World Facts

conventional long form: Republic of India
Capital:
Type of Government: federal republic-
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, Pondicherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal
Age Structure: 0-14 years: 31.2% (male 173,634,432/female 163,932,475)
Agriculture: rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish
Airports: 333 (2004 est.)
With Paved Runways: total: 239-
With Unpaved Runways:
Area: total: 3,287,590 sq km. slightly more than one-third the size of the US
Background: The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world, dates back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest invaded about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkish 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. Despite impressive gains in economic investment and output, India faces pressing problems such as the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife.
Birth rate: 22.32 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget: revenues: $111.2 billion-
Coastline: 7,000 km-
Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
Communications:
Constitution: 26 January 1950; amended many times
Currency: Indian rupee (INR)
Current account balance: $-13.19 billion (2005 est.)
Death rate: 8.28 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external: $119.7 billion (2005 est.)-
Dependency status: -
Dependent areas:
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador David C. MULFORD
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Ranendra SEN
Disputes - international: China and India launched a security and foreign policy dialogue in 2005, consolidating 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; recent talks and confidence-building measures have begun to defuse tensions over Kashmir, 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); in 2004, India and Pakistan instituted a cease fire in the Kashmir and in 2005, restored bus service across the highly militarized Line of Control; Pakistan has taken its dispute on the impact and benefits of India's building the Baglihar dam on the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir to the World Bank for arbitration; UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has maintained a small group of peacekeepers since 1949; India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China in 1964; disputes persist with Pakistan over Indus River water sharing; to defuse tensions and prepare for discussions on a maritime boundary, in 2004, India and Pakistan resurveyed a portion of the disputed boundary in Sir Creek estuary at the mouth of the Rann of Kutch; Pakistani maps continue to show Junagadh claim in Indian Gujarat State; discussions with Bangladesh remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, to exchange 162 miniscule enclaves in both countries, to allocate divided villages, and to stop illegal cross-border trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous border; Bangladesh protests India's attempts to fence off high-traffic sections; dispute with Bangladesh over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation; India seeks cooperation from Bhutan and Burma to keep Indian Nagaland and Assam separatists from hiding in remote areas along the borders; Joint Border Committee with Nepal continues to demarcate minor disputed boundary sections; India has instituted a stricter border regime to keep out Maoist insurgents and control illegal cross-border activities from Nepal
Distribution of family income: 32.5 (2000)-
Economic aid - donor:
Economic aid - recipient: $2.9 billion (FY98/99)
Economy - overview: India's diverse economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of services. Services are the major source of economic growth, accounting for half of India's output with less than one quarter of its labor force. About two-thirds of the workforce is in agriculture, leading the UPA government to articulate an economic reform program that includes developing basic infrastructure to improve the lives of the rural poor and boost economic performance. Government controls on foreign trade and investment have been reduced in some areas, but high tariffs (averaging 20% on non-agricultural items in 2004) and limits on foreign direct investment are still in place. The government in 2005 liberalized investment in the civil aviation, telecom, and construction sectors. Privatization of government-owned industries essentially came to a halt in 2005, and continues to generate political debate; continued social, political, and economic rigidities hold back needed initiatives. The economy has posted an excellent average growth rate of more than 6.8% in the decade since 1994, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. India probably achieved greater than 7 percent GDP growth in 2005, significantly expanding manufacturing. India is capitalizing on its large numbers of well-educated people skilled in the English language to become a major exporter of software services and software workers. Despite strong growth, the World Bank and others worry about the combined state and federal budget deficit, running at approximately 9% of GDP. The huge and growing population is the fundamental social, economic, and environmental problem.
Electricity - consumption:
Electricity - exports:
Electricity - imports:
Electricity - production:
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
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: 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
Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
Exchange rates: Indian rupees per US dollar - 43.6 (2005), 45.317 (2004), 46.583 (2003), 48.61 (2002), 47.186 (2001)
Executive branch: chief of state: President A.P.J. Abdul KALAM (since 26 July 2002); Vice President Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT (since 19 August 2002)
Exports: $76.23 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports - partners: US 17%, UAE 8.8%, China 5.5%, Hong Kong 4.7%, UK 4.5%, Singapore 4.5% (2004)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
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; similar to the flag of Niger, which has a small orange disk centered in the white band
GDP (official exchange rate): $735.6 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (purchasing power parity): $3.678 trillion (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 20.6%
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,400 (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 7.1% (2005 est.)
