INDIA - A QUICK LOOK . . .

India

Geography

Location:

Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan

Geographic coordinates:

20 00 N, 77 00 E

Map references:

Asia

Area:

total:  3,287,590 sq km land:  2,973,190 sq km water:  314,400 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly more than one-third the size of the US

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

Coastline:

7,000 km

Maritime claims:

contiguous zone:  24 NM continental shelf:  200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone:  200 NM territorial sea:  12 NM

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

Elevation extremes:

lowest point:  Indian Ocean 0 m highest point:  Kanchenjunga 8,598 m

Natural resources:

coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land

Land use:

arable land:  56% permanent crops:  1% permanent pastures:  4% forests and woodland:  23% other:  16% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:

535,100 sq km (1995/96 est.)

Natural hazards:

droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms common; earthquakes

Geography - note:

dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes

India

People

Population:

1,029,991,145 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years:  33.12% (male 175,630,537; female 165,540,672) 15-64 years:  62.2% (male 331,790,850; female 308,902,864) 65 years and over:  4.68% (male 24,439,022; female 23,687,200) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.55% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:

24.28 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate:

8.74 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate:

-0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:

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:  1.03 male(s)/female total population:  1.07 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

63.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population:  62.86 years male:  62.22 years female:  63.53 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:

3.04 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.7% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

3.7 million (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

310,000 (1999 est.)

Nationality:

noun:  Indian(s) adjective:  Indian

Ethnic groups:

Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)

Religions:

Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000)

Languages:

English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication, Hindi the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people, Bengali (official), Telugu (official), Marathi (official), Tamil (official), Urdu (official), Gujarati (official), Malayalam (official), Kannada (official), Oriya (official), Punjabi (official), Assamese (official), Kashmiri (official), Sindhi (official), Sanskrit (official), Hindustani (a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India) note:  24 languages each spoken by a million or more persons; numerous other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually unintelligible

Literacy:

definition:  age 15 and over can read and write total population:  52% male:  65.5% female:  37.7% (1995 est.)

India

Economy

Economy - overview:

India's economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of support services. More than a third of the population is too poor to be able to afford an adequate diet. India's international payments position remained strong in 2000 with adequate foreign exchange reserves, moderately depreciating nominal exchange rates, and booming exports of software services. Growth in manufacturing output slowed, and electricity shortages continue in many regions.

GDP:	purchasing power parity - $2.2 trillion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

6% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:

purchasing power parity - $2,200 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture:  25% industry:  24% services:  51% (2000)

Population below poverty line:

35% (1994 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%:  3.5% highest 10%:  33.5% (1997)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

5.4% (2000 est.)

Labor force:

NA

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture 67%, services 18%, industry 15% (1995 est.)

Unemployment rate:

NA%

Budget:

revenues:  $44.3 billion expenditures:  $73.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est.)

Industries:

textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software

Industrial production growth rate:

7.5% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production:

454.561 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel:  79.41% hydro:  17.77% nuclear:  2.52% other:  0.3% (1999)

Electricity - consumption:

424.032 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports:

200 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports:

1.49 billion kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products:

rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish

Exports:

$43.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Exports - commodities:

textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures

Exports - partners:

US 22%, UK 6%, Germany 5%, Japan 5%, Hong Kong 5%, UAE 4% (1999)

Imports:

$60.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Imports - commodities:

crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals

Imports - partners:

US 9%, Benelux 8%, UK 6%, Saudi Arabia 6%, Japan 6%, Germany 5% (1999)

Debt - external:

$99.6 billion (2000)

Economic aid - recipient:

$2.9 billion (FY98/99)

Currency:

Indian rupee (INR)

Currency code:

INR

Exchange rates:

Indian rupees per US dollar - 46.540 (January 2001), 44.942 (2000), 43.055 (1999), 41.259 (1998), 36.313 (1997), 35.433 (1996)

Fiscal year:

1 April - 31 March

India

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:

27.7 million (October 2000)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

2.93 million (November 2000)

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 Service Providers (ISPs):

43 (2000)

Internet users:

4.5 million (2000)

India

Transportation

Railways:

total:  63,693 km (13,771 km electrified) broad gauge:  45,103 km 1.676-m gauge narrow gauge:  15,178 km 1.000-m gauge; 3,105 km 0.762-m gauge; 307 km 0.610-m gauge (2001)

Highways:

total:  3,319,644 km paved:  1,517,077 km unpaved:  1,802,567 km (1996)

Waterways:

16,180 km note:  3,631 km navigable by large vessels

Pipelines:

crude oil 3,005 km; petroleum products 2,687 km; natural gas 1,700 km (1995)

Ports and harbors:

Chennai (Madras), Cochin, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), Vishakhapatnam

Merchant marine:

total:  315 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,433,831 GRT/10,691,973 DWT ships by type:  bulk 117, cargo 70, chemical tanker 15, combination bulk 1, combination ore/oil 3, container 15, liquefied gas 9, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 76, short-sea passenger 2, specialized tanker 2 (2000 est.)

Airports:

337 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:

total:  235 over 3,047 m:  13 2,438 to 3,047 m:  48 1,524 to 2,437 m:  81 914 to 1,523 m:  77 under 914 m:  16 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total:  102 2,438 to 3,047 m:  1 1,524 to 2,437 m:  6 914 to 1,523 m:  40 under 914 m:  55 (2000 est.)

Heliports:

16 (2000 est.)

India

Military

Military branches:

Army, Navy (including naval air arm), Air Force, various security or paramilitary forces (includes Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, Rashtriya Rifles, and National Security Guards)

Military manpower - military age:

17 years of age

Military manpower - availability:

males age 15-49:  280,204,502 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:

males age 15-49:  164,410,461 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:

males:  10,879,384 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:

$13.02 billion (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:

2.5% (FY00)