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India by CIA: The World Factbook
India as viewed by CIA (USA)
Flag
of India
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Map
of India
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Background:
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The Indus Valley
civilization, one of the oldest in the world, dates back
at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest
infiltrated onto Indian lands 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.
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Location:
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Southern Asia,
bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between
Burma and Pakistan |
Geographic coordinates:
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20 00 N, 77 00
E |
Map references:
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Asia |
Area:
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total:
3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km
water: 314,400 sq km |
Area - comparative:
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slightly more
than one-third the size of the US |
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 |
Coastline:
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7,000 km |
Maritime claims:
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territorial
sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the
continental margin |
Climate:
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varies from tropical
monsoon in south to temperate in north |
Terrain:
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upland plain
(Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along
the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north |
Elevation extremes:
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lowest point:
Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m |
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 |
Land use:
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arable land:
48.83%
permanent crops: 2.8%
other: 48.37% (2005) |
Irrigated land:
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558,080 sq km
(2003) |
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,
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
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected
agreements |
Geography - note:
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dominates South
Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade
routes; Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in the world,
lies on the border with Nepal
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Population:
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1,095,351,995
(July 2006 est.) |
Age structure:
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0-14 years:
30.8% (male 173,478,760/female 163,852,827)
15-64 years: 64.3% (male 363,876,219/female 340,181,764)
65 years and over: 4.9% (male 27,258,020/female
26,704,405) (2006 est.) |
Median age:
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total:
24.9 years
male: 24.9 years
female: 24.9 years (2006 est.) |
Population growth
rate:
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1.38% (2006 est.)
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Birth rate:
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22.01 births/1,000
population (2006 est.) |
Death rate:
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8.18 deaths/1,000
population (2006 est.) |
Net migration rate:
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-0.07 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2006 est.) |
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: 1.02 male(s)/female
total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
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Infant mortality rate:
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total:
54.63 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 55.18 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 54.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
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Life expectancy at
birth:
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total population:
64.71 years
male: 63.9 years
female: 65.57 years (2006 est.) |
Total fertility rate:
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2.73 children
born/woman (2006 est.) |
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence
rate:
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0.9% (2001 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - people
living with HIV/AIDS:
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5.1 million (2001
est.) |
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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310,000 (2001
est.) |
Major infectious diseases:
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degree of
risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea,
hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and
Japanese encephalitis are high risks in some locations
animal contact disease: rabies (2005) |
Nationality:
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noun:
Indian(s)
adjective: Indian |
Ethnic groups:
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Indo-Aryan 72%,
Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000) |
Religions:
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Hindu 80.5%,
Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified
0.1% (2001 census) |
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: 59.5%
male: 70.2%
female: 48.3% (2003 est.)
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Country name:
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conventional
long form: Republic of India
conventional short form: India |
Government type:
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federal republic
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Capital:
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New Delhi |
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, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, West
Bengal |
Independence:
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15 August 1947
(from UK) |
National holiday:
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Republic Day,
26 January (1950) |
Constitution:
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26 January 1950;
amended many times |
Legal system:
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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 |
Suffrage:
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18 years of age;
universal |
Executive branch:
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chief of state:
President A.P.J. Abdul KALAM (since 26 July 2002); Vice
President Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT (since 19 August 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH
(since 22 May 2004)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on
the recommendation of the prime minister
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 July 2002 (next to be held 18 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 August 2007); prime minister chosen by
parliamentary members of the majority party following
legislative elections; election last held April - May
2004 (next to be held May 2009)
election results: Abdul KALAM elected president;
percent of electoral college vote - 89.6%; Bhairon Singh
SHEKHAWAT elected vice president; percent of Parliament
vote - 59.8% |
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 whom 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 20 April
through 10 May 2004 (next must be held before May 2009)
election results: People's Assembly - percent of
vote by party - NA; seats by party - INC 145, BJP 138,
CPI(M) 43, SP 36, RJD 24, BSP 19, DMK 16, SS 12, BJD 11,
CPI 10, NCP 9, JDU 8, SAD 8, PMK 6, TDP 5, TRS 5, JMM
5, LJSP 4, MDMK 4, independents 5, other 30 |
Judicial branch:
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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")
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Political parties
and leaders:
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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:
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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 in the Kashmir Valley and the National Socialist
Council of Nagaland in the Northeast |
International organization
participation:
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AfDB, ARF, AsDB,
ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIMSTEC, 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), IPU, 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 |
Diplomatic representation
in the US:
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chief of mission:
Ambassador Ranendra SEN
chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20008; note - Consular Wing located at 2536 Massachusetts
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 939-7000
FAX: [1] (202) 265-4351
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York,
San Francisco |
Diplomatic representation
from the US:
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chief of mission:
Ambassador David C. MULFORD
embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [91] (11) 2419-8000
FAX: [91] (11) 2419-0017
consulate(s) general: Chennai (Madras), Kolkata
(Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay) |
Flag description:
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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
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Economy - overview:
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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 three-fifths
of the work-force 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 average growth rate of more than 7% in the decade
since 1994, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points.
