|
Background:
|
The Indus Valley
civilization, one of the oldest in the world, dates back at
least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest invaded about
1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants
created the classical Indian culture. Arab incursions starting
in the 8th century and Turkish in the 12th were followed by
those of European traders, beginning in the late 15th century.
By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of
virtually all Indian lands. Indian armed forces in the British
army played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent
resistance to British colonialism led by Mohandas GANDHI and
Jawaharlal NEHRU brought 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. Despite impressive gains in economic investment
and output, India faces pressing problems such as the ongoing
dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, massive overpopulation,
environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and
religious strife.
|
|
Location:
|
Southern Asia,
bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma
and Pakistan |
|
Geographic coordinates:
|
20 00 N, 77 00 E |
|
Map references:
|
Asia |
|
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 |
|
Maritime claims:
|
territorial sea:
12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the
continental margin |
|
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, arable land |
|
Land use:
|
arable land:
54.4%
permanent crops: 2.74%
other: 42.86% (2001) |
|
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,
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of
the Sea, 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
|
|
Population:
|
1,080,264,388 (July
2005 est.) |
|
Age structure:
|
0-14 years:
31.2% (male 173,634,432/female 163,932,475)
15-64 years: 63.9% (male 356,932,082/female 333,283,590)
65 years and over: 4.9% (male 26,542,025/female
25,939,784) (2005 est.) |
|
Median age:
|
total: 24.66
years
male: 24.64 years
female: 24.67 years (2005 est.) |
|
Population growth rate:
|
1.4% (2005 est.) |
|
Birth rate:
|
22.32 births/1,000
population (2005 est.) |
|
Death rate:
|
8.28 deaths/1,000
population (2005 est.) |
|
Net migration rate:
|
-0.07 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2005 est.) |
|
Sex ratio:
|
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female
total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate:
|
total: 56.29
deaths/1,000 live births
male: 56.86 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 55.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth:
|
total
population: 64.35 years
male: 63.57 years
female: 65.16 years (2005 est.) |
|
Total fertility rate:
|
2.78 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
|
0.9% (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
|
5.1 million (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
|
310,000 (2001 est.) |
|
Major infectious diseases:
|
degree of risk:
high
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
animal contact disease: rabies (2004) |
|
Nationality:
|
noun: Indian(s)
adjective: Indian |
|
Ethnic groups:
|
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000) |
|
Religions:
|
Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups
including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (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 |
|
Literacy:
|
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 59.5%
male: 70.2%
female: 48.3% (2003 est.)
|
|
Country name:
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
Suffrage:
|
18 years of age; universal |
|
Executive branch:
|
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
NA May 2004)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
on the recommendation of the prime minister
elections: president elected by an electoral college
consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament and
the legislatures of the states for a five-year term; election
last held July 2002 (next to be held 18 July 2007); vice
president elected by both houses of Parliament for a five-year
term; election last held 12 August 2002 (next to be held August
2007); prime minister chosen by parliamentary members of the
majority party following legislative elections; election last
held April - May 2004 (next to be held May 2009)
election results: Abdul KALAM elected president; percent
of electoral college vote - 89.6%; Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT
elected vice president; percent of Parliament vote - 59.8% |
|
Legislative branch:
|
bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of the Council of States
or Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of not more than 250 members,
up to 12 of whom are appointed by the president, the remainder
are chosen by the elected members of the state and territorial
assemblies; members serve six-year terms) and the People's
Assembly or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 elected by popular vote, 2
appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Assembly - last held 20 April through
10 May 2004 (next to be held 2009)
election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote by
