Country Facts - India

The People

Nationality
Indian(s)

Ethnic Composition

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

Religious Composition

Hindu	81.3%
Muslim	12%
Christian	2.3%
Sikh	1.9%
Buddhist, Jain, and Parsi	2.5%

(2000)

Languages Spoken

Hindi (official/national language for 30% of population), Bangali (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), English is used for national, political, and commercial communication.

Education and Literacy

Education is free, but not compulsory, for the first eight years. Literacy nationwide is only 52 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 406 million (1999)
By occupation:

Services	23%
Industry	17%
Agriculture	60%

Geography

Land Mass Total

1,269,345 sq mi (3,287,590 sq km)

Land

1,147,955 sq mi (2,973,190 sq km)

Water

121,390 sq mi (314,400 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 8,763 mi (14,103 km)
Border countries: Bangladesh 2,518 mi (4,053 km), Bhutan 375 mi (605 km), Burma 909 mi (1,463 km), China 2,100 mi (3,380 km), Nepal 1,050 mi (1,690 km), Pakistan 1,809 mi (2,912 km)

Coastline

4,349 sq mi (7,000 km)

Maritime claim

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/Weather

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: Indian Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Kanchenjunga 28,208 ft (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	54%
Permanent crops	3%
Other	43%

(1998)

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.

Geography Note

India dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes.

Demographics

Population

1,045,845,226 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	32.7%	male 175,858,386	female 165,724,901
15-64 years:	62.6%	male 338,957,463	female 316,063,497
65 years and over:	4.7%	male 24,975,465	female 24,265,514

(2002)

Growth Rate

1.51% (2002)

Life Expectancy

63.23 years (2002)
female: 63.93 years
male: 62.55 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$2,500 (2001)

Infant Mortality

61.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

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

(2002)

Net migration rate

-0.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

India's economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of support services. About a quarter of the population is too poor to be able to afford an adequate diet. India's international payments position remained strong in 2001 with adequate foreign exchange reserves, and moderately depreciating nominal exchange rates. Growth in manufacturing output has slowed, and electricity shortages continue in many regions. India has large numbers of well-educated people skilled in English language, which has enabled it to become a major exporter of software services and software engineers. The government is still attempting privatize many large firms with the current emphasis on the oil industry. Inflation in 2002 was 4.3 percent in 2002 and is expected to top 5 percent in 2003. GDP grew at a very respectable rate of 5.4 percent in 2002. A key economic issue for India in the near-term is the completion of the project to make its currency, the rupee, fully convertible on the international markets.

Unemployment

4.4% (1999)

Inflation Rate

6.7% (1999)

Industries

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

Exports

US$44.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$53.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$2.5 trillion (2001)

Top Export Partners

US 22.8%, Hong Kong 5.8%, Japan 5.3%, UK 5.3%, Germany 4.6% (2000)

Top Import Partners

Benelux 8.5%, US 8%, UK 6.2%, Japan 5.7%, Saudi Arabia 4.6% (2000)

Top Exports

Clothing, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures, cotton yarn, fabric

Top Imports

Crude oil and petroleum products, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals

Debt - external

US$100.3 billion (end-March 2001)

Economic aid

US$2.9 billion (FY98/99)

Fiscal Year:

April 1 to March 31

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	9:30a.m. to 5p.m.	Saturday 9:30a.m. to 1p.m.
Retail	9a.m. to 7p.m.	Saturday 9a.m. to 7p.m.
Banks	10a.m. to 2p.m.	Saturday 10a.m. to noon.
Government	10a.m. to 5p.m.	Saturday 10a.m. to 5p.m. (closed every second Saturday).

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Republic Day	January 26	January 26	January 26
Festival of Sacrifice (Eid Al Adha)¹	February 12	February 2	January 21
Islamic New Year²	March 5	February 22	February 10
Good Friday³	April 18	April 9	March 25
Holi, Festival of Colors, and Phagwah*¹	March 18	March 18	March 18
Independence Day	August 15	August 15	August 15
Mahatma Ghandi's Birthday	October 2	October 2	October 2
Diwali (Deepavali)*²	October 26	November	November
Start of Ramadan*³	October 27	October 15	October 4
End of Ramadan**¹	November 26	November 14	November 3
Christmas Day (Natal)**²	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	Culmination of the Haj or Holy Pilgrimage.
²	The lunar Islamic Hijara calendar is made up of 12 months, each month alternating between 29 and 30 days per month, culminating in a total of 354 days per year. The Hijra calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and annually moves 11 days backward through the seasons.
³	Christian feast marking the anniversery of the Crucifixion of Christ, based on the Gregorian calendar.
*¹	Holi, Festival of Colors Hindu spring festival dedicated to the god of pleasure. Based on the Indian Lunar Calendar, the fesitval is celebrated with lots of color, and happy spirits. Phagwah, a joyous Hindu festival celebrating the triumph of good over evil, is also celebrated at this time, and crowds squirt each other with watercolors representing, love, peace, and brotherhood.
*²	Brought to Guyana by indentured servants from India, in 1853, Diwali is the celebration of light versus dark. Participants rejoice over the fabled the rescue of Lakshmi, Goddess of Light, from the demon, King Bali; and the return of Lord Rama from exile. Diwali, (Divali, or Deepavali), is celebrated on the darkest night of the month of Kartic in the Hindu calendar, falling somewhere in October or November.
*³	Ramadan (the month of fasting) begins with the first appearance of the new moon in the ninth month of the lunar Islamic Hijra calendar, and lasts 30 days. Dates for the start of Ramadan will vary from country to country, depending on the first appearance of the moon.
**¹	Feasting that officially marks the end of Ramadan, and commonly lasts for 3 days.
**²	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Note: There are numerous, large Hindu festivals celebrated throughout India. They are based on the Hindu Solar and Lunar calendars. The holidays above reflect definite public observances..............

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press