India achieved 7.6% 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; government
borrowing has kept interest rates high. Economic deregulation
would help attract additional foreign capital and lower
interest rates. The huge and growing population is the
fundamental social, economic, and environmental problem.
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GDP (purchasing power
parity):
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$3.611 trillion
(2005 est.) |
GDP (official exchange
rate):
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$719.8 billion
(2005 est.) |
GDP - real growth
rate:
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7.6% (2005 est.)
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GDP - per capita (PPP):
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$3,300 (2005
est.) |
GDP - composition
by sector:
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agriculture:
20.6%
industry: 28.1%
services: 51.4% (2005 est.) |
Labor force:
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496.4 million
(2005 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture:
60%
industry: 17%
services: 23% (1999) |
Unemployment rate:
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9.9% (2005 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%:
3.5%
highest 10%: 33.5% (1997) |
Distribution of family
income - Gini index:
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32.5 (2000) |
Inflation rate (consumer
prices):
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4.6% (2005 est.)
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Investment (gross
fixed):
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24.8% of GDP
(2005 est.) |
Budget:
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revenues:
$111.2 billion
expenditures: $135.8 billion; including capital
expenditures of $15 billion (2005 est.) |
Public debt:
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82% of GDP (federal
and state debt combined) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products:
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rice, wheat,
oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle,
water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish |
Industries:
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textiles, chemicals,
food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement,
mining, petroleum, machinery, software |
Industrial production
growth rate:
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8.2% (2005 est.)
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Electricity - production:
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556.8 billion
kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production
by source:
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fossil fuel:
81.7%
hydro: 14.5%
nuclear: 3.4%
other: 0.3% (2001) |
Electricity - consumption:
|
519 billion kWh
(2003) |
Electricity - exports:
|
187 million kWh
(2003) |
Electricity - imports:
|
1.4 billion kWh
(2003) |
Oil - production:
|
785,000 bbl/day
(2005 est.) |
Oil - consumption:
|
2.32 million
bbl/day (2003 est.) |
Oil - exports:
|
350,000 bbl/day
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Oil - imports:
|
2.09 million
bbl/day |
Oil - proved reserves:
|
5.7 billion bbl
(2005 est.) |
Natural gas - production:
|
27.1 billion
cu m (2003 est.) |
Natural gas - consumption:
|
27.1 billion
cu m (2003 est.) |
Natural gas - exports:
|
0 cu m (2001
est.) |
Natural gas - imports:
|
0 cu m (2001
est.) |
Natural gas - proved
reserves:
|
853.5 billion
cu m (2005) |
Current account balance:
|
$-13.19 billion
(2005 est.) |
Exports:
|
$76.23 billion
f.o.b. (2005 est.) |
Exports - commodities:
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textile goods,
gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather
manufactures |
Exports - partners:
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US 17%, UAE 8.8%,
China 5.5%, Hong Kong 4.7%, UK 4.5%, Singapore 4.5% (2004)
|
Imports:
|
$113.1 billion
f.o.b. (2005 est.) |
Imports - commodities:
|
crude oil, machinery,
gems, fertilizer, chemicals |
Imports - partners:
|
China 6.1%, US
6%, Switzerland 5.2%, Belgium 4.4% (2004) |
Reserves of foreign
exchange and gold:
|
$145 billion
(2005 est.) |
Debt - external:
|
$119.7 billion
(2005 est.) |
Economic aid - recipient:
|
$2.9 billion
(FY98/99) |
Currency (code):
|
Indian rupee
(INR) |
Currency code:
|
INR |
Exchange rates:
|
Indian rupees
per US dollar - 44.101 (2005), 45.317 (2004), 46.583 (2003),
48.61 (2002), 47.186 (2001) |
Fiscal year:
|
1 April - 31
March
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Telephones - main
lines in use:
|
67.285 million
(2005) |
Telephones - mobile
cellular:
|
69,193,321 (2006)
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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
domestic: expansion of domestic service, although
still weak in rural areas, resulted from increased competition
and dramatic reductions in price led in large part by
wireless service; mobile cellular service (both CDMA and
GSM) introduced in 1994 and organized nationwide into
four metropolitan cities and 19 telecom circles each with
about three private service providers and one state-owned
service provider; in recent years significant trunk capacity
added in the form of fiber-optic cable and one of the
world's largest domestic satellite systems, the Indian
National Satellite system (INSAT), with five satellites
supporting 33,000 very small aperture terminals (VSAT)
international: country code - 91; satellite earth
stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian
Ocean region); nine gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai
(Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras),
Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, and Ernakulam;
5 submarine cables, including Sea-Me-We-3 with landing
sites at Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay), Fiber-Optic Link
Around the Globe (FLAG) with landing site at Mumbai (Bombay),
South Africa - Far East (SAFE) with landing site at Cochin,
i2icn linking to Singapore with landing sites at Mumbai
(Bombay) and Chennai (Madras), and Tata Indicom linking
Singapore and Chennai (Madras), provide a significant
increase in the bandwidth available for both voice and
data traffic (2004) |
Radio broadcast stations:
|
AM 153, FM 91,
shortwave 68 (1998) |
Radios:
|
116 million (1997)
|
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) |
Televisions:
|
63 million (1997)
|
Internet country code:
|
.in |
Internet hosts:
|
787,543 (2005)
|
Internet Service Providers
(ISPs):
|
43 (2000) |
Internet users:
|
50.6 million
(2005)
|
Airports:
|
334 (2005) |
Airports - with paved
runways:
|
total:
239
over 3,047 m: 17
2,438 to 3,047 m: 48
1,524 to 2,437 m: 75
914 to 1,523 m: 79
under 914 m: 20 (2005) |
Airports - with unpaved
runways:
|
total:
95
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
914 to 1,523 m: 39
under 914 m: 48 (2005) |
Heliports:
|
27 (2005) |
Pipelines:
|
gas 6,171 km;
liquid petroleum gas 1,195 km; oil 5,613 km; refined products
5,567 km (2004) |
Railways:
|
total:
63,230 km (16,693 km electrified)
broad gauge: 45,718 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 14,406 km 1.000-m gauge; 3,106 km
0.762-m gauge and 0.610-m gauge (2004) |
Roadways:
|
total:
3,851,440 km
paved: 2,411,001 km
unpaved: 1,440,439 km (2002) |
Waterways:
|
14,500 km
note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals
suitable for mechanized vessels (2005) |
Merchant marine:
|
total:
313 ships (1000 GRT or over) 7,550,865 GRT/12,891,376
DWT
by type: barge carrier 4, bulk carrier 90, cargo
70, chemical tanker 13, combination ore/oil 1, container
8, liquefied gas 16, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 10,
petroleum tanker 97, roll on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 11 (China 1, Greece 1, Hong Kong
1, UAE 7, UK 1)
registered in other countries: 51 (Bahrain 1, Comoros
1, Cyprus 7, Denmark 1, North Korea 1, Liberia 4, Malta
1, Marshall Islands 1, Mauritius 4, Panama 16, Philippines
1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6, Singapore 4, Venezuela
1, unknown 2) (2005) |
Ports and terminals:
|
Chennai, Haldia,
Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay),
New Mangalore, Vishakhapatnam
|
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 service age
and obligation:
|
16 years of age
for voluntary military service (2001) |
Manpower available
for military service:
|
males age
16-49: 287,551,111
females age 16-49: 268,524,835 (2005 est.) |
Manpower fit for military
service:
|
males age
16-49: 219,471,999
females age 16-49: 209,917,553 (2005 est.) |
Manpower reaching
military service age annually:
|
males age
18-49: 11,446,452
females age 16-49: 10,665,877 (2005 est.) |
Military expenditures
- dollar figure:
|
$19.04 billion
(2005 est.) |
Military expenditures
- percent of GDP:
|
2.5% (2005 est.)
|
Transnational
Issues
|
India
|
Disputes - international:
|
since China and
India launched a security and foreign policy dialogue
in 2005, consolidated 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 continue; various
talks and confidence-building measures have cautiously
begun to defuse tensions over Kashmir, particularly since
the October 2005 earthquake in the region; Kashmir nevertheless
remains the 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 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
its 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
of the border; 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 maintains a strict border regime
to keep out Maoist insurgents and control illegal cross-border
activities from Nepal |
Refugees and internally
displaced persons:
|
refugees (country
of origin): 92,394 (Tibet/China) 57,274 (Sri Lanka)
9,761 (Afghanistan)
IDPs: 600,000 (resulting from 26 December 2004
tsunami); 500,000 (Jammu and Kashmir conflicts; most IDPs
are Kashmiri Hindus) (2005) |
Illicit drugs:
|
world's largest
producer of licit opium for the pharmaceutical trade,
but an undetermined quantity of opium is diverted to illicit
international drug markets; transit point for illicit
narcotics produced in neighboring countries; illicit producer
of methaqualone; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering
through the hawala system
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This page was last updated
on 29 June, 2006
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