party - NA%; seats by party - INC 145, BJP 138, CPI(M) 43, SP
36, RJD 24, BSP 19, DMK 16, SS 12, BJD 11, CPI 10, NCP 9, JDU 8,
SAD 8, PMK 6, TDP 5, TRS 5, JMM 5, LJSP 4, MDMK 4, independents
5, other 30 |
|
Judicial branch:
|
Supreme Court
(judges are appointed by the president and remain in office
until they reach the age of 65) |
|
Political parties and leaders:
|
All India Anna
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK [C. Jayalalitha JAYARAM];
All India Forward Bloc or AIFB, [Debabrata BISWAS]; Asom Gana
Parishad [Brindaban GOSWAMI]; Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI];
Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Lal Krishna ADVANI]; Biju Janata
Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]; Communist Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu
Bhushan BARDHAN]; Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI (M)
Hakishan Singh SURJEET]; Congress (I) Party [Sonia GANDHI];
Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or DMK (a regional party in Tamil Nadu)
[M. KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National Congress or INC [Sonia
GANDHI]; Indian National League [Suliaman SAITH]; Janata Dal
(Secular) [H. D. Deve GOWDA]; Janata Dal (United) or JDU [Sharad
YADAV]; Jharkhand Mukti Morcha or JMM [leader NA]; Kerala
Congress (Mani faction) [K. M. MANI]; Lok Jan Shakti Party or
LJSP [leader NA]; Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or MDMK
[VAIKO]; Muslim League [G. M. BANATWALA]; Nationalist Congress
Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]; Pattali Makkal Katchi or PMK
[leader NA]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Laloo Prasad YADAV];
Revolutionary Socialist Party or RSP [Abani ROY]; Samajwadi
Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV]; Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD
[G. S. TOHRA]; Shiv Sena or SS [Bal THACKERAY]; Tamil Maanila
Congress [G. K. VASAN]; Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS [leader
NA]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]; Trinamool
Congress [Mamata BANERJEE] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders:
|
numerous religious
or militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Vishwa Hindu
Parishad, Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; various
separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional
autonomy, including the All Parties Hurriyat Conference in the
Kashmir Valley and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland in
the Northeast |
|
International organization participation:
|
AfDB, ARF, AsDB,
ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, C, CERN (observer), CP, FAO, G-
6, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM,
IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM
(observer), ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), ONUB,
OPCW, PCA, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO,
UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US:
|
chief of
mission: Ambassador Ranendra SEN
chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20008; note - Consular Wing located at 2536 Massachusetts Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 939-7000
FAX: [1] (202) 265-4351
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York, and San
Francisco |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US:
|
chief of
mission: Ambassador David C. MULFORD
embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [91] (11) 2419-8000
FAX: [91] (11) 2419-0017
consulate(s) general: Chennai (Madras), Kolkata
(Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay) |
|
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 - overview:
|
India's economy
encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture,
handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude
of support services. Government controls have been reduced on
foreign trade and investment, and privatization of domestic
output has proceeded slowly. But continued social, political,
and economic rigidities hold back needed initiatives. The
economy has posted an excellent average growth rate of 6.8%
since 1994, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points.
India is capitalizing on its large numbers of well-educated
people skilled in the English language to become a major
exporter of software services and software workers. Despite
strong growth, the World Bank and others worry about the
combined state and federal budget deficit, running at
approximately 9% of GDP. The huge and growing population is the
fundamental social, economic, and environmental problem. In late
December 2004, a major tsunami took at least 60,000 lives in
India and caused massive destruction of property. |
|
GDP:
|
purchasing power parity - $3.319 trillion (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate:
|
6.2% (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita:
|
purchasing power parity - $3,100 (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture:
23.6%
industry: 28.4%
services: 48% (2002 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed):
|
23.8% of GDP (2004 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line:
