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              About Bharat (India)

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Bharat (India) is a federal republic 'sovereign socialist secular democratic republic' consisting of 28 states, each with a substantial degree of control over its own affairs, and 7 less fully empowered union territories. The capital is New Delhi. India is the second most populous country, after China. In area, India ranks as the seventh largest country in the world, covering  3,166,414 square kilometers. 

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All branches of the armed services of India are made up only of volunteers. In 1997 the strength of the regular army was 40,000, 000 with a territorial army of 980,000 personnel. The navy comprised 55,000 personnel and the air force 110,000 personnel, with more than 600 combat aircraft. Combined, they comprise one of the world’s largest armed forces. The Indian military has a tradition of non-involvement in domestic politics and there has never been a coup.

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India’s largest city is Mumbai (Bombay; 12,596,243, greater city; 1991 census). Other cities with populations of more than 1 million include: Ahmadabad and Bangalore, which are major rail junctions; Calcutta; Delhi; Hyderabad, which is famous for its handicrafts; the leather manufacturing city of Kanpur; the port of Chennai (Madras); Pune; Nagpur; Lucknow; and Jaipur.

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Ancient India was a society of considerable educational development. Its universities attracted many students from elsewhere in Asia—especially Chinese, who came to study the teachings of Buddha in some of the first universities in the world, notably Nalanda, which was established by the 6th century BC. India also extended its educational influence by sending its university graduates to other parts of Asia to teach. 

Since gaining its independence from Britain in 1947, India has sought to develop a modern, comprehensive school system; the reports of the All-Indian commissions of 1953 and 1964 advocating educational reform provided impetus for improvement. The education of India’s large and youthful population, with its social and religious complexities, has not been easy, however. Funds that might have been used for education have had to be utilized to combat poverty, food shortages, and overpopulation. The relics of the caste system, inadequate vocational placement, and religious diversity have contributed to the difficulty of educational reform. Nevertheless, sweeping structural changes have been undertaken and largely carried through, and the number of schools and of pupils has risen greatly since independence.

The school systems of the 28 states are under the direct control of the state governments; the federal Ministry of Education assists the state systems, directs education in the seven centrally administered union territories, provides financial help for India’s institutions of higher learning, and discharges various other responsibilities. Primary education is free, but not compulsory. In the 1970s the predominant pattern of available schooling included eight years of primary and middle school education, three years of secondary education including a vocational element (so that pupils’ completion might qualify for entry into a trade or profession), and three years of university education leading to a degree. Then, as now, however, only a minority of pupils went past the primary level. Implementation of a slightly modified pattern, consisting of ten years of primary, middle, and secondary school education, two of higher secondary education, and three of university, began in the 1980s. There is also a nationwide adult literacy programme. According to the 1991 census, about 52 per cent of the adult population was literate, compared with just over 43 per cent a decade earlier. Literacy varies considerably from state to state. Kerala, in South India, has achieved a remarkable literacy level of nearly 100 per cent, possibly related to the importance given to the education of women and their relatively high status in society. In 1995 India spent 3.7 per cent of the national budget on education.

In the mid-1990s, 109.73 million pupils were enrolled in primary schools, 41.0 million in middle and basic senior schools, and 24.9 million in higher secondary schools.

India had 164 universities, 11 institutions of national importance, 38 institutions with university status, and more than 8,600 technical, arts, and science colleges in the mid-1990s. The total enrolment in institutions of higher education was about 12 million, of which over 6 million were in universities. Large institutions included Agra University (founded 1927), the University of Bihar (1952), the University of Mumbai (1857), the University of Calcutta (1857), the University of Delhi (1922), Gauhati University (1948), Gujarat University (1950; in Ahmadabad), the University of Kerala (1937; in Trivandrum), the University of Madras (1857), the University of Mysore (1916), the University of Pune (1949), and the University of Rajasthan (1947; in Jaipur). Outstanding centres of study and research include the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai.

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India has a mixed economy in which both the central and state governments pay a leading role—as regulators, planners, and through ownership of public enterprises. Large-scale government involvement in the economy began in the 1950s as a reflection of nationalism and of the socialism of the first post-independence government led by Jawaharlal Nehru—and with the aim of speeding up economic development and growth to meet the needs of India’s rapidly growing population. The first of India’s five-year economic plans was launched in 1951. During the decades that followed the state took over certain key sectors and invested heavily in others, while the private sector was subject to wide-ranging controls. Tariff, and other, barriers were erected to protect domestic industries, and various agrarian reform programmes were initiated.

