INDIA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 3,287,590 km2; land area: 2,973,190 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than one-third the size of the US
Land boundaries: 14,103 km total; Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605
km, Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km
Coastline: 7,000 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: boundaries with Bangladesh, China, and Pakistan; water
sharing problems with downstream riparians, Bangladesh over the Ganges
and Pakistan over the Indus
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
Natural resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world),
iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas,
diamonds, crude oil, limestone
Land use: arable land 55%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
4%; forest and woodland 23%; other 17%; includes irrigated 13%
Environment: droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms common;
deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; air and water pollution;
desertification
Note: dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important
Indian Ocean trade routes
PEOPLE
Population: 866,351,738 (July 1991), growth rate 1.9% (1991)
Birth rate: 29 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 87 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 57 years male, 59 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 3.7 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Indian(s); adjective--Indian
Ethnic divisions: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and
other 3%
Religion: Hindu 82.6%, Muslim 11.4%, Christian 2.4%, Sikh 2.0%,
Buddhist 0.7%, Jains 0.5%, other 0.4%
Language: Hindi, English, and 14 other official languages--Bengali,
Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya,
Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; 24 languages spoken by
a million or more persons each; numerous other languages and dialects,
for the most part mutually unintelligible; Hindi is the national language
and primary tongue of 30% of the people; English enjoys associate status
but is the most important language for national, political, and
commercial communication; Hindustani, a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu, is
spoken widely throughout northern India
Literacy: 48% (male 62%, female 34%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 284,400,000; 67% agriculture (FY85)
Organized labor: less than 5% of the labor force
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of India
Type: federal republic
Capital: New Delhi
Administrative divisions: 25 states and 7 union territories*;
Andaman and Nicobar Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh,
Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*,
Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana,
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala,
Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Pondicherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan,
Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal
Independence: 15 August 1947 (from UK)
Constitution: 26 January 1950
Legal system: based on English common law; limited judicial review
of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with
reservations
National holiday: Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic,
26 January (1950)
Executive branch: president, vice president, prime minister,
Council of Ministers
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Sansad) consists of an
upper house or Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and a lower house or
House of the People (Lok Sabha)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Ramaswamy Iyer VENKATARAMAN (since 25
July 1987); Vice President Dr. Shankar Dayal SHARMA (since 3 September
1987);
Head of Government--Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha RAO (since
21 June 1991)
Political parties and leaders:
Congress (I) Party, P. V. Narasimha RAO, president;
Bharatiya Janata Party, L. K. ADVANI;
Janata Dal Party, V. P. SINGH;
Communist Party of India/Marxist (CPI/M), E. M. S. NAMBOODIRIPAD;
Communist Party of India (CPI), C. Rajeswara RAO;
Telugu Desam (a regional party in Andhra Pradesh), N. T. Rama RAO;
All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK; a regional party
in Tamil Nadu), JAYALALITHA;
Samajwadi Janata Party, CHANDRA SHEKHAR;
Shiv Sena, Bal THACKERAY;
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Tridip CHOWDHURY;
Bahujana Samaj Party (BSP), Kanshi RAM;
Congress (S) Party, leader NA;
Communist Party of India/Marxist-Leninist (CPI/ML), Satyanarayan SINGH;
Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (a regional party in Tamil Nadu),
M. KARUNANIDHI;
Akali Dal factions representing Sikh religious community in the Punjab;
National Conference (NC; a regional party in Jammu and Kashmir), Farooq
ABDULLAH;
Asom Gana Parishad (a regional party in Assam), Prafulla MAHANTA
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
People's Assembly--last held 21 May, 12 and 15 June
1991 (next to be held by November 1996);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(545 total), 509 elected--Congress (I) Party 225,
