INDIA
Main article: Politics of India
India is the most populous democracy in the world.[70][71] It has operated under a multi-party system for most of its history. For most of the years since independence, thefederal government has been led by the Indian National Congress (INC).[67] Politics in the states have been dominated by national parties like the INC, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and various regional parties. From 1950 to 1990, barring two brief periods, the INC enjoyed a parliamentary majority.
The INC was out of power between 1977 and 1980, when the Janata Party won the election owing to public discontent with the state of emergency declared by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In 1989, aJanata Dal-led National Front coalition in alliance with the Left Front coalition won the elections but managed to stay in power for only two years.[72] As the 1991 elections gave no political party a majority, the INC formed a minority government under Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and was able to complete its five-year term.[73]
The years 1996–1998 were a period of turmoil in the federal government with several short-lived alliances holding sway. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996, followed by the United Frontcoalition that excluded both the BJP and the INC. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with several other parties and became the first non-Congress government to complete a full five-year term.[74]
In the 2004 Indian elections, the INC won the largest number of Lok Sabha seats and formed a government with a coalition called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), supported by various Left-leaning parties and members opposed to the BJP. The UPA again came into power in the 2009 general election; however, the representation of the Left leaning parties within the coalition has significantly reduced.[75] Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in1962 to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term.[76]
[edit]Foreign relations and military
Main articles: Foreign relations of India and Indian Armed Forces
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Since its independence in 1947, India has maintained cordial relationships with most nations. It took a leading role in the 1950s by advocating the independence ofEuropean colonies in Africa and Asia.[78] India is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement.[79] India was involved in two brief military interventions in neighbouring countries – Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka and Operation Cactus in Maldives. After the Sino-Indian War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, India's relationship with the Soviet Union warmed and continued to remain so until the end of theCold War. India has fought two wars with Pakistan over theKashmir dispute. A third war between India and Pakistan in 1971 resulted in the creation of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan).[80] Additional skirmishes have taken place between the two nations over the Siachen Glacier. In 1999, India and Pakistan fought an undeclared war over Kargil.
In recent years, India has played an influential role in theSAARC and the WTO.[82] India has provided as many as 55,000 Indian military and police personnel to serve in thirty-five UN peacekeeping operations across four continents.[14] India is also an active participant in various mutlilateral forums, particularly the East Asia Summit[83]and the G8+5.[84] Recent overtures by the Indian government have strengthened relations with the United States and China. In the economic sphere, India has close relationships with other developing nations in South America, Asia and Africa.
India maintains the third-largest military force in the world, which consists of the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force[45] and auxiliary forces such as the Paramilitary Forces, the Coast Guard, and the Strategic Forces Command. The official Indian defence budget for 2010 stood at US$31.9 billion (or 2.12% of GDP).[85] According to a 2008 SIPRI report, India's annual military expenditure in terms of PPP stood at US$72.7 billion.[86] The President of India is the supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces. India maintains close defence cooperation with Russia, Israel and France, who are the chief suppliers of arms. Defence contractors, such as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), oversee indigenous development of sophisticated arms and military equipment, including ballistic missiles, fighter aircraft and main battle tanks, to reduce India's dependence on foreign imports.
India became a nuclear power in 1974 after conducting an initial nuclear test, known as the Operation Smiling Buddha, and carried out further underground testing in 1998. Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has consistently refused to sign the CTBT and the NPT. India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy[87] and is developing nuclear triad capability as a part of its "minimum credible deterrence" doctrine.[87] On 10 October 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement between India and the United States was signed, prior to which India received waivers from the IAEA and the NSG which ended restrictions on nuclear technology commerce and recognized India as the world's de facto sixth nuclear weapons state.[88]
[edit]Geography
Main article: Geography of India
See also: Geological history of India and Climate of India
India, the major portion of the Indian subcontinent, sits atop the Indian tectonic plate, a minor plate within the Indo-Australian Plate.[89]
India's defining geological processes commenced seventy-five million years ago, when the Indian subcontinent, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a northeastwards drift—lasting fifty million years—across the then unformed Indian Ocean.[89] The subcontinent's subsequent collision with the Eurasian Plate andsubduction under it, gave rise to the Himalayas, the planet's highest mountains, which now abut India in thenorth and the north-east.[89] In the former seabed immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast trough, which, having gradually been filled with river-borne sediment,[90] now forms the Indo-Gangetic Plain.[91] To the west of this plain, and cut off from it by the Aravalli Range, lies the Thar Desert.[92]
The original Indian plate now survives as peninsular India, the oldest and most geologically stable part of India, and extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel ranges run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the east.[93] To their south, the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the left and right by the coastal ranges, Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats respectively;[94]the plateau contains the oldest rock formations in India, some over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6°44' and 35°30' north latitude[95] and 68°7' and 97°25' east longitude.[96]
India's coast is 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) long; of this distance, 5,423 kilometres (3,400 mi) belong to peninsular India, and 2,094 kilometres (1,300 mi) to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Islands.[19] According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coast consists of the following: 43% sandy beaches, 11% rocky coast including cliffs, and 46% mudflats or marshy coast.[19]
Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges (Ganga) and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal.[97] Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi, whose extremely low gradient causes disastrous floods every year. Major peninsular rivers whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding include the Godavari, theMahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also drain into the Bay of Bengal;[98] and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea.[99] Among notable coastal features of India are the marshy Rann of Kutch in western India, and the alluvial Sundarbans delta, which India shares with Bangladesh.[100] India has two archipelagos: the Lakshadweep, coral atolls off India's south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea.[101]
India's climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive themonsoons.[102] The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian Katabatic wind from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes.[103][104] The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden southwest summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall.[102] Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montane.[105]
[edit]Flora and fauna
Main articles: Flora of India and Fauna of India
See also: List of ecoregions in India
India, which lies within the Indomalaya ecozone, displays significant biodiversity. One of eighteen megadiverse countries, it is home to 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of all avian, 6.2% of all reptilian, 4.4% of all amphibian, 11.7% of all fish, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species.[108] Manyecoregions, such as the shola forests, exhibit extremely high rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indian plant species are endemic.[109][110]
India's forest cover ranges from the tropical rainforest of theAndaman Islands, Western Ghats, and North-East India to the coniferous forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the sal-dominated moist deciduous forest of eastern India; the teak-dominated dry deciduous forest of central and southern India; and the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain.[111] Important Indian trees include the medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies. The pipal fig tree, shown on the seals ofMohenjo-daro, shaded Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment. According to latest report, less than 12% of India's landmass is covered by dense forests.[112]
Many Indian species are descendants of taxa originating in Gondwana, from which the Indian plateseparated. Peninsular India's subsequent movement towards, and collision with, the Laurasianlandmass set off a mass exchange of species. However, volcanism and climatic changes 20 million years ago caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms.[113] Soon thereafter, mammals entered India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes on either side of the emerging Himalaya.[111] Consequently, among Indian species, only 12.6% of mammals and 4.5% of birds are endemic, contrasting with 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians.[108] Notable endemics are theNilgiri leaf monkey and the brown and carmine Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172, or 2.9%, of IUCN-designated threatened species.[114] These include the Asiatic Lion, the Bengal Tiger, and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which suffered a near-extinction from ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle.
