India

Republic of India
           
Background:
            Our Summary:
Indian civilization, dating back to 5000 years and originating in the Indus River valley is one of the oldest in the world.  Aryan tribes influenced India by traveling to their land’s in 1500 B.C. and through this the classic Indian culture was forged. Arab incursions began in about in the late 15th century, however it was Britain that had final control in early 19th century. Then in the mid 20th century Mohandas Gandhi brought freedom to India, and the area was divided between India and East Pakistan. Then in 1971 a war between the two countries caused East Pakistan to become Bangladesh. Then in a ongoing dispute between Pakistan violence broke out in the region of Kashmir. Along with the problems of overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife India’s fate remains undecided.

Geography     
Location:        
Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
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
Natural resources:
Coal, iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land
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
            People
Population:
            1,095,351,995 (July 2006 est.)
Major infectious diseases:      
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and Japanese encephalitis are high risks in some locations
Ethnic groups:
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
Religions:       
Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
Languages:     
English is very important in diplomacy, and other issues but aside from that is not that major; Hindi 30% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit
            Government               
Government type:      
Federal republic
Capital:           
New Delhi
Independence:           
15 August 1947 (from UK)
National holiday:       
Republic Day, 26 January (1950)
           
Chief of state: President A.P.J. Abdul KALAM (since 26 July 2002); Vice President Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT (since 19 August 2002)
Head of government: Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH (since 22 May 2004)
Flag description:        
Three equal horizontal bands of saffron (subdued orange) (top), white, and green with a blue chakra (24-spoked wheel) centered in the white band; similar to the flag of Niger, which has a small orange disk centered in the white band
            Economy            India            
Agriculture - products:           
rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish
Industries:      
Textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software
Exports - commodities:          
Textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures
Exports - partners:      
Indian rupee (INR)
            Military          
Military branches:      
Army, Navy (includes naval air arm), Air Force, Coast Guard, various security or paramilitary forces (includes Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, National Security Guards, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Special Frontier Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Railway Protection Force, and Defense Security Corps)