India
With a total area of 3.287 million square kilometres, India is one of the largest countries in the world. The country borders Pakistan and Afghanistan to the northwest (the part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir adjacent to Afghanistan is under Pakistani control); China, Nepal and Bhutan to the north and Myanmar and Bangladesh to the east. India also shares a maritime border with Sri Lanka to its south.
As of June, 2009, the population was about 1,170,000,000, 76% living in rural areas. India's population increases at the rate of 1.94% per year. The country has a literacy rate of 64.8% and an average life expectancy of 54.
India has more than 500 ethnic groups speaking almost 200 languages and dialects. The official languages of India are Hindi and English.
The dominant religion is Hinduism (80.5%); other faiths include Islam (13.4%), Christianity (2.3%), Sikhism (1.84%), Buddhism (0.76%) and other religions.
India's system of government combines a highly centralised unified state with elements of federalism. According to the country's constitution, India is a union of states. Indian states are large administrative and territorial entities, most of which have some linguistic or ethnic basis. Each state has a legislative assembly whose members are elected by direct vote and a local government administered by senior ministers, which gives states a certain degree of autonomy in internal development issues. A governor appointed by the president on the recommendation by the prime minister oversees the local government in the interests of the central government. Apart from 28 states, India also includes seven union territories - administrative units that are subordinate to the central government and small in size and population.
Political system. According to its constitution, India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. The multi-party democracy has more than 100 parties and political organisations.
The supreme legislative body in India is the parliament, which consists of two houses: the upper house (Rajya Sabha - Council of States) and lower house (Lok Sabha - House of the People).
The head of state is the president, elected indirectly for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of members of parliament and the legislative assemblies of the states. The vice-president is elected for the same term. The president has some legislative and judicial powers and is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. However, rigid constitutional restrictions largely limit the president's role to performing ceremonial functions and approving the decisions of the government, the recommendations of which he is obliged to obey to. The current president of India is Pratibha Patil (elected July 19, 2007) and the vice-president is Mohammad Hamid Ansari (elected August 10, 2007).
India's main political parties:
1. Indian National Congress (INC). India's centrist party, headed by Sonia Gandhi (since March, 1998).
2. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The centre-right BJP was formed in 1980. Its chairman is Nitin Gadkari.
3. The far Left in India is primarily represented by two Communist parties - the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. The general secretary of the national council of the CPI is Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan and the general secretary of the central committee of the CPI(M) is Prakash Karat.
There is also a considerable number of regional parties with various social orientations.
Economic status of India
As of the end of the 2009-2010 financial year (which runs from April 1 to March 31 in India) the country's gross domestic product was about $1.242 trillion and GDP per capita was around $1,000. GDP during this period grew by 7.2%. In terms of purchasing power parity, India's GDP is estimated to be $3.5 trillion (fourth in the world after the U.S., China and Japan). The service sector in India accounts for 64.5% of GDP, industry for 18.5% and agriculture for 17%.
In 2009, India's foreign trade deficit fell to $86.6 billion (during the 2008-2009 fiscal year, it was $119 billion). The country accounted for around 1% of global foreign trade.
In the 2008-2009 fiscal years, key Indian exports, worth a total of $169 billion, were machinery, equipment, tools and metal products (19.5%), oil products (17.4%) and processed precious stones and jewellery (11.2%). Leading imports (worth $288 billion dollars) were crude oil and oil products (33.8%), machinery and electrical equipment (14.1%).
As of the end of 2009, India held an estimated $283.5 billion in gold and exchange currency reserves; total external financial liabilities stood at $476 billion, including $244 billion in foreign debt.
As of February 2010, inflation according to India's wholesale price index was 8.6% while inflation according to the consumer price index was 12% to 16%. Food prices increased about 20%.
During the 2008-2009 financial year, the central government officially ran a budget deficit of 6.2% of GDP (during the 2007-2008 fiscal year, it was 2.7%). The real combined deficit, including off-budget spending, government subsidies and states' budgets, was estimated at 10% to 12% of GDP (last year, it was 5% to 6%). In the current fiscal year, a total budget deficit of 6.9% of GDP is expected.
According to official Indian statistics, 27.5% of the population of the country lives below the poverty line (42% according to the World Bank), and the middle class numbers around 400 million persons. India ranks 134th out of 182 countries according to the UN Human Development Index.
