|
|
Background: |
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. The dispute between the countries over the state of Kashmir is
ongoing, but discussions and confidence-building measures have led to
decreased tensions since 2002. Despite impressive gains in economic
investment and output, India faces pressing problems such as significant
overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic
and religious strife. |
|
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: |
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 |
|
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: 48.83%
permanent crops: 2.8%
other: 48.37% (2005) |
|
Irrigated land: |
558,080 sq km (2003) |
|
Total renewable water resources: |
1,907.8 cu km (1999) |
|
Freshwater withdrawal
(domestic/industrial/agricultural): |
total: 645.84 cu km/yr
(8%/5%/86%)
per capita: 585 cu m/yr (2000) |
|
Natural hazards: |
droughts; flash floods, as well
as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe
thunderstorms; earthquakes |
|
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; tap water is not potable throughout the country;
huge and growing population is overstraining natural resources |
|
Environment - international agreements: |
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 |
|
Geography - note: |
dominates South Asian
subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes; Kanchenjunga,
third tallest mountain in the world, lies on the border with Nepal
|
|
Population: |
1,147,995,898 (July 2008 est.)
|
|
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 31.5% (male
189,238,487/female 172,168,306)
15-64 years: 63.3% (male
374,157,581/female 352,868,003)
65 years and over: 5.2% (male
28,285,796/female 31,277,725) (2008 est.) |
|
Median age: |
total: 25.1 years
male: 24.7 years
female: 25.5 years (2008 est.)
|
|
Population growth rate: |
1.578% (2008 est.) |
|
Birth rate: |
22.22 births/1,000 population
(2008 est.) |
|
Death rate: |
6.4 deaths/1,000 population
(2008 est.) |
|
Net migration rate: |
-0.05 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2008 est.) |
|
Sex ratio: |
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 (2008
est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total: 32.31
deaths/1,000 live births
male: 36.94 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 27.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 69.25
years
male: 66.87 years
female: 71.9 years (2008
est.) |
|
Total fertility rate: |
2.76 children born/woman (2008
est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
0.9% (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
5.1 million (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
310,000 (2001 est.) |
|
Major infectious diseases: |
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
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 (2008) |
|
Nationality: |
noun: Indian(s)
adjective: Indian |
|
Ethnic groups: |
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%,
Mongoloid and other 3% (2000) |
|
Religions: |
Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%,
Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
|
|
Languages: |
English enjoys associate status
but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial
communication; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of
the people; there are 21 other official languages: Assamese, Bengali,
Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam,
Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanscrit, Santhali, Sindhi,
Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu
spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language
|
|
Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write
total population: 61%
male:
73.4%
female: 47.8% (2001 census) |
|
Country name: |
conventional long form:
Republic of India
conventional short form: India
local
long form: Republic of India/Bharatiya Ganarajya
local short
form: India/Bharat |
|
Government type: |
federal republic |
|
Capital: |
name: New Delhi
geographic coordinates: 28 36 N, 77 12 E
time
difference: UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time) |
|
Administrative divisions: |
28 states and 7 union
territories*; Andaman and Nicobar Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*,
Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and
Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Puducherry*,
Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, West Bengal |
|
Independence: |
15 August 1947 (from UK) |
|
National holiday: |
Republic Day, 26 January (1950)
|
|
Constitution: |
26 January 1950; amended many
times |
|
Legal system: |
based on English common law;
judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
with reservations; separate personal law codes apply to Muslims,
Christians, and Hindus |
|
Suffrage: |
18 years of age; universal
|
|
Executive branch: |
chief of state:
President Pratibha PATIL (since 25 July 2007); Vice President Hamid ANSARI
(since 11 August 2007)
head of government: Prime Minister
Manmohan SINGH (since 22 May 2004)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed
by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
elections: president elected by an electoral college consisting
of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of
the states for a five-year term (no term limits); election last held 21
July 2007 (next to be held in July 2012); vice president elected by both
houses of Parliament for a five-year term; election last held 12 August
2002 (next to be held August 2007); prime minister chosen by parliamentary
members of the majority party following legislative elections; election
last held April - May 2004 (next to be held May 2009)
election
results: Pratibha PATIL elected president; percent of vote - 65.8%;
Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT - 34.2% |
|
Legislative branch: |
bicameral Parliament or Sansad
consists of the Council of States or Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of not
more than 250 members up to 12 of whom are appointed by the president, the
remainder are chosen by the elected members of the state and territorial
assemblies; members serve six-year terms) and the People's Assembly or Lok
