Know Your Country: India

Introduction
• The seventh-largest country by area, the second-most
populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the
most populous democracy in the world
• Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization and a region
of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian
Subcontinent was identified with its commercial and
cultural wealth for much of its long history
• The Indian economy is the world's tenth-largest by
nominal GDP and third-largest by purchasing power parity
(PPP).Following market-based economic reforms in 1991,
 India became one of the fastest-growing major economies;
it is considered a newly industrialized country
Geography
• Seventh largest country in terms of area
• India projects into and is bounded by the Indian Ocean – in
particular, by the Arabian Sea on the southwest, the
Laccadive Sea to the south, and the Bay of Bengal on the
southeast
• India's territorial waters extend into the sea to a distance
of 12 nautical miles (13.8 mi; 22.2 km) from the coast
baseline

• The northern frontiers of India are defined largely by the

Himalayan mountain range, where the country borders
China, Bhutan, and Nepal. Its western border with Pakistan
lies in the Punjab Plain and the Thar Desert
• The Ganges is the longest river originating in India. The
Ganges-Brahmaputra system occupies most of northern,
central, and eastern India, while the Deccan Plateau
occupies most of southern India. Kangchenjunga, on the
border between Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim, is
 the highest point in India at 8,598 m (28,209 ft) and the
world's 3rd highest peak
• A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the
third-largest standing army in the world and ranks ninth in
military expenditure among nations
Major Mountains and River system
Bio Diversity
 • India lies within the Indomalaya ecozone and contains
three biodiversity hotspots
• One of 17 megadiverse countries, it hosts 8.6% of all
mammalian, 13.7% of all avian, 7.9% of all reptilian, 6% of
all amphibian, 12.2% of all piscine, and 6.0% of all
flowering plant species
• Habitat ranges from the tropical rainforest of the
Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and North-East India to
the coniferous forest of the Himalaya
• Endangered species include the Asiatic lion, the Bengal
tiger, and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which, by
ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-laced cattle, nearly
went extinct
• In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act and
Project Tiger to safeguard crucial wilderness; the Forest
Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments
added in 1988
Demographics- National Overview
• India has more than two thousand ethnic groups, and
every major religion is represented, as are four major
families of languages (Indo-European, Dravidian, Austro-
Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman languages) as well as two
language isolates (the Nihali language spoken in parts of
 Maharashtra and the Burushaski language spoken in parts
of Jammu and Kashmir
• Only the continent of Africa exceeds the linguistic, genetic
and cultural diversity of the nation of India
• India occupies 2.4% of the world's land area and supports
over 17.5% of the world's population. Per the 2001 census,
72.2% of the population lives in about 638,000 villages and
the remaining 27.8% lives in more than 5,100 towns and
over 380 urban agglomerations
• It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian
will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for
Japan India's dependency ratio should be just over 0.4
Demographics- Key Figures
• Population: 1.2 Billion
• Growth Rate:1.42%
• Literacy Rate: ~74% (2012)
• Life Expectancy: 69 years
• Per Capita income: $ 1219 (ranked 142nd in the world)
• HDI: 0.54 (ranked 134 in the world)
• National Sex Ratio: 940 (females per 1000 male)
• Languages: 22 official languages
 • Density: 371.5/km2 (31st)

India- Foreign Relations

• India has formal diplomatic relations with most nations; it
is the world's second most populous country, the world's
 most-populous democracy and one of the fastest growing
major economies
• India was one of the founding members of several
international organizations, most notably the United
Nations, the Asian Development Bank, G20 industrial
nations and the founder of the Non-aligned movement.
• India has also played an important and influential role in
other international organizations like East Asia Summit,
World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund
(IMF),G8+5 and IBSA Dialogue Forum
• India is a part of SAARC and BIMSTEC. India has taken part
in several UN peacekeeping missions and in 2007, it was
the second-largest troop contributor to the United Nations
India- FDI
India- Exports
India- Imports
 India- Defense
• The military forces of the Republic of India. They consist of
the Army, Navy, Air Force and Indian Coast Guard
• The Indian armed forces have been engaged in a number
of major military operations, including the Indo-Pakistani
wars of 1947, 1965 and 1971, the Sino-Indian War, the
1987 Sino-Indian skirmish, the Kargil War, and the Siachen
conflict
• Aside from ongoing strategic relations with Russia, India
has wide-ranging defence relations with Israel and France.
In recent years, it has played key roles in the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation and the World Trade
Organisation
• With 1.6 million active troops, they compose the world's
third-largest military.It comprises the Indian Army, the
Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force
• Much of the military expenditure was focused on defence
against Pakistan and countering growing Chinese influence
in the Indian Ocean
India- Defense: Key Info
• Service Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force Coast Guard,
Strategic Nuclear Command, Integrated Space Cell
• Commander in Chief- President
 • Minister of Defense: A K Antony (current)
• Military Budget: US$ 46.9 (2.5% of GDP)
• Major Foreign Suppliers: Russia, USA, Israel, France
• Ranked 4th in the world for military power

Defense: Global scenario

India- Economy
• The economy of India is the tenth-largest in the world by
nominal GDP and the third largest by purchasing power
parity (PPP).The country is one of the G-20 major
economies and a member of BRICS. On a per capita
income basis, India ranked 140th by nominal GDP and
129th by GDP (PPP) in 2011, according to the IMF
• The growth was led primarily due to a huge increase in the
size of the middle class consumer, a large labour force,
growth in the manufacturing sector due to rising
 education levels and engineering skills and considerable
foreign investments
• India adopted liberal and free-market oriented principles
and liberalized its economy to international trade under
the guidance of Manmohan Singh, who then was the
Finance Minister of India under the leadership of P.V.
Narasimha Rao the then Prime Minister who eliminated
License Raj
• India is the nineteenth largest exporter and tenth largest
importer in the world. Economic growth rate stood at
around 6.5% for the 2011–12 fiscal year

Indian Economy- Key Figures

• GDP: $1.847 trillion (10th Globally)
• GDP growth: 5.3% (2012)
• BPL population: 29%
• Unemployment: 9.4%
• Main Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel,
transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum,
machinery, software, pharmaceuticals
• GDP by sector: agriculture: 17.2%, industry: 26.4%,
services: 56.4% (2011 est.)
• Ease of Doing Business Rank : 132
• Exports: $300 bn, Imports: $461 bn
• Main Export Partners: UAE 13%, US 11.4%, China 6.3%,
Singapore 5.3% (2011)
• Main Import Partners: China 12.1%, UAE 8.3%, Saudi
Arabia 5.8%, US 5.1%, Switzerland 4.7% (2011)
• Gross external Debt: $ 290bn
• Foreign reserves $295.29 billion (October 2012)

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