The results were generally positive, especially when compared with many other developing countries. Economic growth, except during times of severe drought such as 1979 and 1987, was steady; it averaged 3.6 per cent a year in real terms (that is, after taking into account population growth) between 1965 and 1980, and more than 5 per cent a year during the 1980s. Inflation and the national debt were generally kept low. Agricultural output rose significantly and the spectre of mass famine was eliminated. The basis of a modern industrial state was laid. However, growth levels were still too low to have more than a marginal impact on the income of the majority of Indians. In 1994 India’s gross national product (GNP) was about US$278,700 million (World Bank estimate; 1992-1994 prices), giving an income per head of just US$310. In addition, more than 60 per cent of under-fives were malnourished, while access to clean water and sanitation was still available only to a minority of the population.

In 1991 P. V. Narasimha Rao became Prime Minister and instituted a significant change in economic policy. Many of the controls over the private sector have been abolished and the state monopoly in certain areas, such as air transport, was loosened. The economy generally was opened up by the reduction of tariff controls and by the encouragement of foreign investment. These changes were partly brought about by the need to sustain higher growth rates. However, the government also needed to cut public spending and to reduce inflation, debt repayments, and the balance of payments deficit—which had all risen sharply as a result of problems created by the Gulf War and by government borrowing in the late 1980s. In 1991 and 1992 real economic growth dropped to 1.1 per cent; by 1996 it was above 6.5 per cent.

Changes at national level have also been reflected at state level. The states have significant control over internal policy and interpret national policy in different ways. Some, like West Bengal, have far greater government control of the economy than average; others, like Maharashtra, have traditionally been more market-oriented. Since 1991, however, almost all the states have opened their doors to foreign investment, reduced controls over the private sector, and allowed some privatization of state companies. In 1994 some 1.56 million tourists visited India, and spent an estimated US$2,270 million.

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India has a very diversified manufacturing sector that contributes about 16 per cent of GDP. The modern sector, which has some very large concerns—particularly in the iron and steel sector—dominates in terms of output. However, small-scale, family-owned craft-based concerns are most important in terms of employment. Textile manufacturing—especially cotton textiles—is one of the longest established and still one of the most important sectors. Most cities have at least one cotton mill; output of cotton cloth in the mid-1990s was more than 17.0 billion m (55.8 billion ft). The iron and steel industry expanded greatly after the 1950s; in the mid-1990s output of finished steel products was more than 17.8 million tonnes. Other important industries include the processing of tea, grains, oil seeds, sugar, tobacco, and other agricultural products, printing and publishing, oil-refining, and the manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment, motor vehicles, paper, footwear, chemicals, tiles and bricks, leather and metal goods, and railway equipment. The computer industry, in particular the development of software, has expanded considerably in recent years. Bangalore, in southern India, has been termed “India’s Silicon Valley”.

Because of the high level, until recently, of protectionism, the volume of foreign trade relative to the size and diversity of the Indian economy has been low. In addition, there has been a persistent trade deficit, caused by imports of oil, raw materials, consumer goods, jewels, chemicals and fertilizers, and aggravated by a high level of smuggling. In the mid-1990s India’s annual imports cost some US$34.5 billion, and its yearly exports earned about US$30.5 billion. The export trade is very varied, and is dominated by textiles, garments, jewellery and gemstones, leather goods, tea, engineering goods, and basic chemicals. The United States, in the mid-1990s, received about 19 per cent of India’s yearly exports and supplied about 10 per cent of its imports. Other leading trading partners are Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, the Commonwealth of Independent States, France, Australia, the Netherlands, and Iran.

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About 77 per cent of India’s electricity is produced in thermal facilities using coal or oil products. Another 21 per cent is generated by hydroelectric facilities, and 2 per cent is produced in nuclear power plants, including ones at Kota and near Mumbai. In the mid-1990s India had an electricity-generating capacity of more than 83 million kW, and annual output was about 380 billion kWh. Although capacity is continuously being expanded, output is unable to keep up with demand and power shortages are a problem—particularly to the manufacturing sector.