|
25% (2002 est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
|
lowest 10%:
3.5%
highest 10%: 33.5% (1997) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
|
37.8 (1997) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
4.2% (2004 est.) |
|
Labor force:
|
482.2 million (2004 est.) |
|
Labor force - by occupation:
|
agriculture 60%,
industry 17%, services 23% (1999) |
|
Unemployment rate:
|
9.2% (2004 est.) |
|
Budget:
|
revenues:
$67.3 billion
expenditures: $104 billion, including capital
expenditures of $13.5 billion (2004 est.) |
|
Public debt:
|
59.7% of GDP (federal debt only; state debt not included) (2004
est.) |
|
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 |
|
Industrial production growth rate:
|
7.4% (2004 est.) |
|
Electricity - production:
|
547.2 billion kWh
(2002) |
|
Electricity - consumption:
|
510.1 billion kWh
(2002) |
|
Electricity - exports:
|
350 million kWh
(2002) |
|
Electricity - imports:
|
1.54 billion kWh
(2002) |
|
Oil - production:
|
780,000 bbl/day
(2004 est.) |
|
Oil - consumption:
|
2.13 million
bbl/day (2001 est.) |
|
Oil - exports:
|
NA |
|
Oil - imports:
|
NA |
|
Oil - proved reserves:
|
5.7 billion bbl
(2004 est.) |
|
Natural gas - production:
|
22.75 billion cu m
(2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - consumption:
|
22.75 billion cu m
(2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - exports:
|
0 cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - imports:
|
0 cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - proved reserves:
|
542.4 billion cu m
(2004) |
|
Current account balance:
|
$4.897 billion
(2004 est.) |
|
Exports:
|
$69.18 billion
f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
|
Exports - commodities:
|
textile goods, gems
and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures |
|
Exports - partners:
|
US 20.3%, China
6.3%, UK 5.2%, Hong Kong 4.7%, Germany 4.3% (2003) |
|
Imports:
|
$89.33 billion
f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
|
Imports - commodities:
|
crude oil,
machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals |
|
Imports - partners:
|
US 6.7%, Belgium
5.9%, UK 5%, China 4.5%, Singapore 4.2% (2003) |
|
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:
|
$126 billion (2004
est.) |
|
Debt - external:
|
$117.2 billion
(2004 est.) |
|
Economic aid - recipient:
|
$2.9 billion
(FY98/99) |
|
Currency:
|
Indian rupee (INR) |
|
Currency code:
|
INR |
|
Exchange rates:
|
Indian rupees per
US dollar - 45.8692 (2004), 46.5806 (2003), 48.6103 (2002),
47.1864 (2001), 44.9416 (2000) |
|
Fiscal year:
|
1 April - 31 March
|
|
Telephones - main lines in use:
|
48.917 million
(2003) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular:
|
26,154,400 (2003) |
|
Telephone system:
|
general
assessment: recent deregulation and liberalization of
telecommunications laws and policies have prompted rapid change;
local and long distance service provided throughout all regions
of the country, with services primarily concentrated in the
urban areas; steady improvement is taking place with the recent
admission of private and private-public investors, but telephone
density remains low at about seven for each 100 persons
nationwide but only one per 100 persons in rural areas and a
national waiting list of over 1.7 million; fastest growth is in
cellular service with modest growth in fixed lines
domestic: expansion of domestic service, although still
weak in rural areas, resulted from increased competition and
dramatic reductions in price led in large part by wireless
service; mobile cellular service (both CDMA and GSM) introduced
in 1994 and organized nationwide into four metropolitan cities
and 19 telecom circles each with about three private service
providers and one state-owned service provider; in recent years
significant trunk capacity added in the form of fiber-optic
cable and one of the world's largest domestic satellite systems,
the Indian National Satellite system (INSAT), with five
satellites supporting 33,000 very small aperture terminals (VSAT)
international: country code - 91; satellite earth
stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian
Ocean region); nine gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai
(Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras),
Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, and Ernakulam; 5
submarine cables, including Sea-Me-We-3 with landing sites at
Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay), Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe
(FLAG) with landing site at Mumbai (Bombay), South Africa - Far
East (SAFE) with landing site at Cochin, i2icn linking to
Singapore with landing sites at Mumbai (Bombay) and Chennai
(Madras), and Tata Indicom linking Singapore and Chennai
(Madras), provide a significant increase in the bandwidth
available for both voice and data traffic (2004) |
|
Radio broadcast stations:
|
AM 153, FM 91,
shortwave 68 (1998) |
|
Television broadcast stations:
|
562 (of which 82
stations have 1 kW or greater power and 480 stations have less
than 1 kW of power) (1997) |
|
Internet country code:
|
.in |
|
Internet hosts:
|
