NAVIGATION
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NAVIGATION
Republic of India
INTRODUCTION
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Background:
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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. |
GEOGRAPHY
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Location:
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Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan |
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Geographic coordinates:
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20 00 N, 77 00 E |
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Map references:
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Asia |
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Area:
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total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km water: 314,400 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly more than one-third the size of the US |
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Land boundaries:
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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 |
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Coastline:
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7,000 km |
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Maritime claims:
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contiguous zone: 24 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM |
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Climate:
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varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north |
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Terrain:
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upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m |
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Natural resources:
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coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land |
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Land use:
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arable land: 54.35%
permanent crops: 2.66% other: 42.99% (1998 est.) |
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Irrigated land:
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590,000 sq km (1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes |
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Environment - current issues:
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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 |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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Geography - note:
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dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes |
PEOPLE
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Population:
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1,045,845,226 (July 2002 est.) |
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 32.7% (male 175,858,386; female 165,724,901)
15-64 years: 62.6% (male 338,957,463; female 316,063,497) 65 years and over: 4.7% (male 24,975,465; female 24,265,514) (2002 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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1.51% (2002 est.) |
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Birth rate:
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23.79 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
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Death rate:
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8.62 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
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Net migration rate:
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-0.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
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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 (2002 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate:
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61.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 63.23 years
female: 63.93 years (2002 est.) male: 62.55 years |
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Total fertility rate:
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2.98 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.7% (1999 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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3.7 million (1999 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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310,000 (1999 est.) |
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Nationality:
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noun: Indian(s)
adjective: Indian |
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Ethnic groups:
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Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000) |
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Religions:
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Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000) |
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Languages:
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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 |
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 52% male: 65.5% female: 37.7% (1995 est.) |