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India Facts

History and Civilization

People

Land and Environment

Economy

Science and Technology

Art and Culture

India Facts

Area: 32,87,263 sq km

Land boundary: 15,200 km

Coastline: 7516.6 km

States: India has 28 states and seven union territories

Largest state: Uttar Pradesh

Smallest state: Sikkim

Main cities:

Official Language: The official language is Hindi but English enjoys concurrent usage given the diversity in languages and dialects in the country. There are 22 official languages.

Ethnic mix: Four broad racial groups - Indo Aryan, Dravidian, Mongoloid and Negrito strains are seen in different parts of the country.

Location: Flanked by the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean, India occupies most of the landmass of the sub continent in South Asia.

Neighbours: Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Geography: In the north are the Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world. Flowing from them through most of the Indian plains is the river Ganga and its tributaries, making it a fertile plain and very heavily populated. In the South is the Deccan Plateau. The Indian peninsula is surrounded by two seas and one ocean on three sides — Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. While the climate is sub-tropical for the most part, north India can get Arctic temperatures. In the northwest is the barren Thar desert, while the north-east gets the highest rainfall in the world. Interestingly, India has the distinction of having the hottest, coldest, wettest and driest inhabited places in the world.

Currency: Rupee

Population: 1.027 billion

Population density: 324 people per sq km

Sex ratio: (females per 1000 males): 933

National Flag: It is a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron at the top, white in the centre and green at the bottom. In the centre of the white band is a dark blue wheel or chakra. This design is taken from the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of the ancient Emperor Ashoka.

National Emblem: Also an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Emperor Ashoka, it shows three lions standing back to back. The original with four lions back-to-back carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (dharma chakra). In the national emblem, adopted by India on 26 January 1950, the wheel appears in relief in the centre and a bull and horse on either side. At the bottom is inscribed Satyameva Jayate (truth alone triumphs).

National Anthem: The song Jana-gana-mana, was composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore and adopted in its Hindi version on 24 January 1950. First sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress, only the first stanza of the song is the anthem.

National Song: Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration during the freedom movement. The first stanza has been taken as the national song.

National Animal: The majestic Royal Bengal tiger, Pantheras Tigris with its thick yellow coat of fur and dark stripes has earned pride of place as the national animal of India.

National Bird: The Indian peacock (pavo cristatus) is the national bird of India-a colorful, swan-sized bird with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and a long, slender neck. The male of the species is more colorful than the female with a glistening blue breast and neck and a spectacular bronze-green train of around 200 elongated feathers.

National Flower: The lotus (nelumbonucifera) is the national flower. It is also a sacred flower, used extensively in religious festivals but more importantly, occupies a unique position in the art and mythology of ancient India.

Government: The government is headed by the Prime Minister, who governs with his council of ministers, which is the executive arm of the government. The President is the Head of the State. The legislature comprises of the Parliament with the Lok Sabha (Lower House) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House). Lok Sabha members are elected by direct ballot while Rajya Sabha members are sent by the legislative assemblies of the states. The judiciary is the third arm of the government and apart from adjudicating legal cases is also the guardian of Indian Constitution.

Literacy rate: 65.38 per cent. In overall literacy rates, Mizoram in the Northeast holds top spot in the country with 95 per cent literacy followed by Kerala with 93 per cent.

Languages: 22 major languages and 844 dialects. North Indian languages have an Indo-European base, and the four south Indian languages a Dravidian origin.

Wildlife (fauna): 89,451 species — of these insects are 60,000, molluscs over 5,000, mammals 390, birds 1232, reptiles 456, amphibians 209 and fishes 2546. (Flora): 47,000 species of plants.

Religions: Though India was the place inhabited by the Hindus, after a series of invasions over centuries, India has today a large number of religions practiced on the subcontment. Hinduism predominates, with 82 per cent of the population being Hindus, but the Indian Constitution makes it clear that no religion in the Republic has precedence over any other. Muslims form 12 per cent of the population, making India the home to the world's second largest Muslim population. Other religious groups include Christians, followed by Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Jews.

Economic indicators: GDP during fiscal year 1999-2000 was Rs. 11,45,436 crore During the 1990s the GDP growth was an average of 5.7 percent. National income: Rs. 14,31,527 crore. Per capita income Rs. 14,682. Savings rate: over 20 per cent.

Economy: Main industries—textiles, steel, processed foods, gems and jewellery, cement, machinery, mining, chemicals, information technology. Main crops Rice, wheat, sugar, spices, tea, cashews, cotton, potatoes, jute, fruits and vegetables, oilseeds, etc.