In recent decades, human encroachment has posed a threat to India's wildlife; in response, the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act[115] and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial habitat; in addition, the Forest Conservation Act[116] was enacted in 1980. Along with more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries, India hosts thirteen biosphere reserves,[117] four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; twenty-five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.[118]
[edit]Economy
Main article: Economy of India
In 2009, India's nominal GDP stood at US$1.243 trillion, which makes it the eleventh-largest economy in the world.[22] If PPP is taken into account, India's economy is the fourth largest in the world at US$3.561 trillion,[119]corresponding to a per capita income of US$3,100.[120] The country ranks 139th in nomimal GDP per capita and 128th in GDP per capita at PPP.[22] With an average annual GDP growth rate of 5.8% for the past two decades, India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.[121]
India has the world's second largest labour force, with 516.3 million people. In terms of output, the agricultural sector accounts for 28% of GDP; the service and industrial sectors make up 54% and 18% respectively. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish.[67] Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software.[67] India's trade has reached a relatively moderate share of 24% of GDP in 2006, up from 6% in 1985.[122] In 2008, India's share of world trade was about 1.68%.[123] Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, gems and jewelry, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and leather manufactures.[67] Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals.[67]
From the 1950s to the 1980s, India followed socialist-inspired policies. The economy was shackled byextensive regulation, protectionism, and public ownership, leading to pervasive corruption and slow growth.[124] In 1991, the nation liberalised its economy and has since moved towards a market-based system.[122][125] The policy change in 1991 came after an acute balance of payments crisis, and the emphasis since then has been to use foreign trade and foreign investment as integral parts of India's economy.[126]
In the late 2000s, India's economic growth averaged 7.5% a year.[122] Over the past decade, hourly wage rates in India have more than doubled.[129] In 2009, the Global Competitiveness Report ranked India 16th in financial market sophistication, 24th in banking sector, 27th in business sophistication and 30th in innovation; ahead of several advanced economies.[130] Seven of the world's top 15 technology outsourcing companies are based in India and the country is viewed as the second most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States.[131]
Despite India's impressive economic growth over recent decades, it still contains the largest concentration of poor people in the world.[132] The percentage of people living below the World Bank's international poverty line of $1.25 a day (PPP, in nominal terms Rs. 21.6 a day in urban areas and Rs. 14.3 in rural areas in 2005) decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005.[133] Since 1991, inter-state economic inequality in India has consistently grown; the per capita net state domestic product of India's richest states is about 3.2 times that of the poorest states.[134] Even though India has avoided famines in recent decades, half of children are underweight[135] and about 46% of Indian children under the age of three suffer from malnutrition.[132][136]
A 2007 Goldman Sachs report projected that "from 2007 to 2020, India’s GDP per capita will quadruple," and that the Indian GDP will surpass that of the United States before 2050, but India "will remain a low-income country for several decades, with per capita incomes well below its other BRIC peers."[137] Although the Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades; its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas.[132] The World Bank suggests that India must continue to focus on public sector reform, infrastructure, agricultural and rural development, removal of labor regulations, improvement in transport, energy security, and health and nutrition.[138]
[edit]Demographics
Main article: Demographics of India
With an estimated population of 1.2 billion,[10] India is the world's second most populous country. The last 50 years have seen a rapid increase in population due to medical advances and massive increase in agricultural productivity due to the "green revolution".[139][140] India's urban population increased 11-fold during the twentieth century and is increasingly concentrated in large cities. By 2001 there were 35 million-plus population cities in India, with thelargest cities, with a population of over 10 million each, being Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. However, as of 2001, more than 70% of India's population continues to reside in rural areas.[141][142]
India is the world's most culturally, linguistically and genetically diverse geographical entity after the African continent.[67] India is home to two major linguistic families:Indo-Aryan (spoken by about 74% of the population) andDravidian (spoken by about 24%). Other languages spoken in India come from the Austro-Asiatic andTibeto-Burman linguistic families. Neither the Constitution of India, nor any Indian law defines anynational language.[8] Hindi, with the largest number of speakers,[143] is the official language of theunion.[144] English is used extensively in business and administration and has the status of a 'subsidiary official language;'[145] it is also important in education, especially as a medium of higher education. However, except Hindi no language is spoken by more than 10% of the population of the country. In addition, every state and union territory has its own official languages, and the constitution also recognises in particular 21 "scheduled languages".
As per the 2001 census, over 800 million Indians (80.5%) were Hindu. Other religious groups includeMuslims (13.4%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%), Buddhists (0.8%), Jains (0.4%), Jews,Zoroastrians and Bahá'ís.[146] Tribals constitute 8.1% of the population.[147] India has the third-highestMuslim population in the world and has the highest population of Muslims for a non-Muslim majority country.
India's literacy rate is 64.8% (53.7% for females and 75.3% for males).[45] The state of Kerala has the highest literacy rate at 91% while Bihar has the lowest at 47%.[148][149] The national human sex ratiois 944 females per 1,000 males. India's median age is 24.9, and the population growth rate of 1.38% per annum; there are 22.01 births per 1,000 people per year.[45] According to the World Health Organization 900,000 Indians die each year from drinking contaminated water and breathing in polluted air.[150] Malaria is endemic in India.[151] Half of children in India are underweight, one of the highest rates in the world and nearly same as Sub-Saharan Africa.[135] Many women are malnourished, too. There are about 60 physicians per 100,000 people in India.
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