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Praise the Lord!
Praise... Pray... Proclaim...
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| Republic of INDIA |
National name:
Bharat
President:
Pratibha PATIL (2007)
Prime Minister:
Manmohan Singh (2004)
Land area: 1,147,949 sq mi (2,973,190 sq km); total area:
1,269,346 sq mi (3,287,590 sq km)
Population (2006 est.):
1,095,351,995 (growth rate: 1.4%); birth
rate: 22.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 54.6/1000; life
expectancy: 64.7; density per sq mi: 954
Capital (2003 est.):
New Delhi, 15,334,000 (metro. area),
9,817,439 (city proper)
Largest cities:
Bombay (Mumbai), 18,336,000 (metro. area),
11,914,398 (city proper); Calcutta (Kolkata), 14,299,000 (metro.
area), 4,760,800 (city proper); Bangalore, 4,461,100; Madras
(Chennai), 4,382,100; Ahmedabad, 3,653,700; Hyderabad,
3,585,600; Kanpur, 2,631,800
Monetary unit:
Rupee
Principal languages:
Hindi 30%, English, Bengali, Gujarati,
Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu,
Urdu, Kannada, Assamese, Sanskrit, Sindhi (all official);
Hindi/Urdu; 1,600+ dialects
Ethnicity/race:
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and
other 3% (2000)
Religions: Hindu 81%, Islam 13%, Christian 2%, Sikh 2% (2001)
Literacy rate: 60% (2003 est.)
Economic summary:
GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $3.699 trillion; per
capita $3,400. Real growth rate: 7.6%. Inflation: 4.6%.
Unemployment: 9.9%. Arable land: 54%. Agriculture: rice, wheat,
oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water
buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish. Labor force: 496.4
million; agriculture 60%, services 23%, industry 17% (1999).
Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel,
transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery,
software. Natural resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in
the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable
land. Exports: $76.23 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): textile goods,
gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather
manufactures. Imports: $113.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): crude
oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals. Major trading
partners: U.S., UAE, China, Hong Kong, UK, Singapore,
Switzerland, Belgium (2004).
Communications:
Telephones: main lines in use: 48.917 million
(2003); mobile cellular: 26,154,400 (2003). Radio broadcast
stations: AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998). 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). Internet hosts: 86,871 (2003). Internet users: 18.481
million (2003).
Transportation:
Railways: total: 63,230 km (16,693 km
electrified) (2004). Highways: total: 2,525,989 km; paved:
1,448,655 km; unpaved: ,077,334 km (1999). Waterways: 14,500 km;
note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for
mechanized vessels (2004). Ports and harbors: Chennai, Haldia,
Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay),
New Mangalore, Vishakhapatnam. Airports: 333 (2004 est.).
International disputes:
China and India launched a security and
foreign policy dialogue in 2005, consolidating 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;
recent talks and confidence-building measures have begun to
defuse tensions over Kashmir, 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); in
2004, India and Pakistan instituted a cease fire in the Kashmir
and in 2005, restored bus service across the highly militarized
Line of Control; Pakistan has taken its dispute on the impact
and benefits of India's building the Baglihar dam on the Chenab
River in Jammu and Kashmir to the World Bank for arbitration; 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; disputes persist with Pakistan over Indus River water
sharing; to defuse tensions and prepare for discussions on a
maritime boundary, in 2004, India and Pakistan resurveyed a
portion of the disputed boundary in Sir Creek estuary at the
mouth of the Rann of Kutch; Pakistani maps continue to show
Junagadh claim in Indian Gujarat State; discussions with
Bangladesh remain stalled to delimit a small section of river
boundary, to exchange 162 miniscule enclaves in both countries,
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; 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 demarcate minor disputed
boundary sections; India has instituted a stricter border regime
to keep out Maoist insurgents and control illegal cross-border
activities from Nepal. |
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