Sabha (545 seats; 543 elected by popular vote, 2 appointed by the
president; members serve five-year terms)
elections: People's
Assembly - last held 20 April through 10 May 2004 (next must be held
before May 2009)
election results: People's Assembly - percent
of vote by party - NA; seats by party - INC 147, BJP 129, CPI (M) 43, SP
38, RJD 23, DMK 16, BSP 15, SS 12, BJD 11, CPI 10, NCP 10, JD (U) 8, SAD
8, PMK 6, JMM 5, LJSP 4, MDMK 4, TDP 4, TRS 4, independent 6, other 29,
vacant 13; note - seats by party as of December 2006 |
|
Judicial branch: |
Supreme Court (one chief
justice and 25 associate justices are appointed by the president and
remain in office until they reach the age of 65 or are removed for 'proved
misbehavior') |
|
Political parties and leaders: |
Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP
[MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Rajnath SINGH]; Biju Janata Dal
or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]; Communist Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu Bhushan
BARDHAN]; Communist Party of India-Marxist or CPI-M [Prakash KARAT];
Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or DMK [M. KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National
Congress or INC [Sonia GANDHI]; Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) [Sharad
YADEV]; Jharkhand Mukti Morcha or JMM [Shibu SOREN]; Lok Jan Shakti Party
or LJSP [Ram Vilas PASWAN]; Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or MDMK
[VAIKU]; Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]; Pattali Makkal
Katchi or PMK [S. RAMADOSS]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Laloo Prasad
YADAV]; Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV]; Shiromani Akali Dal
or SAD [Prakash Singh BADAL]; Shiv Sena or SS [Bal THACKERAY]; Telangana
Rashtra Samithi or TRS [K. Chandrasekhar RAO]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP
[Chandrababu NAIDU]; note - India has dozens of national and regional
political parties; only parties with four or more seats in the People's
Assembly are listed |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
numerous religious or
militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad,
Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; various separatist groups
seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy, including the All
Parties Hurriyat Conference in the Kashmir Valley and the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland in the Northeast |
|
International organization participation: |
ADB, AfDB, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue
partner), BIMSTEC, BIS, C, CERN (observer), CP, EAS, FAO, G-15, G-24,
G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF,
IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAS
(observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner),
SAARC, SACEP, SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO,
UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WTO |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Ranendra SEN
chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20008; note - Consular Wing located at 2536 Massachusetts
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 939-7000
FAX: [1] (202) 265-4351
consulate(s) general:
Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador David C. MULFORD
embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi 110021
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [91] (011) 2419-8000
FAX: [91] (11)
2419-0017
consulate(s) general: Chennai (Madras), Kolkata
(Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay) |
|
Flag description: |
three equal horizontal bands of
saffron (subdued 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 diverse economy
encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts,
a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of services. Services
are the major source of economic growth, accounting for more than half of
India's output with less than one third of its labor force. About
three-fifths of the work force is in agriculture, leading the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to articulate an economic reform
program that includes developing basic infrastructure to improve the lives
of the rural poor and boost economic performance. The government has
reduced controls on foreign trade and investment. Higher limits on foreign
direct investment were permitted in a few key sectors, such as
telecommunications. However, tariff spikes in sensitive categories,
including agriculture, and incremental progress on economic reforms still
hinder foreign access to India's vast and growing market. Privatization of
government-owned industries remains stalled and continues to generate
political debate; populist pressure from within the UPA government and
from its Left Front allies continues to restrain needed initiatives. The
economy has posted an average growth rate of more than 7% in the decade
since 1997, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. India achieved
8.5% GDP growth in 2006, and again in 2007, significantly expanding
production of manufactures. India is capitalizing on its large numbers of
well-educated people skilled in the English language to become a major
exporter of software services and software workers. Economic expansion has
helped New Delhi continue to make progress in reducing its federal fiscal
deficit. However, strong growth combined with easy consumer credit and a
real estate boom fueled inflation concerns in 2006 and 2007, leading to a
series of central bank interest rate hikes that have slowed credit growth
and eased inflation concerns. The huge and growing population is the
fundamental social, economic, and environmental problem. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity): |
$2.965 trillion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP (official exchange rate): |
$1.09 trillion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
8.5% (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita (PPP): |
$2,700 (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 16.6%
industry: 28.4%
services: 55% (2007 est.) |
|
Labor force: |
516.4 million (2007 est.)
|
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture: 60%
industry: 12%
services: 28% (2003) |
|
Unemployment rate: |
7.2% (2007 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line: |
25% (2007 est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 31.1% (2004) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index: |
36.8 (2004) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
5.9% (2007 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
31.8% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Budget: |
revenues: $145.2 billion
expenditures: $182.4 billion (2007 est.) |
|
Public debt: |
58.8% of GDP (federal and state
debt combined) (2007 est.) |
|
Agriculture - products: |
rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton,
jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats,
poultry; fish |
|
Industries: |
textiles, chemicals, food
processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum,
machinery, software |
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
10% (2007 est.) |
|
Electricity - production: |
661.6 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 81.7%
hydro: 14.5%
nuclear: 3.4%
other: 0.3%
(2001) |
|
Electricity - consumption: |
488.5 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - exports: |
67 million kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - imports: |
1.764 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Oil - production: |
834,600 bbl/day (2005 est.)
|
|
Oil - consumption: |
2.438 million bbl/day (2005
est.) |
|
Oil - exports: |
350,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
|
|
Oil - imports: |
2.098 million bbl/day (2004
est.) |
|
Oil - proved reserves: |
5.848 billion bbl (1 January
2006 est.) |
|
Natural gas - production: |
28.68 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption: |
34.47 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports: |
0 cu m (2005 est.) |
|
Natural gas - imports: |
5.793 billion cu m (2005)
|
|
Natural gas - proved reserves: |
1.056 trillion cu m (1 January
2006 est.) |
|
Current account balance: |
$-18.53 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Exports: |
$140.8 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Exports - commodities: |
petroleum products, textile
goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather
manufactures |
|
Exports - partners: |
US 17%, UAE 8.3%, China 7.7%,
UK 4.3% (2006) |
|
Imports: |
$224.1 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Imports - commodities: |
crude oil, machinery, gems,
fertilizer, chemicals |
|
Imports - partners: |
China 8.7%, US 6%, Germany
4.7%, Singapore 4.6% (2006) |
|
Economic aid - recipient: |
$1.724 billion (2005) |
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: |
$239.4 billion (31 December
2007 est.) |
|
Debt - external: |
$165.4 billion (30 June 2007)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: |
$67.72 billion (2006 est.)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: |
$21.11 billion (2006 est.)
|
|
Market value of publicly traded shares: |
$818.9 billion (2006) |
|
Currency (code): |
Indian rupee (INR) |
|
Currency code: |
INR |
|
Exchange rates: |
Indian rupees per US dollar -
41.487 (2007), 45.3 (2006), 44.101 (2005), 45.317 (2004), 46.583 (2003)
|
|
Fiscal year: |
1 April - 31 March
|
|
Telephones - main lines in use: |
49.75 million (2005) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular: |
166.1 million (2006) |
|
Telephone system: |
general assessment:
recent deregulation and liberalization of telecommunications laws and
policies have prompted rapid growth; local and long distance service
provided throughout all regions of the country, with services primarily
concentrated in the urban areas; steady improvement is taking place with
the recent admission of private and private-public investors, but combined
fixed and mobile telephone density remains low at about 20 for each 100
persons nationwide and much lower for persons in rural areas; fastest
growth is in cellular service with modest growth in fixed lines
domestic: mobile cellular service (both CDMA and GSM)
introduced in 1994 and organized nationwide into four metropolitan areas
and 19 telecom circles each with about three private service providers and
one state-owned service provider; in recent years significant trunk
capacity added in the form of fiber-optic cable and one of the world's
largest domestic satellite systems, the Indian National Satellite system
(INSAT), with 6 satellites supporting 33,000 very small aperture terminals
(VSAT)
international: country code - 91; a number of major
international submarine cable systems, including Sea-Me-We-3 with landing
sites at Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay), Sea-Me-We-4 with a landing site at
Chennai, Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) with a landing site at
Mumbai (Bombay), South Africa - Far East (SAFE) with a landing site at
Cochin, the i2i cable network linking to Singapore with landing sites at
Mumbai (Bombay) and Chennai (Madras), and Tata Indicom linking Singapore
and Chennai (Madras), provide a significant increase in the bandwidth
available for both voice and data traffic; satellite earth stations - 8
Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean region); 9 gateway
exchanges operating from Mumbai (Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta),
Chennai (Madras), Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, and Ernakulam
|
|
Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68
(1998) |
|
Radios: |
116 million (1997) |
|
Television broadcast stations: |
562 (1997) |
|
Televisions: |
63 million (1997) |
|
Internet country code: |
.in |
|
Internet hosts: |
2.306 million (2007) |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
43 (2000) |
|
Internet users: |
60 million (2005)
|
|
Airports: |
346 (2007) |
|
Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 250
over
3,047 m: 18
2,438 to 3,047 m: 52
1,524 to 2,437
m: 75
914 to 1,523 m: 84
under 914 m: 21 (2007)
|
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 96
over
3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m:
7
914 to 1,523 m: 40
under 914 m: 47 (2007) |
|
Heliports: |
30 (2007) |
|
Pipelines: |
condensate/gas 9 km; gas 7,488
km; liquid petroleum gas 1,861 km; oil 7,883 km; refined products 6,422 km
(2007) |
|
Railways: |
total: 63,221 km
broad gauge: 46,807 km 1.676-m gauge (17,343 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 13,290 km 1.000-m gauge (165 km electrified);
3,124 km 0.762-m gauge and 0.610-m gauge (2006) |
|
Roadways: |
total: 3,383,344 km
paved: 1,603,705 km
unpaved: 1,779,639 km (2002)
|
|
Waterways: |
14,500 km
note:
5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for mechanized
vessels (2006) |
|
Merchant marine: |
total: 477 ships (1000
GRT or over) 8,350,093 GRT/14,339,440 DWT
by type: bulk carrier
101, cargo 220, chemical tanker 18, combination ore/oil 1, container 9,
liquefied gas 19, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 10, petroleum tanker 95,
roll on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 5 (China 1, Hong Kong 1, UAE
2, UK 1)
registered in other countries: 54 (Barbados 1, Comoros
2, Cyprus 1, Dominica 2, North Korea 1, Liberia 2, Malta 3, Mauritius 2,
Panama 25, Singapore 9, St Kitts and Nevis 1, St Vincent and The
Grenadines 5, unknown 2) (2007) |
|
Ports and terminals: |
Chennai, Haldia, Jawaharal
Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mormugao, Mumbai (Bombay), New
Mangalore, Vishakhapatnam |
|
Military branches: |
Army, Navy (includes naval air
arm), Air Force, Coast Guard, various security or paramilitary forces
(includes Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, National Security Guards,
Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Special Frontier Force, Central Reserve Police
Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Railway Protection Force, and
Defense Security Corps) |
|
Military service age and obligation: |
16 years of age for voluntary
military service; no conscription (2008) |
|
Manpower available for military service: |
males age 16-49:
287,551,111
females age 16-49: 268,524,835 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower fit for military service: |