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The basic monetary unit is the Indian rupee, divided into 100 paise (39.35 Indian rupees equal US$1; 1998).

The Reserve Bank of India, founded in 1934 and nationalized in 1949, operates as the central bank and sole bank of issue. A series of nationalizations brought the majority of commercial banking into the public sector. Although there were 300 scheduled commercial banks in the early 1990s, more than 85 per cent of deposits and credits were accounted for by the 27 public-sector banks.

Moneylending practices in rural India have led to problems of widespread indebtedness. Credit societies and cooperative banks have been set up to try to overcome these problems and have become increasingly important—particularly in the provision of credit to farmers to enable them to purchase seeds, fertilizers, and other agricultural inputs. 

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In terms of land uses, 56 per cent of India’s land is used for arable agriculture, 1 per cent for crops, and 4 per cent for pasture. About two thirds of India’s population depends on the land to make a living. Agriculture generates an estimated 28 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Most farms are very small—the average size of holdings nationally is 2.63 hectares (6.5 acres), but more than one third of holdings are considered too small for the subsistence needs of a farming family. In terms of area sown the leading crop is rice, the staple food of a large section of the Indian population. Wheat ranks next in importance to rice, and India is also among the leading producers in the world of sugar cane, tea, cotton, and jute. Annual production of these commodities in the mid-1990s was sugar cane, 267.4 million tonnes; rice, 81.0 million tonnes; wheat, 64.0 million tonnes; tea, 753,900 tonnes; cotton lint, 2 million tonnes; and jute, 1.5 million tonnes. Other important crops are sorghum, millet, maize, barley, chickpeas, bananas, mangoes, rubber, coffee, linseed, peanuts, and various seeds and spices.

The raising of livestock, particularly horned cattle, buffalo, horses, and mules, is a central feature of the agricultural economy. In the mid-1990s India had about 193 million cattle, substantially more than any other country in the world. These animals, like buffaloes, horses, and mules, are utilized primarily as beasts of burden, although the vegetarianism associated with the Hindu custom is followed by few, especially in north India. Lack of pasture and water supplies means most Indian cattle are of poor quality. The country’s 79 million buffalo are largely raised in the delta regions. In the dry regions of Punjab and Rajasthan camels (1.5 million) are the principal beasts of burden. Sheep (44.8 million) and goats (118 million) are raised mainly for wool.

Although much farming is still by traditional methods, there has been a significant change in the technologies available since independence. The area under canal irrigation systems financed by the government has expanded enormously; there has been an even greater expansion in the area watered by well-based systems. By the early 1990s about 480,000 sq km (185,280 sq mi) was irrigated. The demand for chemical fertilizers and high-yielding seed varieties has increased markedly, particularly since the much-publicized “Green Revolution” of the 1960s and early 1970s—which particularly benefited richer farmers in wheat-growing areas like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab states.

The forestlands in India cover about 23 per cent of the total land area. Commercial forestry is not highly developed and is largely restricted to the northern highlands, Assam, and the regions bordering on the Himalaya. However, forests are used to provide fuelwood and charcoal, the main energy source for most Indians, as well as valuable fruits and nuts, fibres, oils, gums, and resins. The annual timber harvest was about 287.4 million cu m (10.1 billion cu ft) in the early 1990s.

Although largely undeveloped commercially, fishing remains vital in certain regions, such as the Ganges delta in Bengal and along the south-western coast. In recent years the government has been encouraging deep-sea fishing by constructing processing plants and underwriting ocean-going fleets and vessels. In the mid-1990s the country’s annual catch totalled more than 4.7 million tonnes, about 59 per cent of which was made up of marine species. Kerala, Tamil, Nadu, and Maharashtra are the main fishing states, accounting for about half of the national catch. Overfishing is becoming a problem in some areas.