Geographic coordinates: 20 00 N, 77 00 E
Geography - note: dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes-
Government - note:
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.9% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 310,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 5.1 million (2001 est.)-
Heliports:
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.5%-
Illicit drugs:
Imports: $113.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - partners: China 6.1%, US 6%, Switzerland 5.2%, Belgium 4.4% (2004)
Independence: 15 August 1947 (from UK)
Industrial production growth rate: 8.2% (2005 est.)
Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software
Infant mortality rate: total: 56.29 deaths/1,000 live births
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.4% (2005 est.)
International organization participation: AfDB, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, C, CERN (observer), CP, EAS, FAO, G- 6, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC, SACEP, SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Internet country code: .in
Internet hosts: 86,871 (2003)
Internet users: 18.481 million (2003)
Investment (gross fixed): 24.8% of GDP (2005 est.)
Irrigated land: 590,000 sq km (1998 est.)
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")
Labor force: 496.4 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
Land boundaries: total: 14,103 km
Land use: arable land: 54.4%
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
Legal system: based on English common law; limited judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; separate personal law codes apply to Muslims, Christians, and Hindus
Legislative branch:
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 64.35 years
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: high
Manpower available for military service: males age 16-49: 287,551,111 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: males age 16-49: 219,471,999 (2005 est.)-
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
Map references: Asia
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm
Median age: total: 24.66 years-
Merchant marine: -
Military - note:
Military branches: Army, Navy (includes naval air arm), Air Force, Coast Guard, various security or paramilitary forces (includes Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, National Security Guards, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Special Frontier Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Railway Protection Force, and Defense Security Corps)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $18.86 billion (2005)-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: -
Military service age and obligation:
National holiday: Republic Day, 26 January (1950)
Nationality: noun: Indian(s)-
Natural gas - consumption: -
Natural gas - exports: -
Natural gas - imports:
Natural gas - production: -
Natural gas - proved reserves: -
Natural hazards:
Natural resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land
Net migration rate: -0.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption: 2.32 million bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - exports: 350,000 bbl/day NA (2005 est.)
Oil - imports: 2.09 million bbl/day NA (2005 est.)
Oil - production: 785,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)-
Oil - proved reserves: -
People - note:
Political parties and leaders: note - India has dozens of national and regional political parties; only parties with four or more seats in the People's Assembly are listed; Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Lal Krishna ADVANI]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]; Communist Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu Bhushan BARDHAN]; Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI (M) [Prakash KARAT]; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or DMK [M. KARUNANIDHI]; Eqtedar-e-Melli-Eslami (Naional Islamic Empowerment) [Ahmad Shah AHMADZAI]; Indian National Congress or INC [Sonia GANDHI]; Janata Dal (United) or JDU [George FERNANDEZ]; Jharkhand Mukti Morcha or JMM [Shibu SOREN]; Lok Jan Shakti Party or LJSP [Ram Vilas PASWAN]; Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or MDMK [VAIKO]; Nahzat-e-Faragir-e-Democracy Wa Taraqi-e-Afghanistan (Afghanistan's Democracy and Progress Movement) [Sher Mohammad BUZGAR]; Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]; Pattali Makkal Katchi or PMK [S. RAMADOSS]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Laloo Prasad YADAV]; Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV]; Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD [Prakash Singh BADAL]; Shiv Sena or SS [Bal THACKERAY]; Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS [K. Chandrashekar RAO]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]
Political pressure groups and leaders: numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy, including the All Parties Hurriyat Conference in the Kashmir Valley and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland in the Northeast
Population: 1,080,264,388 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line: 25% (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.4% (2005 est.)
Ports and terminals: Chennai, Haldia, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), New Mangalore, Vishakhapatnam
Public debt: 82% of GDP (federal and state debt combined) (2005 est.)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998)-
Railways:
Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 92,394 (Tibet/China) 60,922 (Sri Lanka)
Religions: Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $145 billion (2005 est.)
Roadways: total: 3,851,440 km
Sex ratio:
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Telephone system: general assessment: recent deregulation and liberalization of telecommunications laws and policies have prompted rapid change; 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 telephone density remains low at about seven for each 100 persons nationwide but only one per 100 persons in rural areas and a national waiting list of over 1.7 million; fastest growth is in cellular service with modest growth in fixed lines
Telephones - main lines in use: 48.917 million (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 26,154,400 (2003)
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)
Terrain: upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
Total fertility rate: 2.78 children born/woman (2005 est.)-
Transportation - note:
Unemployment rate: 9% (2005 est.)-
Waterways: