|
 |
|
 |
|
|
| |
| Introduction
India |
| |
| 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 the 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
and religious 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 |
| |
| Area: |
| total:
3,287,590 sq km , land: 2,973,190 sq km ,
water: 314,400 sq km |
| |
| 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 |
| |
| Climate: |
| varies
from tropical monsoon in south to temperate
in north |
| |
| Population: |
| 1,049,700,118
(July 2003 est.) |
| |
| Age
structure: |
0-14
years: 32.2% (male 173,973,350; female 163,979,116)
15-64 years: 63% (male 342,620,712; female
319,259,867) 65 years and over: 4.8% (male
25,281,756; female 24,585,317) (2003 est.) |
| |
| Population
growth rate: |
| 1.47%
(2003 est.) |
| |
| Sex
ratio: |
at
birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.03 male(s)/female
total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2003
est.) |
| |
| Ethnic
groups: |
| Indo-Aryan
72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3%
(2000) |
| |
| Religions: |
Hindu
81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh
1.9%, other groups including Buddhist, Jain,
Parsi 2.5% (2000) |
| |
| Languages: |
English
enjoys associate status but is the most
important language for national, political,
and commercial communication; Hindi is the
national language and primary tongue of
30% 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 |
| |
| Literacy: |
| definition:
age 15 and over can read and write , total
population: 59.5% , male: 70.2% female: 48.3% |
| |
| Economy
- overview: |
| |
India's
economy encompasses traditional village
farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts,
a wide range of modern industries, and a
multitude of support services. Overpopulation
severely handicaps the economy and about
a quarter of the population is too poor
to be able to afford an adequate diet. Government
controls have been reduced on imports and
foreign investment, and privatization of
domestic output has proceeded slowly. The
economy has posted an excellent average
growth rate of 6% since 1990, reducing poverty
by about 10 percentage points. India has
large numbers of well-educated people skilled
in the English language; India is a major
exporter of software services and software
workers. The severe monsoon of mid-2002
has reduced agricultural output by perhaps
3%. The World Bank and others worry about
the continuing public-sector budget deficit,
running at approximately 10% of GDP in 1997-2002. |
| |
| GDP: |
| purchasing
power parity - $2.66 trillion (2002 est.) |
| |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture:
25%
industry: 25%
services: 50% (2002 est.) |
| |
| Labor
force: |
| 406
million (1999) |
| |
| Unemployment
rate: |
| 8.8%
(2002) |
| |
| Electricity
- production: |
| 533.3
billion kWh (2001) |
| |
| Oil
- production: |
| 732,400
bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| |
| Agriculture
- products: |
| rice,
wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane,
potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats,
poultry; fish |
| |
| Exports: |
| |
| $44.5
billion f.o.b. (2001) |
| |
| Exports
- partners: |
| US
20.9%, UK 5.2%, Germany 4.3%, Japan 4.0%,
Benelux 3.3% (2000) |
| |
| Imports: |
| $53.8
billion f.o.b. (2001) |
| |
| Imports
- partners: |
| UK
6.3%, US 6.0%, Belgium 5.7%, Japan 3.5%, Germany
3.5% (2000) |
| |
| Currency: |
| Indian
rupee (INR) |
| |
| Exchange
rates: |
| Indian
rupees per US dollar - 48.6103 (2002), 47.1864
(2001), 44.9416 (2000), 43.0554 (1999), 41.2594
(1998) |
| |
| Communications
India |
| |
| Telephones
- main lines in use: |
| 27.7
million (October 2000) |
| |
| Telephones
- mobile cellular: |
| 2.93
million (November 2000) |
| |
| Internet
users: |
| 7
million (2002) |
| |
| Transportation
India |
| |
| Railways: |
total:
63,518 km (15,009 km electrified)
broad gauge: 45,142 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 15,013 km 1.000-m gauge; 3,363
km 0.762-m gauge and 0.610-m gauge (2002) |
| |
| Highways: |
total:
3,319,644 km
paved: 1,517,077 km
unpaved: 1,802,567 km (1996) |
| |
| Waterways: |
16,180
km
note: 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: |
Chennai
(Madras), Cochin, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla,
Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), Vishakhapatnam |
| |
| Merchant
marine: |
total:
305 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 5,753,279 GRT/9,621,911
DWT
ships by type: bulk 100, cargo 82, chemical
tanker 15, combination bulk 2, combination
ore/oil 2, container 10, liquefied gas 10,
passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 75, roll
on/roll off 1, short-sea passenger 2, specialized
tanker 1
note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered
here as a flag of convenience: China 1, UAE
10, UK 1 (2002 est.) |
| |
| Airports: |
| 334
(2002) |
| |
| Heliports: |
| 19
(2002) |
| |
| Military
India |
| |
| Military
branches: |
| Army,
Navy (including naval air arm), Air Force,
Strategic Nuclear Command (SNC), Coast Guard,
various security or paramilitary forces (including
Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, Rashtriya
Rifles, National Security Guards, Indo-Tibetan
Border Police, Special Frontier Force, Ladakh
Scouts, Central Reserve Police Force, Central
Industrial Security Force, Railway Protection
Force, Defense Security Corps, and Indian
Reserve Battalions) |
| |
| Military
manpower - military age: |
| 17
years of age (2003 est.) |
| |
| Military
manpower - availability: |
| males
age 15-49: 288,251,975 (2003 est.) |
| |
| Military
manpower - fit for military service: |
| males
age 15-49: 169 million (2003 est.) |
| |
| Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
| $11.52
billion (FY02) |
| |
| Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
| 2.3%
(FY02) |
| |
| Transnational
Issues India |
| |
| Disputes
- international: |
| |
much
of the rugged, militarized boundary with
China is in dispute, but the two sides have
participated in more than 13 rounds of joint
working group sessions on this issue; India
objects to Pakistan ceding lands to China
in 1965 boundary agreement that India believes
are part of disputed Kashmir; with Pakistan,
armed stand-off over the status and sovereignty
of Kashmir continues; disputes with Pakistan
over Indus River water sharing and the terminus
of the Rann of Kutch, which prevents maritime
boundary delimitation; Joint Border Committee
with Nepal continues to work on resolution
of disputed boundary sections; dispute with
Bangladesh over New Moore/South Talpatty
Island in the Bay of Bengal prevents maritime
boundary delimitation |
| |
| |
|
|
|
