| India
Capital: New Delhi
Located in South Asia, India is the seventh largest, and the second most populous country in the world. Home to the Indus Valley civilisation and known for its historic trade routes and vast empires, India is recognised for its commercial and cultural wealth for a large part of its long history. It is the centre of amalgamation of many religions and ethnicities which have shaped the country’s diverse culture. Colonised by the United Kingdom from early eighteenth century, India became a modern nation state in 1947, after a struggle for independence that was remarkable for its largely non-violent resistance.
Location: South Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan.
Geographic coordinates: 20 00 N, 77 00 E
Climate: Mainly tropical in southern India but temperatures in the north range from sub-zero degrees to 50 degrees Celsius. There are well-defined seasons in the northern region: winter (Dec – Feb), Spring (Mar – Apr), Summer (May – Jun), Monsoons (Jul – Sep) and Autumn (Oct – Nov).
Area: total: 3,287,590 sq km
Land: 2,973,190 sq km
Water: 314,400 sq km |
| Natural resources: coal (fourth largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromites, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land.
Land use: arable land: 48.83 per cent
Irrigated land: 558,080 sq km (2003)
Population: 1,147,995,898 (July 2008 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.578 per cent (2008 est.)
Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72 per cent, Dravidian 25 per cent, Mongoloid and other 3 per cent (2000)
Religions: Hindu 80.5 per cent, Muslim 13.4 per cent, Christian 2.3 per cent, Sikh 1.9 per cent, other 1.8 per cent, unspecified 0.1 per cent (2001 census)
Languages: Hindi is the national language and mother tongue of 30 per cent of the people. There are 21 other official languages. English is the preferred language for national, political, and commercial communication.
Literacy: Total population: 61 per cent
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Political system and Government:
The 1950 Constitution provides for a parliamentary system of Government with a bicameral parliament and three independent branches: the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The country has a federal structure with elected Governments in States. There are 28 states and 7 Union Territories.
Chief of State: President Pratibha Patil (since 25 July 2007)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (since 22 May 2004) |
| Indian Economy
India’s diverse economy comprises of conventional village farming as well as modern agriculture, a wide range of modern industries, a large number of services and handicrafts also. Services are the chief source of economic growth, accounting for more than half of India’s output with less than one third of its labour force. The economy has registered an average growth rate of more than 7 per cent since 1997, reducing poverty by about 10 per cent. India achieved 8.5 per cent GDP growth in 2006, and again in 2007, considerably augmenting its gross production. India’s chief strength comes from its large numbers of well-educated, skilled people, adept in the English language, helping India to become a major exporter of software services and software workers.
GDP (purchasing power parity): US$ 2.989 trillion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): US$ 1.099 trillion (2007 est.)
GDP – real growth rate: 9.2 per cent (2007 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP): US$ 2,700 (2007 est.) |
| GDP – composition by sector:
Agriculture: 17.6 per centIndustry: 29.4 per cent
Services: 52.9 per cent (2007 est.)
Labour force: 516.4 million (2007 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 34.6 per cent of GDP (2007 est.)
Industrial production growth rate: 8.9 per cent (2007 est.)
Exports: US$ 150.8 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports commodities: petroleum products, textile goods, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, chemicals, leather products
Exports partners: US 17 per cent, UAE 8.3 per cent, China 7.7 per cent, UK 4.3 per cent (2006)
Currency (code): Indian rupee (INR)
Exchange rates: Indian rupees per US dollar – 1 USD = 42.8180 INR July’08
Fiscal year: 1 April – 31 March
Transportation in India
Airports: 346 (2007)
International airports: Ahmadabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Chennai, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram.
Railways: total: 63,221 km (2006)
Roadways: total: 3.314 million km (2007)
Waterways: 14,500 km (2006)
Major ports of entry: Chennai, Ennore, Haldia, Kolkata, Kandla, Kochi, Mormugao, Mumbai, New Mangalore, Paradip, Tuticorin and Vishakhapatnam.
Source: IBEF |
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