86,871 (2003) |
|
Internet users:
|
18.481 million
(2003)
|
|
Railways:
|
total:
63,140 km (15,994 km electrified)
broad gauge: 45,099 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 14,776 km 1.000-m gauge; 3,265 km 0.762-m
gauge and 0.610-m gauge (2003) |
|
Highways:
|
total:
2,525,989 km
paved: 1,448,655 km
unpaved: 1,077,334 km (1999) |
|
Waterways:
|
14,500 km
note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals
suitable for mechanized vessels (2004) |
|
Pipelines:
|
gas 6,171 km;
liquid petroleum gas 1,195 km; oil 5,613 km; refined products
5,567 km (2004) |
|
Ports and harbors:
|
Chennai (Madras),
Cochin, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai
(Bombay), Vishakhapatnam |
|
Merchant marine:
|
total: 299
ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,555,507 GRT/11,069,791 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 85, cargo 75, chemical tanker 13,
combination ore/oil 1, container 7, liquefied gas 14, passenger
3, passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 91, roll on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 10 (Australia 1, China 1, Greece 1, UAE 6,
United Kingdom 1)
registered in other countries: 30 (2005) |
|
Airports:
|
333 (2004 est.) |
|
Airports - with paved runways:
|
total: 234
over 3,047 m: 14
2,438 to 3,047 m: 47
1,524 to 2,437 m: 78
914 to 1,523 m: 74
under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.) |
|
Airports - with unpaved runways:
|
total: 99
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 9
914 to 1,523 m: 42
under 914 m: 45 (2004 est.) |
|
Heliports:
|
20 (2004 est.)
|
|
Military branches:
|
Army, Navy
(including naval air arm), Air Force, Coast Guard, various
security or paramilitary forces (including 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) |
|
Military manpower - military age:
|
16 years of age for
voluntary military service (2001) |
|
Military manpower - availability:
|
males age 16-49:
287,551,111 (2005 est.) |
|
Military manpower - fit for military service:
|
males age 16-49:
219,471,999 (2005 est.) |
|
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
|
males:
11,446,452 (2005 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
|
$16.97 billion
(2004) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
|
2.5% (2004)
|
|
Disputes - international:
|
China and India
launched a security and foreign policy dialogue in 2005,
consolidating discussions related to the dispute over most of
their rugged, militarized boundary, regional nuclear
proliferation, Indian claims that China transferred missiles to
Pakistan, and other matters; recent talks and
confidence-building measures have begun to defuse tensions over
Kashmir, site the world's largest and highly militarized
territorial dispute with portions under the de facto
administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir),
and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas); in 2004, India
and Pakistan instituted a cease fire in the Kashmir and in 2005,
restored bus service across the highly militarized Line of
Control; Pakistan has taken its dispute on the impact and
benefits of India's building the Baglihar dam on the Chenab
River in Jammu and Kashmir to the World Bank for arbitration; UN
Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has
maintained a small group of peacekeepers since 1949; India does
not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China
in 1964; disputes persist with Pakistan over Indus River water
sharing; to defuse tensions and prepare for discussions on a
maritime boundary, in 2004, India and Pakistan resurveyed a
portion of the disputed boundary in Sir Creek estuary at the
mouth of the Rann of Kutch; Pakistani maps continue to show
Junagadh claim in Indian Gujarat State; discussions with
Bangladesh remain stalled to delimit a small section of river
boundary, to exchange 162 miniscule enclaves in both countries,
to allocate divided villages, and to stop illegal cross-border
trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through
the porous border; Bangladesh protests India's attempts to fence
off high-traffic sections; dispute with Bangladesh over New
Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters
maritime boundary delimitation; India seeks cooperation from
Bhutan and Burma to keep Indian Nagaland and Assam separatists
from hiding in remote areas along the borders; Joint Border
Committee with Nepal continues to demarcate minor disputed
boundary sections; India has instituted a stricter border regime
to keep out Maoist insurgents and control illegal cross-border
activities from Nepal |
|
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
|
refugees
(country of origin): 92,394 (Tibet/China) 60,922 (Sri Lanka)
IDPs: 650,000 (Jammu and Kashmir conflicts; most IDPs are
Kashmiri Hindus) (2004) |
|
Illicit drugs:
|
world's largest
producer of licit opium for the pharmaceutical trade, but an
undetermined quantity of opium is diverted to illicit
international drug markets; transit point for illicit narcotics
produced in neighboring countries; illicit producer of
methaqualone; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering through
the hawala system
|
|