Minerals: Coal (4th largest in the world) iron, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium, chromite, diamonds, gas, oil, etc.

Labour: 67 per cent agriculture, 18 per cent services, 15 per cent industry.

Main international trading partners: US, EU, Japan.

Transport:

Railways: Total length-62,809 km. Network of 6896 stations, and a fleet of 7429 locomotives, 35,650 passenger service vehicles, 5125 other coaching vehicles and 2,53,186 wagons as on 31 march 1999.

Roads: One of the largest road networks in the world. Total road length in 1997- 24,65,877 km. National highways- 52,010 km.

Ports: 12 major and 139 intermediary and minor ports. Major ports Kandla, Mumbai, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Kochi, Jawaharlal Nehru Port in the west and Tuticorin, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Paradip and Calcutta- Haldia in the east.

Tourism: Second largest net foreign exchange earner in the country, and in 1999 estimated at Rs. 13,042 crore. Employs about 34.9 million people.

Communications:

Posts: Largest postal network in the world, with 154,149 post offices, of which 1,37,847 are in the rural areas and 16,302 in the urban areas.

Phones: One of the largest telecom networks in Asia with 27,909 telephone exchanges, with 32. 77 million lines capacity and 26.51 million working lines. Long distance transmission network has 1,69,000 route km of radio systems, and about 1,71,300 route km of optical fibre systems.
International telecommunications: VSNL is India's exclusive provider of international telecommunications services and enjoys a monopoly until 2004. International connectivity achieved through 7 gateways. VSNL also operates 19 satellite earth stations, analog cable systems, gulf cables, three optical fibre sub-oceanic cable systems. VSNL operates 6 internet nodes on its own and offers support to 40 others operated by DOT and MTNL. It is India's largest internet service provider (ISP) with an almost 4 lakh customer base.

Media:

Films: India has the world's biggest movie industry in terms of the number of movies produced (around 800 movies annually). India's first feature film - "Raja Harishchandra" was released in 1913.

Newspapers: Total number of newspapers published in India, according to 1999 figures is 46,655, registering an annual increase of 6.7 per cent. Newspapers are published in 101 languages and dialects. The largest number of newspapers are in Hindi, followed by newspapers in English.

TV: There are 24-hour news channels in English and all the major languages, as well as a plethora of entertainment channels like Zee TV, Star TV, Sony TV, etc. There are regional language channels, which are major players in their respective territories like Sun TV, ETV and Vijay TV.

Nobel Laureates: Amartya Sen - Awarded Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998. Born in 1933, he is a pioneer of welfare economics. Subramanian Chandrashekar (1910-1995) - Awarded Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983. This Indian-born astrophysicist developed a theory of white dwarf stars also known as the Chandrashekar Limit.

Mother Teresa (1910-1997) - Awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Although an Albanian by birth, she became an Indian citizen and served the cause of dying destitutes, leprosy patients and drug addicts through an NGO Nirmal Hriday.

Hargobind Khorana - Born in 1922, Dr. Khorana was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1968. His major breakthrough was in interpreting the genetic code and analyzing its function in protein synthesis.

Chandrashekar Venkata Raman (1888-1970). Sir C V. Raman received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930. His theory, known as Raman Effect discovered in 1928 explains the change in the frequency of light passing through a transparent medium.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) - known as Gurudev, India's Poet Laureate was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 for his work Geetanjali.

Key to numeration:
1 lakh = One hundred thousand
10 lakh = One million
1 crore = Ten million
100 crore = One billi

Images

01. Indian Rupee, a steady currency
02. Indian Tri-colour - fluttering high
03. India`s National Emblem - four lions back to back, crowned by the wheel of law
04. The majestic Royal Bengal Tiger
05. A Peacock with a fan-shaped crest of feathers
06. A lotus in full bloom
07. Indian Parliament House, centre of governance for the world`s largest democracy
08. Durga (Devi) Puja, an important festival of Eastern India
09. A Sikh festival in progress
10. Muslims celebrating Eid
11. Drilling for oil at Bombay High
12 Textiles, one of India`s major industries
13. India has a rail network of 62,809 km
14. India`s magnificent beaches beckon the tourist year after year
15. India`s magnificent beaches beckon the tourist year after year
16. Taking great strides in telecommunication
17. Taking great strides in telecommunication
18 Mother Teresa - awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
19. Amartya Sen - awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998
20. Rabindranath Tagore (Gurudev), India`s Poet Laureate, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913