males age 16-49:
219,471,999
females age 16-49: 209,917,553 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower reaching military service age annually: |
males age 18-49:
11,446,452
females age 16-49: 10,665,877 (2005 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: |
2.5% (2006) |
| Transnational Issues |
India |
|
Disputes - international: |
since China and India launched
a security and foreign policy dialogue in 2005, consolidated discussions
related to the dispute over most of their rugged, militarized boundary,
regional nuclear proliferation, Indian claims that China transferred
missiles to Pakistan, and other matters continue; various talks and
confidence-building measures have cautiously begun to defuse tensions over
Kashmir, particularly since the October 2005 earthquake in the region;
Kashmir nevertheless remains the site of the world's largest and most
militarized territorial dispute with portions under the de facto
administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and
Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas); India and Pakistan have
maintained the 2004 cease fire in Kashmir and initiated discussions on
defusing the armed stand-off in the Siachen glacier region; Pakistan
protests India's fencing the highly militarized Line of Control and
construction of the Baglihar Dam on the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir,
which is part of the larger dispute on water sharing of the Indus River
and its tributaries; UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan
(UNMOGIP) has maintained a small group of peacekeepers since 1949; India
does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China in
1964; to defuse tensions and prepare for discussions on a maritime
boundary, India and Pakistan seek technical resolution of the disputed
boundary in Sir Creek estuary at the mouth of the Rann of Kutch in the
Arabian Sea; Pakistani maps continue to show its Junagadh claim in Indian
Gujarat State; discussions with Bangladesh remain stalled to delimit a
small section of river boundary, to exchange territory for 51 Bangladeshi
exclaves in India and 111 Indian exclaves in Bangladesh, to allocate
divided villages, and to stop illegal cross-border trade, migration,
violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous border; Bangladesh
protests India's attempts to fence off high-traffic sections of the
border; dispute with Bangladesh over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha
Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation; India
seeks cooperation from Bhutan and Burma to keep Indian Nagaland and Assam
separatists from hiding in remote areas along the borders; Joint Border
Committee with Nepal continues to examine contested boundary sections,
including the 400 square kilometer dispute over the source of the Kalapani
River; India maintains a strict border regime to keep out Maoist
insurgents and control illegal cross-border activities from Nepal |
|
Refugees and internally displaced persons: |
refugees (country of
origin): 77,200 (Tibet/China), 50,730 (Sri Lanka), 9,700 (Afghanistan)
IDPs: at least 600,000 (about half are Kashmiri Pandits from
Jammu and Kashmir) (2006) |
|
Trafficking in persons: |
current situation: India
is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children
trafficked for the purposes of forced or bonded labor and commercial
sexual exploitation; the large population of men, women, and children -
numbering in the millions - in debt bondage face involuntary servitude in
brick kilns, rice mills, and embroidery factories, while some children
endure involuntary servitude as domestic servants; internal trafficking of
women and girls for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and
forced marriage also occurs; the government estimates that 90 percent of
India's sex trafficking is internal; India is also a destination for women
and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh trafficked for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation; boys from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and
Bangladesh are trafficked through India to the Gulf states for involuntary
servitude as child camel jockeys; Indian men and women migrate willingly
to the Persian Gulf region for work as domestic servants and low-skilled
laborers, but some later find themselves in situations of involuntary
servitude including extended working hours, nonpayment of wages,
restrictions on their movement by withholding of their passports or
confinement to the home, and physical or sexual abuse
tier
rating: Tier 2 Watch List - India has been on the Tier 2 Watch List
since 2004 for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to
address trafficking in persons |
|
Illicit drugs: |
world's largest producer of
licit opium for the pharmaceutical trade, but an undetermined quantity of
opium is diverted to illicit international drug markets; transit point for
illicit narcotics produced in neighboring countries; illicit producer of
methaqualone; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering through the hawala
system; licit ketamine and precursor production |
|
