Location

It is found in Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan

Area

3,287,590sqkm

Climate

varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north

Terrain

The land is upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west and the Himalayas in north

Land Use

54.4% is cultivated

Natural hazards

droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes

Demography

Population: 1,080,264,388 (July 2005 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.4% (2005 est.)
Migration rate: -0.07 migrant(s) per 1,000 population (2005 est.)
Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
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

Government

federal republic

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

Legal system:

based on English common law; limited judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; separate personal law codes apply to Muslims, Christians, and Hindus

Currency

Indian rupee (INR)

Exchange rates

Indian rupees per US dollar - 45.317 (2004)

Fiscal year

1 April - 31 March

Communication System

Telephones, cellular phones, Internet

Transport System

Railways, waterways, Airports and Highways

Major Cities

Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore