India

India 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 inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkish in the 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.

India Information

• Population: 1,065,070,607 (July 2004 est.)
• Nationality: noun: Indian(s) adjective: Indian
• Location:: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
• Religions:: Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000)
• Ethnic Groups:: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
• 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
• Area: total: 3,287,590 sq km land: 2,973,190 sq km water: 314,400 sq km
• Coast Line: 7,000 km
• Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
• Terrain: upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
• Maritime Claims: territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
• Land Use: arable land: 54.4% permanent crops: 2.74% other: 42.86% (2001)
• Environmental 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 grow
• Natural Resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land
• Highways: total: 3,319,644 km paved: 1,517,077 km unpaved: 1,802,567 km (1999 est.)
• Railways: total: 63,140 km (15,994 km electrified) broad gauge: 45,099 km 1.676-m gauge narrow gauge: 14,776 km 1.000-m gauge; 3,265 km 0.762-m gauge and 0.610-m gauge (2003)
• Ports & Harbours: Chennai (Madras), Cochin, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), Vishakhapatnam
• Airports: 333 (2003 est.)