Country name:

India

Conventional long form: Republic of India
Conventional short form: India

Government type:

Federal Republic

Capital:

New Delhi

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, Pondicherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal

Independence:

15 August 1947 (from UK)

National holiday:

Republic Day, 26 January (1950)

Constitution:

26 January 1950

Population:

1,045,845,226 (July 2002 est.)

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 est.)

Location:

Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan

Geographic coordinates:

20 00 N, 77 00 E

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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

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 and arable land

Land use:

Arable land: 54.35%
Permanent crops: 2.66%
Other: 42.99% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land:

590,000 sq km (1998 est.)

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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, 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