NAVIGATION
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NAVIGATION
Republic of India
GOVERNMENT
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Country name:
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conventional long form: Republic of India
conventional short form: India |
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Government type:
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federal republic |
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Capital:
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New Delhi |
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Administrative divisions:
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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 |
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Independence:
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15 August 1947 (from UK) |
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National holiday:
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Republic Day, 26 January (1950) |
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Constitution:
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26 January 1950 |
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Legal system:
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based on English common law; limited judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
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Suffrage:
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18 years of age; universal |
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Executive branch:
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chief of state: President Abdul KALAM (since 26 July 2002); Vice President (vacant)
elections: president elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of the states for a five-year term; election last held NA July 2002 (next to be held NA July 2007); vice president elected by both houses of Parliament for a five-year term; election last held 12 August 2002 (next to be held NA August 2007); prime minister elected by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections; election last held NA October 1999 (next to be held NA October 2004) head of government: Prime Minister Atal Bihari VAJPAYEE (since 19 March 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister election results: Abdul KALAM elected president; percent of electoral college vote - NA%; Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT elected vice president; percent of Parliament vote - 59.8; Atal Bihari VAJPAYEE elected prime minister; percent of vote - NA% |
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Legislative branch:
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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)
elections: People's Assembly - last held 5 September through 3 October 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - BJP alliance 40.8%, Congress (I) alliance 33.8%, other 25.4%; seats by party - BJP alliance 304, Congress (I) alliance 134, other 107 |
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Judicial branch:
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Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president and remain in office until they reach the age of 65) |
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Political parties and leaders:
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All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK [C. Jayalalitha JAYARAM]; All India Forward Bloc or AIFB, [D. BISWAS (general secretary)]; Asom Gana Parishad [Brindaban GOSWAMI]; Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Jana KRISNAMURTHY]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]; Communist Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu Bhushan BARDHAN]; Communist Party of India/Marxist-Leninist or CPI/ML [Dipankar BHATTACHARYA]; Congress (I) Party [Sonia GANDHI]; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or DMK (a regional party in Tamil Nadu) [M. KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National League [Suliaman SAITH]; Janata Dal (Secular) [H. D. Deve GOWDA]; Janata Dal (United) or JDU [Sharad YADAV]; Kerala Congress (Mani faction) [K. M. MANI]; Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or MDMK [VAIKO]; Muslim League [G. M. BANATWALA]; Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Laloo Prasad YADAV]; Revolutionary Socialist Party or RSP [Abani ROY]; Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV]; Shiromani Akali Dal [G. S. TOHRA]; Shiv Sena [Bal THACKERAY]; Tamil Maanila Congress [G. K. VASAN]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]; Trinamool Congress [Mamata BANERJEE] |
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
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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 |
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International organization participation:
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AfDB, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), 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, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
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Diplomatic representation in the US:
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chief of mission: Ambassador Lalit MANSINGH
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco FAX: [1] (202) 483-3972 telephone: [1] (202) 939-7000 chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; note - Embassy located at 2536 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 |
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Diplomatic representation from the US:
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chief of mission: Ambassador Robert D. BLACKWILL
embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [91] (11) 419-8000 FAX: [91] (11) 419-0017 consulate(s) general: Chennai (Madras), Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay) |
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Flag description:
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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
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Economy - overview:
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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 poor monsoon of mid-2002 has reduced agricultural output substantially. |
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GDP:
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purchasing power parity - $2.66 trillion (2002 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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4.3% (2002 est.) |
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power parity - $2,540 (2002 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 25%
industry: 25% services: 50% (2002 est.) |
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Population below poverty line:
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25% (2002 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 4%
highest 10%: 34% (1997) (1997) |
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Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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38 (1997) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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5.4% (2002 est.) |
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Labor force:
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406 million (1999) (1999) |
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Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture 60%, services 23%, industry 17% (1999) (1999) |
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Unemployment rate:
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8.8% (2002) |
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Budget:
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revenues: $48.3 billion
expenditures: $78.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $14 $13.5 billion (FY01/02 est.) |
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Industries:
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textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software |
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Industrial production growth rate:
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4.7% (2002 est.) |
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Electricity - production:
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547.12 billion kWh (FY 2000-01, utilities only) (2000) |
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel: 83%
hydro: 14% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 3% |
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Electricity - consumption:
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509.89 billion kWh (2000) |
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Electricity - exports:
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321 million kWh (2000) |
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Electricity - imports:
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1.385 billion kWh (2000) |
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Agriculture - products:
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rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish |
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Exports:
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$44.5 billion f.o.b. (2001) |
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Exports - commodities:
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textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures |
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Exports - partners:
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US 20.9%, UK 5.2%, Germany 4.3%, Japan 4.0%, Benelux 3.3% (2000) |
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Imports:
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$53.8 billion f.o.b. (2001) |
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Imports - commodities:
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crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals |
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Imports - partners:
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UK 6.3%, US 6.0%, Belgium 5.7%, Japan 3.5%, Germany 3.5% (2000) |
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Debt - external:
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$100.6 billion (end-March 2001) (2001 est.) |
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Economic aid - recipient:
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$2.9 billion (FY98/99) |
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Currency:
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Indian rupee (INR) |
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Currency code:
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INR |
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Exchange rates:
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Indian rupees per US dollar - 48.336 (January 2002), 47.186 (2001), 44.942 (2000), 43.055 (1999), 41.259 (1998), 36.313 (1997) |
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Fiscal year:
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1 April - 31 March |