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At independence in 1947, India had one of the best-developed transport networks of any colony—particularly its railway system, which had been established during British rule. Since then it has built on this base, increasing the length of roads and establishing a comprehensive internal air transport network. However, the country’s broad network of state-owned railway lines continues to carry the bulk of goods traffic. The total length of operated railway track was 62,462 km (38,813 mi) in the early 1990s of which 17 per cent was electrified. Three different gauges (widths) of track are in use. There were more than 2 million km (1.2 million mi) of roads of which about half were surfaced. In 1995 there were an estimated 3.8 million cars in India, with a ratio of approximately 163 people per car. The major Indian ports, including Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, and Vishakhapatnam, are reached by cargo carriers and passenger liners operating to all parts of the world. The civil aviation network was nationalized in 1953, with Air India operating the long-haul international routes and Indian Airlines domestic and regional routes. Since 1991 some domestic routes have been opened to the private sector. The networks and volume of traffic is expanding rapidly and air routes now connect not only the major cities and towns but also remote areas in the Himalaya and north-east India. There are an estimated 290 airports in India.

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The Republic of India is governed according to the provisions of a constitution adopted in 1949 and amended frequently since. It incorporates various features of the constitutional systems of the United Kingdom, the United States, and other Western democracies.

By the terms of the constitution, India is a sovereign democratic republic within the Commonwealth of Nations. The government is federal in its structure and India is a union of states and centrally administered union territories. There are 25 states and 7 union territories.

The chief executive and head of state of India is the president. The role of president in government is largely nominal and ceremonial, however, for actual executive power resides in a council of ministers responsible to the parliament, which is composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States or upper house) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People or lower house). The president is elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of the national and state legislatures and is eligible for successive terms. Balloting in the electoral college is a highly complicated process. The council of ministers, or Cabinet, is headed by a prime minister, who is formally appointed by the president. Each of its members is the head of an administrative department of the central government. In most important respects, the Indian Cabinet system is identical to that of the United Kingdom.

The constitution vests national legislative power in India in a bicameral parliament consisting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha consists of 545 members directly elected by universal adult suffrage, two of which are appointed by the president to represent the Anglo-Indian community. Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are specifically allocated 79 and 41 seats repectively in the Lok Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha normally serve for five years, the statutory limit for the duration of the house. However, the house may be dissolved upon defeat of major legislation proposed by the executive branch of the government. The Rajya Sabha has up to 250 members (245 in 1997). All are elected by the elected members of the state legislative assemblies except for 12 who are appointed by the president. The Rajya Sabha is a permanent body; the terms of one third of the members of the council expire biennially.

The Indian National Congress, founded in 1885, led India in the struggle for independence and in various incarnations has provided most of the country’s prime ministers. In 1969 a group of Congress members left the party to form the small Indian National Congress-Organization (or O). Another party that has had influence across the nation, but particularly in West Bengal and Kerala, is the Communist Party of India (CPI), formed in 1925, which later split in 1964, the breakaway faction founding the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M). In early 1977 Congress (O) joined with three other parties, Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Bharatiya Lok Dal, and the Socialist Party, to form the Janata Party, which won about half of the seats in the Lok Sabha in elections in March 1977. In May the Janata Party achieved a solid majority by merging with the Congress for Democracy. In 1978 the Congress Party split again, as Indira Gandhi founded the Indian National Congress-Indira (or I), which in 1981 was confirmed by the Supreme Court as the official Congress Party. Congress (I) swept to victory in parliamentary elections in 1980 and 1984, but lost its majority in 1989. In 1988 Janata Dal (People’s Party) was formed by a merger of the Janata Party, Lok Dal, and Jan Morcha. The major competitors for Congress in the 1989 elections included Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a right-wing Hindu nationalist group, formed by breakaway members of the Janata Party in 1980.

Judicial authority in India is exercised through a system of national courts administering the laws of the republic and the states. All judges are appointees of the executive branch of the government, but their independence is guaranteed by a variety of safeguards. Noteworthy among the latter is a provision requiring a two-thirds vote of the national legislature to effect removal from office. At the apex of the judicial system is the Supreme Court, consisting of up to 17 members. Next in authority are the high courts and subordinate courts in each state.

The form of the state governments of India is generally modelled on that of the central government. Each state is headed by a governor who is appointed to a five-year term by the national president. Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh states elect bicameral legislative assemblies and legislative councils; the remainder, unicameral legislative assemblies. Of the 4,072 seats allotted to the legislative assemblies, 557 are reserved for the scheduled castes and 527 for the scheduled tribes.

