Background:
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| The Indus Valley civilization, one of the world's oldest, flourished during the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. and extended into northwestern India. Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated onto the Indian subcontinent about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. The Maurya Empire of the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. - which reached its zenith under ASHOKA - united much of South Asia. The Golden Age ushered in by the Gupta dynasty (4th to 6th centuries A.D.) saw a flowering of Indian science, art, and culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkic in the 12th were followed by those of European traders, beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Indian armed forces in the British army played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU brought 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. India's nuclear weapons testing in 1998 caused Pakistan to conduct its own tests that same year. Despite impressive gains in economic investment and output, India faces pressing problems such as significant overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and widespread corruption. |
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Location:
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| Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
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Geographic coordinates:
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20 00 N, 77 00 E
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Area:
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total: 3,287,263 sq km
country comparison to the world: 14
land:
2,973,193 sq km
water:
314,070 sq km
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Area - comparative:
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slightly more than one-third the size of the US
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Land boundaries:
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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
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Coastline:
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7,000 km
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone:
24 nm
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
continental shelf:
200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
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Climate:
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varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
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Terrain:
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upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point:
Kanchenjunga 8,598 m
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Natural resources:
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coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land
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Land use:
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arable land: 48.83%
permanent crops:
2.8%
other:
48.37% (2005)
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Irrigated land:
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558,080 sq km (2003)
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Total renewable water resources:
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1,907.8 cu km (1999)
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Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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total: 645.84 cu km/yr (8%/5%/86%)
per capita:
585 cu m/yr (2000)
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Natural hazards:
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droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes
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Environment - current issues:
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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 growing population is overstraining natural resources
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
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Geography - note:
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dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes; Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in the world, lies on the border with Nepal |
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Population:
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| 1,166,079,217 (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 2
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 31.1% (male 190,075,426/female 172,799,553)
15-64 years:
63.6% (male 381,446,079/female 359,802,209)
65 years and over:
5.3% (male 29,364,920/female 32,591,030) (2009 est.)
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Median age:
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total: 25.3 years
male:
24.9 years
female:
25.8 years (2009 est.)
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Population growth rate:
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1.548% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 84
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Birth rate:
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21.76 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 87
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Death rate:
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6.23 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 155
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Net migration rate:
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-0.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 88
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Urbanization:
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urban population: 29% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization:
2.4% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
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Sex ratio:
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at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.1 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.9 male(s)/female
total population:
1.06 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
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Infant mortality rate:
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total: 30.15 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 73
male:
34.61 deaths/1,000 live births
female:
25.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 69.89 years
country comparison to the world: 145
male:
67.46 years
female:
72.61 years (2009 est.)
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Total fertility rate:
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2.72 children born/woman (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 83
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.3% (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 89
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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2.4 million (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 4
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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310,000 (2001 est.)
country comparison to the world: 2
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Major infectious diseases:
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degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases:
bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases:
chikungunya, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria
animal contact disease:
rabies
water contact disease:
leptospirosis
note:
highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)
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Nationality:
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noun: Indian(s)
adjective:
Indian
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Ethnic groups:
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Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
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Religions:
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Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
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Languages:
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Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9%
note:
English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the most widely spoken language and primary tongue of 41% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2001 census)
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
61%
male:
73.4%
female:
47.8% (2001 census)
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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
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total: 10 years
male:
11 years
female:
9 years (2005)
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Education expenditures:
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3.2% of GDP (2005)
country comparison to the world: 140
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