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| INTRODUCING INDIA |
India is one of the oldest civilisations with a kaleidoscopic variety and rich cultural heritage. It has achieved multifaceted socio-economic progress during the last 52 years of its Independence. India has become self-sufficient in agricultural production and is now the tenth industrialised country in the world and the sixth nation to have gone into outer space to conquer nature for the benefit of the people. It covers an area of 32,87,263 sq km, extending from the snow-covered Himalayan heights to the tropical rain forests of the south. As the seventh largest country in the world, India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct geographical entity. Bounded by the Great Himalayas in the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west.
Lying entirely in the northern hemisphere, the mainland extends between latitudes 8°4' and 37°6' north, longitudes 68°7' and 97°25' east and measures about 3,214 km from north to south between the extreme latitudes and about 2,933 km from east to west between the extreme longitudes. It has a land frontier of about 15,200 km. The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, is 7,516.6 km.
PHYSICAL BACKGROUND
Countries having a common border with India are Afghanistan and Pakistan to north-west, China, Bhutan and Nepal to north, Myanmar to the east and Bangladesh to the east of West Bengal. Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrow channel of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.
PHYSICAL FEATURES
The mainland comprises four regions, namely, the great mountain zone, plains of the Ganga and the Indus, the desert region and the southern Peninsula. The Himalayas comprise three almost parallel ranges interspersed with large plateaus and valleys, some of which, like the Kashmir and Kullu valleys, are fertile, extensive and of great scenic beauty. Some of the highest peaks in the world are found in these ranges. The high altitudes limit travel only to a few passes, notably the Jelep La and Nathu La on the main Indo-Tibet trade route through the Chumbi Valley, north-east of Darjiling and Shipki La in the Satluj Valley, north-east of Kalpa (Kinnaur).
The mountain wall extends over a distance of about 2,400 km with a varying depth of 240 to 320 km. In the east, between India and Myanmar and India and Bangladesh, hill ranges are much lower. Garo, Khasi, Jaintia and Naga Hills, running almost east-west, join the chain to Mizo and Rkhine Hills running north-south.
The plains of the Ganga and the Indus, about 2,400 km long and 240 to 320 km broad, are formed by basins of three distinct river systems - the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. They are one of the world's greatest stretches of flat alluvium and also one of the most densely populated areas on the earth. Between the Yamuna at Delhi and the Bay of Bengal, nearly 1,600 km away, there is a drop of only 200 metres in elevation.
The desert region can be divided into two parts - the great desert and the little desert. The great desert extends from the edge of the Rann of Kachch beyond the Luni river northward. The whole of the Rajasthan-Sind frontier runs through this. The little desert extends from the Luni between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur up to the northern wastes. Between the great and the little deserts lies a zone of absolutely sterile country, consisting of rocky land cut up by limestone ridges.
The Peninsular Plateau is marked off from the plains of the Ganga and the Indus by a mass of mountain and hill ranges varying from 460 to 1,220 metres in height. Prominent among these are the Aravalli, Vindhya, Satpura, Maikala and Ajanta. The Peninsula is flanked on the one side by the Eastern Ghats where average elevation is about 610 metres and on the other by the Western Ghats where it is generally from 915 to 1,220 metres, rising in places to over 2,440 metres. Between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea lies a narrow coastal strip, while between Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal there is a broader coastal area. The southern point of plateau is formed by the Nilgiri Hills where the Eastern and the Western Ghats meet. The Cardamom Hills lying beyond may be regarded as a continuation of the Western Ghats.
Population:
India began the century with a population of 269 million. The census of 1991 placed the population at 847 million; according to a 1996 UN estimate, India's population was 953 million. India is the home of 16% of the world's population; the country however accounts for 2.4% of world's land area. Uttar Pradesh state in north India in 1991 registered a population of 139.1 million making it the most populous state in India; and the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) with a population of 12.6 million remains the most populous city in India. The census will be completed in 2001.
Sex Ratio: (the number of females per 1000 males)
This is one of the most worrying and tragic aspects of life in India. In 1901 the census recorded a ratio of 972; by 1951 the ratio was 946 and by 1991 the ratio had declined to 927. These statistics reflect the continually declining status of women and the female child in Indian society... and are the reasons why an increasing number of programmes, both of the government and the voluntary sector, pay special attention to women and the girl child.
Literacy and education:
Literacy levels are rising. In 1951 the literacy rate was 18.3%. The 1991 census give a level of 52.21% for the whole country (64.13% for males, 39.29% for females). There is considerable variation at state level. Kerala recorded the highest at 89.81% and Bihar the lowest at 38.48%; Female literacy was the lowest in Rajasthan at 20.44%. School enrolment is also rising, increasing from about 24 million in 1950-51 to about 167 million in 1992-93. Student enrolment in universities has increased from about 0.2 million at the time of independence to about 5 million in 1992-93. CAF India is currently working in Lucknow to improve primary education facilities.
Rural and Urban Populations:
In 1901 the urban population was 10.8% of the overall population. By 1991 the urban population of 218 million had become 25.7% of the total population. (Urban population defined as people living in towns and cities with a population greater than 100,000.)
Religious Communities:
Hindus (in 1991) were 82.8% of the population; Muslims 11.7%; Christians 2.3%; Sikhs 2.0%; Buddists, Jains and others form the rest.
Principal Languages:
India now has 18 official languages. Most of the languages fall into two groups, Indo-Aryan and Dravidian. Indo-Aryan languages account for about 74% of the total population and Dravidian about 25%. Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Bengali are some of the major Indo-Aryan languages and Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam are major Dravidian languages. Hindi is the official language; English is recognised as the authoritative legislative and judicial language.
National Bird: Peacock
National Animal: Tiger
National Flower: Lotus
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