In India legislative responsibilities are divided into three groups, or lists. List One comprises 97 subjects—including defence, foreign affairs, communications, the currency, banking, and customs—which are under the exclusive jurisdiction of the national, or Union, parliament. List Two comprises 66 subjects over which the states’ parliaments have exclusive legislative powers, including police and public order, education, public health, agriculture, and local government. The 47 subjects on List Three are common to both the Union and state parliaments, and include economic and social planning, and labour and price controls.

Urban areas are the responsibility of a variety of municipal bodies which take care, among other things, of the roads, water supply, drainage and sanitation, vaccination programmes, and education. They are directly elected and raise revenue through property, vehicle, and other taxes.

In rural areas there is the panchayati raj, a three-tier system of councils of ancient origin operating at village, block and district level. Elected directly by and from among villagers, the panchayats are responsible for agricultural production, rural industry, medical relief, mother and child welfare, grazing grounds, local roads, and water tanks and wells.

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The major religious groups (followed by their approximate portion of the total population; 1991 census) are Hindus (82 per cent), Muslims (12.1 per cent), Christians (2.3 per cent), and Sikhs (1.94 per cent). Other important religious minorities are Buddhists, Jains, and Parsis. The rise of religious nationalism and fundamentalism in India during the 1980s and 1990s has increased political and social tensions in some areas, and at times—such as the 1992 and 1993 riots in Punjab and elsewhere—has erupted into violence.

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India is a secular country that has traditionally absorbed and given birth to a variety of religions and religious sects. The majority of present-day Indians are Hindu, however, and this is reflected in many aspects of the shared culture across the country. Hinduism itself has, over centuries, absorbed and evolved a number of different philosophies and approaches, from the philosophical Advaita of Shankara to the devotion of the Bhakti movement.

The coexistence of significant minority faiths with the majority faith of Hinduism has by no means always been peaceable; Hindu-Muslim and Hindu-Sikh tensions (often fanned by motives other than religious ones) have, in the past, resulted in many deaths. The Ramajanmabhoomi movement, whose demands to build a Hindu temple on what they claim to be the birthplace of Rama in Ayodhya resulted in the destruction by a mob of the Babri Masjid  in 1992, has shaken the strong Hindu-Muslim bond.

Such developments pose a serious threat to the future of secularism in India. It could be argued that this recent so-called Hindu “fundamentalism” (a contradiction in terms, as Hinduism has no defined fundaments) is an effort to forge a singular national culture on religious lines from rich and diverse traditions. The inculcation of such ideas has been facilitated by the widespread access to television, latterly satellite television, and its powerful cultural messages. The same media have also spread another value-set which to some extent has served to dissipate the call of religion—that of a Western-style consumer society.

Many languages are spoken across India. Eighteen of the major ones are recognized in the constitution, but many other relatively minor ones are also spoken regionally. Sanskrit, the ancient language of the Hindu scriptures, is an Indo-European language related to Greek and Latin. It was the medium for the vast body of religious and secular writing (see Sanskrit Literature) that constitutes the core of classical Indian literature. Tamil is also a very ancient language, with a rich literature and, unlike Sanskrit, it is still thriving today. Tamil is a Dravidian language, with a completely different script to Sanskrit, and forms one of several Dravidian languages spoken in the south of India. Large bodies of literature also exist in all the other major languages of India, notably Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.

Early classical painting and sculpture was inspired by Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, all influenced by one another. The art of Madhura, Gandhara (with its blending of Hellenistic and Indian elements), the refinement of Gupta art, the frescoes at Ajanta, the rock-cut reliefs at Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram) and the Nataraja at Chidambaram, all form part of the splendid heritage of early India. Perhaps the world’s first extant treatise on the theory of drama, music and dance, the Natya Shastra, by Bharata, written by about AD 300, formed the basis of a sophisticated tradition in the performing arts (see Indian Dance; Indian Theatre).

A relative decline in classical Hindu arts and culture followed the end of the reign of Harsha in the 7th century in northern India as new socio-political forms began to evolve, although the south, under kingdoms such as the Pallava, and later the Chola, was reaching its apex in art and architecture. In this period of uncertainty and change, a major dislocation in cultural development occurred in northern India, with the waves of conquerors from Central Asia in the 11th and 12th century, who brought with them a quite different faith, Islam. Some of the ancient centres of learning, such as the magnificent Buddhist university at Nalanda, were totally destroyed by Turks in the 11th century.

