|
ABOUT INDIA.
CURRENT HEADLINES FROM INDIA.
BACKGROUND.
The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the
world, goes back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the
northwest invaded about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the
earlier inhabitants created the classical Indian culture.
Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkish in
12th were followed by European traders, beginning in the
late 15th century. By the 19th century, Britain had assumed
political control of virtually all Indian lands. Nonviolent
resistance to British colonialism under Mohandas Gandhi and
Jawaharlal Nehru led to independence in 1947. The
subcontinent was divided into the secular state of India and
the smaller Muslim state of Pakistan. A third war between
the two countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming
the separate nation of Bangladesh. Fundamental concerns in
India include the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over
Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation,
extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife, all this
despite impressive gains in economic investment and output.
MAP OF INDIA.
LANDMASS.
2,973,190 sq. km. / 1,847,454.62 sq. mi.
Roughly one-third the size of the United States.
CURRENT POPULATION.
1,111,053,240 and counting. Rapidly on course to overtake
China as the most populous nation in the world. One out of
every six people in the world lives in India. Click here to
see a real-time estimated counter of the population growth
in India.
POVERTY.
A quarter of the world's truly destitute--300 million people each subsisting on
less than $1 a day--live in India.
AGE STRUCTURE.
0-14 years: 32.2%
15-64 years: 63%
65 years and over: 4.8%
POPULATION RATES.
Overall Annual Growth Rate: 1.47%
Annual Birth Rate Per 1,000 People: 23.28 births
Annual Death Rate Per 1,000 People: 8.49 deaths
Infant Mortality Rate: 59.59 deaths/1,000 live births
(Compare to USA: 6.75 deaths/1,000 live births)
A child is born every two seconds in India, or 15.5 million births per year.
LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH.
Total population: 63.62 years
Male: 62.92 years
Female: 64.37 years
PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS.
5.1 million (2004 est.), second only to South Africa. It is
estimated that almost 10,000 people will die of HIV every
day in India over the next 10-15 years. As many children
will become destitute as they would lose either one or both
parents.
RELIGIONS.
Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5%.
LANGUAGES.
English enjoys associate status but is the most important
language for national, political, and commercial
communication; Hindi is the national language and primary
tongue of 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; Hindustani is a popular variant of
Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is
not an official language. Bengali is the 5th most spoken
language in the world, Hindi 6th, and Telugu 11th.
LITERACY.
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 59.5%
Male: 70.2%
Female: 48.3%
PER CAPITA INCOME.
The average person earns $445/yr. ($37/mo.)
INDIAN RAILWAYS.
The Indian Railway system, comprised of 63,518 km (39,468 mi) of rail, is the world's largest employer, retaining over 1.6 million workers.
HIGHEST POINT.
Mount Kanchenjunga: 8,598 m / 28,208 ft.
CURRENT TIME.
CURRENT WEATHER.
|
