India

Airports

total: 337 usable: 288 with permanent-surface runways: 208 with runways over 3,659 m: 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 59 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 92

Highways

total: 1.97 million km paved: 960,000 km unpaved: gravel, crushed stone, earth 1.01 million km (1989)

Inland waterways

16,180 km; 3,631 km navigable by large vessels

Merchant marine

297 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,236,902 GRT/10,369,948 DWT, bulk 111, cargo 81, chemical tanker 9, combination bulk 2, combination ore/oil 7, container 7, liquefied gas 6, oil tanker 66, passenger-cargo 6, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1, short-sea passenger 1

Pipelines

crude oil 3,497 km; petroleum products 1,703 km; natural gas 902 km (1989)

Ports

Bombay, Calcutta, Cochin, Kandla, Madras, New Mangalore, Port Blair (Andaman Islands)

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

Telecommunications

domestic telephone system is poor providing only one telephone for about 200 persons on average; long distance telephoning has been improved by a domestic satellite system which also carries TV; international service is provided by 3 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth stations and by submarine cables to Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates; broadcast stations - 96 AM, 4 FM, 274 TV (government controlled)

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Security or Paramilitary Forces (including Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, and Coast Guard)

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $6.0 billion, 2.4% of GDP (FY93/94)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 247,948,906; fit for military service 145,881,705; reach military age (17) annually 9,408,586 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

accounts for about 40% of GDP and employs 65% of labor force; principal crops - rice, wheat, oilseeds, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; livestock - cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, poultry; fish catch of about 3 million metric tons ranks India among the world's top 10 fishing nations

Budget

revenues: $29.6 billion expenditures: $45.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $11.2 billion (FY93)

Currency

1 Indian rupee (Re) = 100 paise

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $4.4 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980-89), $31.7 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $315 million; USSR (1970-89), $11.6 billion; Eastern Europe (1970-89), $105 million

Electricity

capacity: 82,000,000 kW production: 310 billion kWh consumption per capita: 340 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

Indian rupees (Rs) per US$1 - 31.370 (January 1994), 30.493 (1993), 25.918 (1992), 22.742 (1991), 17.504 (1990), 16.226 (1989)

Exports

$21.4 billion (f.o.b., 1993) commodities: gems and jewelry, clothing, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures, cotton yarn, and fabric partners: US 18.9%, Germany 7.8%, Italy 7.8%, (FY93)

External debt

$90.1 billion (March 1993)

Fiscal year

1 April - 31 March

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; illicit producer of hashish; minor production of illicit opium

Imports

$22 billion (c.i.f., 1993) commodities: crude oil and petroleum products, gems, fertilizer, chemicals, machinery partners: US 9.8%, Belgium 8.4%, Germany 7.6% (FY93)

Industrial production

growth rate 2% (1993 est.); accounts for about 25% of GDP

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

8% (1993 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $1.17 trillion (FY94 est.)

National product per capita

$1,300 (FY94 est.)

National product real growth rate

3.8% (FY94 est.)

Overview

India's economy is a mixture of traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of support services. Faster economic growth in the 1980s permitted a significant increase in real per capita private consumption. A large share of the population, perhaps as much as 40%, remains too poor to afford an adequate diet. Financial strains in 1990 and 1991 prompted government austerity measures that slowed industrial growth but permitted India to meet its international payment obligations without rescheduling its debt. Policy reforms since 1991 have extended earlier economic liberalization and greatly reduced government controls on production, trade, and investment. US and other foreign firms are increasing their investment in India. In January 1994, international financial reserves were comfortably high.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total area: 3,287,590 km2 land area: 2,973,190 km2 comparative area: slightly more than one-third the size of the US

Climate

varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north

Coastline

7,000 km

Environment

current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; desertification; air pollution from industrial effluents and vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage and runoff of agricultural pesticides; huge and rapidly growing population is overstraining natural resources natural hazards: droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms common; subject to earthquakes (a quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale occurred near Hyderabad killing several thousand people and causing extensive damage in late September 1993) international agreements: party to - Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea

International disputes

boundaries with Bangladesh and China; status of Kashmir with Pakistan; water-sharing problems with downstream riparians, Bangladesh over the Ganges and Pakistan over the Indus

Irrigated land

430,390 sq km (1989)

Land boundaries

total 14,103 km, Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km

Land use

arable land: 55% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 4% forest and woodland: 23% other: 17%

Location

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

Map references

Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

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

Natural resources

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

Note

dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes

Terrain

upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north

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

Capital

New Delhi

Constitution

26 January 1950

Council of States (Rajya Sabha)

body consisting of not more than 250 members, up to 12 appointed by the president, the remainder chosen by the elected members of the state and territorial assemblies

Digraph

IN

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Siddhartha Shankar RAY chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 939-7000 consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York, and San Francisco

Executive branch

chief of state: President Shankar Dayal SHARMA (since 25 July 1992); Vice President Kicheril Raman NARAYANAN (since 21 August 1992) head of government: Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha RAO (since 21 June 1991) cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president on recommendation of the prime minister

FAX

[91] (11) 687-2028 consulate(s) general: Bombay, Calcutta, 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

Independence

15 August 1947 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

based on English common law; limited judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament (Sansad)

Member of

AG (observer), AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-6, G-15, G-19, AfDB, G-24, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAS (observer), ONUSAL, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNOMOZ, UNOSOM, UNPROFOR, UNTAC, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of India conventional short form: India

National holiday

Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic, 26 January (1950)

Other political or pressure groups

various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy; numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Adam Sena, Ananda Marg, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

People's Assembly (Lok Sabha)

elections 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, 543 elected, 2 appointed) Congress (I) Party 245, Bharatiya Janata Party 119, Janata Dal Party 39, Janata Dal (Ajit Singh) 20, CPI/M 35, CPI 14, Telugu Desam 13, AIADMK 11, Samajwadi Janata Party 5, Shiv Sena 4, RSP 4, BSP 1, Congress (S) Party 1, other 23, vacant 9

Political parties and leaders

Congress (I) Party, P. V. Narasimha RAO, president; Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), L.K. ADVANI; Janata Dal Party, Chandra SHEKHAR; Janata Dal (Ajit Singh), Ajit SINGH; Communist Party of India/Marxist (CPI/M), Harkishan Singh SURJEET; Communist Party of India (CPI), Indrajit GUPTA; 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), Jayaram JAYALALITHA; Samajwadi Party (SP, formerly Samajwadi Janata Party), Mulayam Singh YADAV (President), Om Prakash CHAUTALA, Devi LAL; 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), Vinod MISHRA; 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

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

federal republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Frank WISNER embassy: Shanti Path, Chanakyapuri 110021, New Delhi mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [91] (11) 600651

Birth rate

28.45 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

10.29 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

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

Infant mortality rate

78.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

314.751 million (1990) by occupation: agriculture 65% (1993 est.)

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 Hindu/Urdu, is 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

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 58.58 years male: 58.09 years female: 59.09 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 7 and over can read and write (1991 est.) total population: 52.11% male: 63.86% female: 39.42%

Nationality

noun: Indian(s) adjective: Indian

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

919,903,056 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

1.82% (1994 est.)

Religions

Hindu 80%, Muslim 14%, Christian 2.4%, Sikh 2%, Buddhist 0.7%, Jains 0.5%, other 0.4%

Total fertility rate

3.48 children born/woman (1994 est.)