After several centuries of warfare, disruption, and repression under Turkish and Mongol rulers, by the mid-16th century, the Mughal dynasty founded by Babur, a descendant of the Mongol Tamerlane, had conquered all of northern India. Islam, with its linear Western cosmogony, and revulsion against any form of idol-worship, was fundamentally different from Hinduism and other eastern faiths, and some of the early conquerors, in particular, ransacked temples and shrines, such as the Jagannath temple in Puri, and showed scant respect for ancient learning. Others, however, became interested in Sanskrit, and key works, such as the mathematical treatise of Bhaskara, the Lilavati, were translated into Persian and became very popular during the Mughal period.

Under the great Mughal emperors such as Akbar, the country experienced a new period of flourishing of the arts, with fresh impetus arising from Persian influence culminating in a distinct style of art, music, and architecture in northern India. The Mughal period provided India with some of its most impressive architecture, best known through the world-renowned Taj Mahal in Agra. It also brought outstanding work in manuscript illustration, miniature painting, and the decorative arts, as well as the evolution of Hindustani music in the north. The south evolved its own style, known as Carnatic music. Both classical forms have produced composers and musicians of the highest calibre, including Tansen, Tyagaraja, and in recent years, Allauddin Khan, Ravi Shankar, M. S. Subbulakshmi, and many others. A strong, regional folk tradition of all the performing arts has continued throughout.

Under British rule, much of this creative cultural momentum became dissipated, but at the same time, a number of individuals such as William Carey and Max Müller, became interested in ancient and medieval Indian culture and, by their translations and commentaries, provided Western readers with access to key works. Some art forms, such as styles of classical Indian dance, however, declined through lack of patronage or fell into disrepute under Victorian values. A revival in aspects of Indian thought and culture accompanied the rising nationalist feeling, and the 20th century has seen efforts not only to revive dying arts such as Kathakali, but to reconstitute early forms. In dance, for example, Chandralekha has explored the early forms of Bharatanatyam, and the erotic style of Orissi, depicted in many ancient sculptures, has become well known.

Libraries and Museums

India has more than 60,000 libraries, including more than 1,000 specialized ones attached to various government departments. The National Library, in Calcutta, is one of three copyright libraries which receive copies of all books and magazines published in India. Outstanding among several hundred public libraries is that in Delhi.

India’s more than 350 museums include a number containing important historical and archaeological collections, such as the Government Museum and National Art Gallery, Chennai; the National Museum, New Delhi; Sarnath Museum, Varanasi; and the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Vadodra, Chennai, Calicut, and New Delhi have museums containing outstanding collections of medieval and modern art.

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India may be divided into four main regions: the Himalaya, the northern river-plains, the Deccan Plateau, and the Eastern and Western Ghats.

The Himalaya mountain system is about 160 to 320 km (100 to 200 mi) wide and extends about 2,410 km (1,498 mi) along the northern and eastern margins of the Indian subcontinent, separating it from the rest of Asia. It is the highest, youngest, and one of the most active mountain systems in the world. Notable peaks wholly or partly within India include Kanchenjunga (8,598 m/28,208 ft), the third-highest peak in the world, after Mount Everest and K2 (Mount Godwin-Austen), Nanga Parbat (8,126 m/26,660 ft), Nanda Devi (7,817 m/25,645 ft), Rakaposhi (7,788 m/25,550 ft), and Kamet (7,756 m/25,447 ft).

Lying south of and parallel to the Himalaya is the northern plains region, a vast belt of flat lands about 280 to 400 km (175 to 250 mi) in width. The region is the world’s largest alluvial plain and comprises the major part of the area watered by the Indus, the Ganges, and the Brahmaputra rivers. Because of the abundance of water and the rich alluvial soil, the northern plains are the most fertile and densely populated part of India and were the cradle of its civilization. They extend west-east from the Pakistan border to the Bangladesh border, continuing east into north-east India via the narrow corridor of land near Darjiling.