Bharatiya Janata Party 117,
Janata Dal Party 55,
Communist Party of India (Marxist) 35,
Communist Party of India 13,
Telugu Desam 12,
AIADMK 11,
Samajwadi Janata Party 5,
Shiv Sena 4,
RSP 4,
BSP 1,
Congress (S) Party 1, other 26; note--second and third rounds of
voting were delayed because of the assassination of Congress
President Rajiv GANDHI on 21 May 1991
Communists: 466,000 members claimed by CPI, 361,000 members claimed
by CPI/M; Communist extremist groups, about 15,000 members
Other political or pressure groups: various separatist groups
seeking greater communal autonomy; numerous religious or
militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Adam Sena, Anand Marg,
Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abid HUSSEIN;
Chancery at 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 939-7000; there are Indian Consulates General in
Chicago, New York, and San Francisco;
US--Ambassador William CLARK, Jr.; Embassy at Shanti Path,
Chanakyapuri 110021, New Delhi; telephone 91 (11) 600651; there are US
Consulates General in Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras
Flag: 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
Overview: India's economy is a mixture of traditional
village farming and handicrafts, modern agriculture, old and new branches
of industry, and a multitude of support services. It presents both the
entrepreneurial skills and drives of the capitalist system and
widespread government intervention of the socialist mold. Growth of 4%
to 5% annually in the 1980s has softened the impact of population growth
on unemployment, social tranquility, and the environment. Agricultural
output has continued to expand, reflecting the greater use of modern
farming techniques and improved seed that have helped to make India
self-sufficient in food grains and a net agricultural exporter. However,
tens of millions of villagers, particularly in the south, have not
benefited from the green revolution and live in abject poverty. Industry
has benefited from a partial liberalization of controls. The growth rate
of the service sector has also been strong. India, however, has been
challenged more recently by much lower foreign exchange reserves, higher
inflation, and a large debt service burden.
GNP: $254 billion, per capita $300; real growth rate 4.5% (1990
est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10.0% (1990)
Unemployment rate: 20% (1990 est.)
Budget: revenues $34 billion; expenditures $54 billion, including
capital expenditures of $13.3 billion (FY91)
Exports: $17.0 billion (f.o.b., FY90);
commodities--gems and jewelry, engineering goods, clothing,
textiles, chemicals, tea, coffee, fish products;
partners--EC 25%, US 19%, USSR and Eastern Europe 17%, Japan 10%
Imports: $24.8 billion (c.i.f., FY90);
commodities--petroleum, capital goods, uncut gems and jewelry,
chemicals, iron and steel, edible oils;
partners--EC 33%, Middle East 19%, Japan 10%, US 9%, USSR and
Eastern Europe 8%
External debt: $69.8 billion (1990 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 8.4% (1990); accounts
for about 25% of GDP
Electricity: 70,000,000 kW capacity; 245,000 million kWh produced,
290 kWh per capita (1990)
Agriculture: accounts for about 30% of GNP and employs 67% of
labor force; self-sufficient in food grains; principal crops--rice,
wheat, oilseeds, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes;
livestock--cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats and poultry; fish catch of
about 3 million metric tons ranks among the world's top 10 fishing
nations
Illicit drugs: licit producer of opium poppy for the
pharmaceutical trade, but some opium is diverted to illicit
international drug markets; major transit country for illicit narcotics
produced in neighboring countries
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $4.4
billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1980-88), $20.1 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $315 million;
USSR (1970-89), $11.6 billion; Eastern Europe (1970-89), $105 million
Currency: Indian rupee (plural--rupees);
1 Indian rupee (Re) = 100 paise
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 61,850 km total (1986); 33,553 km 1.676-meter broad
gauge, 24,051 km 1.000-meter gauge, 4,246 km narrow gauge (0.762 meter
and 0.610 meter); 12,617 km is double track; 6,500 km is electrified
Highways: 1,633,300 km total (1986); 515,300 km secondary and
1,118,000 km gravel, crushed stone, or earth
Inland waterways: 16,180 km; 3,631 km navigable by large vessels
Airports: 345 total, 288 usable; 198 with permanent-surface
runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 57 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
88 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: poor domestic telephone service, international
radio communications adequate; 4,700,000 telephones; stations--96 AM,
4 FM, 274 TV (government controlled); domestic satellite system for
communications and TV; 3 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth stations; submarine
cables to Malaysia and United Arab Emirates
