.o.b., FY93 est.)
- commodities:
- gems and jewelry, clothing, engineering goods, leather manufactures, cotton
- yarn, and fabric
- partners:
- USSR 16.1%, US 14.7%, West Germany 7.8% (FY91)
- Imports:
- $25.5 billion (c.i.f., FY93 est.)
- commodities:
- crude oil and petroleum products, gems, fertilizer, chemicals, machinery
- partners:
- US 12.1%, West Germany 8.0%, Japan 7.5% (FY91)
- External debt:
- $73 billion (March 1992)
- Industrial production:
- growth rate 2.5% (FY93 est.); accounts for about 25% of GDP
- Electricity:
- 82,000,000 kW capacity; 310,000 million kWh produced, 340 kWh per capita
- (1992)
- Industries:
- textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment,
- cement, mining, petroleum, machinery
- Agriculture:
- accounts for about 30% of GDP and employs 67% of labor force; principal
- crops - rice, wheat, oilseeds, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes;
- livestock - cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, poultry; fish catch of about 3
- million metric tons ranks India among the world's top 10 fishing nations
- Illicit drugs:
- licit producer of opium poppy for the pharmaceutical trade, but some opium
- is diverted to illicit international drug markets; major transit country for
- illicit narcotics produced in neighboring countries; illicit producer of
- hashish
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:India:Economy
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- India
- Economy
- Economic aid:
- US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $4.4 billion; Western (non-US)
- countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980-89), $31.7 billion; OPEC
- bilateral aid (1979-89), $315 million; USSR (1970-89), $11.6 billion;
- Eastern Europe (1970-89), $105 million
- Currency:
- 1 Indian rupee (Re) = 100 paise
- Exchange rates:
- Indian rupees (Rs) per US$1 - 26.156 (January 1993), 25.918 (1992), 22.742
- (1991), 17.504 (1990), 16.226 (1989), 13.917 (1988)
- Fiscal year:
- 1 April - 31 March
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:India:Communications
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- India
- Communications
-
-
- Railroads:
- 61,850 km total (1986); 33,553 km 1.676-meter broad gauge, 24,051 km
- 1.000-meter gauge, 4,246 km narrow gauge (0.762 meter and 0.610 meter);
- 12,617 km is double track; 6,500 km is electrified
- Highways:
- 1,970,000 km total (1989); 960,000 km surfaced and 1,010,000 km gravel,
- crushed stone, or earth
- Inland waterways:
- 16,180 km; 3,631 km navigable by large vessels
- Pipelines:
- crude oil 3,497 km; petroleum products 1,703 km; natural gas 902 km (1989)
- Ports:
- Bombay, Calcutta, Cochin, Kandla, Madras, New Mangalore, Port Blair (Andaman
- Islands)
- Merchant marine:
- 306 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,278,672 GRT/10,446,073 DWT;
- includes 1 short-sea passenger, 6 passenger-cargo, 87 cargo, 1
- roll-on/roll-off, 8 container, 63 oil tanker, 10 chemical tanker, 8
- combination ore/oil, 114 bulk, 2 combination bulk, 6 liquefied gas
- Airports:
- total:
- 336
- usable:
- 285
- with permanent-surface runways:
- 205
- with runways over 3,659 m:
- 2
- with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
- 58
- with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
- 90
- Telecommunications:
- domestic telephone system is poor providing only one telephone for about 200
- persons on average; long distance telephoning has been improved by a
- domestic satellite system which also carries TV; international service is
- provided by 3 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth stations and by submarine cables
- to Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates; broadcast stations - 96 AM, 4 FM,
- 274 TV (government controlled)
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:India:Defense Forces
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- India
- Defense Forces
-
-
- Branches:
- Army, Navy, Air Force, Security or Paramilitary Forces (including Border
- Security Force, Assam Rifles, and Coast Guard)
- Manpower availability:
- males age 15-49 242,866,053; fit for military service 143,008,471; about
- 9,466,323 reach military age (17) annually (1993 est.)
- Defense expenditures:
- exchange rate conversion - $5.8 billion, 2.4% of GDP (FY93/94)
-
- #ENDCARD
-