The central and western portions of the Indian plains region are watered by the River Ganges and its tributaries, which drain the southern slopes of the Himalaya; the region is known consequently as the Gangetic plain. The north-eastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are watered by the River Brahmaputra and its affluents, which rise in the northern ranges of the Himalaya. The Brahmaputra crosses into Bangladesh north of the Khasi Hills. The River Indus rises in Tibet, flows west through Jammu and Kashmir State, and crosses into Pakistan. On the south-western border with Pakistan the plains give way to the Great Indian Desert and the salt marshes known as the Rann of Kutch.

South of the plains lies the Deccan Plateau, a vast, triangular tableland occupying most of peninsular India. Generally rocky, the Deccan is an uneven plateau divided into natural regions by low mountain ranges and deep valleys. Elevations range from about 305 to 915 m (1,000 to 3,000 ft), although outcroppings as high as 1,220 m (4,000 ft) occur. The Deccan is bordered by the mountain systems known as the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats.

The Western Ghats, a steep escarpment overlooking the Arabian Sea, have a general elevation of about 915 m (3,000 ft). The fertile Malabar Coast lies between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. The Eastern Ghats average about 460 m (1,500 ft) in height. Between them and the Bay of Bengal is a narrow coastal plain, the Coromandel Coast. The two ranges meet at the southernmost point of the Deccan (near Bangalore) in the Nilgiri Hills.

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Because of the peninsularity, unusual topography, and geographical position of India, climatic conditions are widely diversified, on both a seasonal and regional basis. The diversity ranges from tropical to temperate zonal extremes; the temperature extremes are confined largely to the slopes of the Himalaya. Except in the more mountainous regions, most of the rest of India has a uniformly tropical climate. Seasonal variations, resulting from the south-western and north-eastern monsoons, profoundly influence temperature, humidity, and precipitation throughout the subcontinent. For general purposes, the seasons of India may be classified as rainy and dry. The rainy season, which generally extends from June to November, is the season of the south-western monsoon, a moisture-laden wind blowing off the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. Beginning early in June on the western coast of the peninsula, the monsoon gradually affects almost the entire country. During this season, rainfall can be very heavy—along the slopes of the Western Ghats it often reaches more than 3,175 mm (125 in). At Cherrapunji in the Khasi Hills of north-eastern India, the yearly rainfall is about 10,920 mm (430 in). Mean annual precipitation along the southern slopes of the Himalaya is about 1,525 mm (60 in). The south-western monsoon fails at times, causing droughts and occasionally famine. However, the rains are a mixed blessing. They lead to the proliferation of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, while the contrast between day- and night-time temperatures encourages respiratory disorders. Normally, the power of the monsoon diminishes in September.

The cool season of the north-eastern monsoon, extending from early December until after the end of February, is usually accompanied by extremely dry weather—although severe storms, attended by slight precipitation on the northern plains and heavy snowfalls in the Himalaya, sometimes cross the country. The hot season, beginning about the middle of March and extending until the onset of the south-western monsoon, is most oppressive during May, when temperatures as high as 51.7° C (125° F) are not uncommon in central India. In the vicinity of Calcutta, the mean annual temperature is about 26.1° C (79° F). The mean annual temperature in the west-central coastal region of the peninsula is about 27.8° C (82° F). Around Chennai (formerly Madras) temperatures range between about 24.4° and 33.3° C (76° to 92° F), with an annual mean of about 28.9° C (84° F).

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India contains more than two thirds of the entire area of the Indian subcontinent, including most of the highly fertile Gangetic plain. In addition to extensive cultivable regions, a comprehensive irrigation network, and valuable stands of timber, India has most of the known mineral deposits of the subcontinent. However, though it has rich resources, in many areas these have not yet been fully exploited. 

Mining

India ranks among the world leaders in the mining of iron ore and coal, and produces significant amounts of bauxite, manganese, mica, ilmenite, copper, petroleum, asbestos, chromium, graphite, phosphate rock, zinc, gold, and silver. This varied mineral base was a key factor in India’s economic development following independence—underpinning the establishment of a diversified manufacturing sector. Nationalization during the 1950s has given the government a dominant role in the sector. Annual production figures in the mid-1990s included iron ore (66.6 million tonnes), coal (273.4 million tonnes), bauxite (5.5 million tonnes), manganese (1.8 million tonnes), copper ore (4.7 million tonnes), chromite (1.3 million tonnes), gold (2,322 kg), and zinc concentrates (285,000 tonnes). Oil production is concentrated in Gujarat and Assam states, and offshore in the Khambhat (Gulf of Khambhat). Output amounted to about 236.2 million barrels, or about 60 per cent of India’s needs in the mid-1990s; output of natural gas was 22.3 billion cu m (787.5 billion cu ft).

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The diverse racial and cultural origins of the people of India are bound intricately with those of the other peoples of the Indian subcontinent, including the inhabitants of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka, as well as those further afield. The exact origins of most Indian people are impossible to determine because of the large variety of races and cultures that have invaded and been assimiliated into the subcontinent. However, elements of three major racial groups—the Caucasoid, the Australoid, and the Mongoloid—may be found in present-day India. At times, geography and environment have encouraged successive waves of migrants to mingle with the indigenous peoples. However, environmental and historical factors have also favoured the coexistence in India of many different peoples with distinct physical and cultural characteristics. This is reflected in India’s linguistic diversity; the country has 18 major languages and more than 1,000 minor ones (see Indian Languages).

Approximately 7 per cent of the total population belongs to more than 300 so-called scheduled tribes. These tribal or aboriginal groups are racially and culturally distinct from the majority Indian population and also tend to vary considerably among themselves.

Broadly speaking, the majority of non-tribal Indian peoples are predominantly Caucasoid in features, showing considerable variation in skin colour. Mongoloid features are seen in the hill tribes of the very north, such as the Nagas. Australoid features are also seen among the tribal groups, such as the Santal of West Bengal.

The majority of people in the north and east speak Indo-Aryan languages such as Assamese, Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, and Bengali. The influence of close contact with Persia and the Mughal period are apparent in the language as well as the architecture, clothing, and other aspects of life in the north. These languages derive from Sanskrit, now essentially a dead language, but still used in the reading of sacred texts and other religious ceremonies. In contrast, the Dravidian languages of the south, such as Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam, derive primarily from Tamil, although Malayalam contains a considerable number of Sanskrit words. All these languages boast substantial and rich literatures. Of the 18 languages recognized in the constitution, one, Manipuri, the language of the far northern state of Manipur, is Sino-Tibetan in origin.

Among the tribal peoples, often living in relatively isolated hilly regions, a number have maintained their unique cultures and customs, although the encroaching of the mainstream population has caused considerable assimilation and erosion of traditional ways of life.

The Indian constitution sets out the resolve to eradicate the age-old system of caste, which has denied for centuries the opportunity of social advancement to the lowest stratum of the system, the “Untouchables” (or Harijans, “children of God”, as Gandhi named them—the term Dalit is now increasingly used). Considerable steps were taken after independence to actively promote the education and welfare of these depressed classes, most notably through a system of positive discrimination—by assigning a quota of up to 50 per cent of places in universities and professional institutions to the “scheduled” castes. Old traditions die hard, however, and despite these efforts and those of individuals such as Gandhi, Ambedkar, and others, prejudice, mainly in the social sphere, remains. Nevertheless, individuals from scheduled-caste backgrounds are now found in all walks of life and include eminent scientists, judges, and politicians. In recent years, as a business-led, consumer culture evolves, with status counted more by material wealth than family and tradition, the hold of caste is declining, with many inter-caste marriages, especially among the urban middle classes.

In the political sphere, parties and organizations based on caste lines have often been vociferous in the demanding of rights and the protection of the interests of their communities. Politicians and parties frequently seek to secure the votes of particular jatis (sub-castes). Allegiances, however, tend to be fluid and often based on expediency. The continuation of the system of positive discrimination in university entrance has caused friction with non-scheduled-caste students, who claim it has resulted in intolerably high entrance requirements for other castes and lowered standards.

India has about 16 per cent of the world’s population. Its population is about 913,200,000 (1996 estimate). The overall population density was about 277 people per sq km (717 per sq mi). Many births and deaths are unregistered, but official data suggest that the birth rate in the mid-1990s was about 28.3 per 1,000. Life expectancy averaged 60 years. Approximately 73 per cent of India’s population lives in rural areas. Though living conditions in many areas have improved—for example through the provision of clean water—most people are still poor. About one third of the population lives on or below the UN poverty line; less than 3 per cent of Indian households have an income of more than US$2,500 a year.