Country Profile: India

India is the largest practising democracy in the world. The Constitution is federal in structure and lays down the division of power between the Centre and the 25 States and seven Union Territories. New Delhi is the capital of the Republic. There is universal adult suffrage and the electoral process is well developed, with elections held at all levels, right down to individual villages. General elections are held normally once in 5 years. The President, elected indirectly by the national and State legislatures, is the head of State. The Prime Minister is the head of Government.

India is a country of social contrasts and enormous ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity. The country's 25 States and seven Union Territories, vary in size from the gigantic Uttar Pradesh with almost 150 million people to tiny Sikkim. The principle of division is mainly along linguistic lines: there are more than 1,600 languages. The majority of the people are Hindu (83%). Muslims account for a sizeable 11% while Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis account for the balance. The total population, estimated at the end of 1996 is around 953 million. Hindi is the principal official language. English is also widely used. Sixteen regional languages are used in respective States.

The Indian sub-continent has an area of 3.28 million sq. km (329 million hectares). It is the second largest country in Asia and the seventh in the world. It measures 3,214 km from north to south and 2,933 km from east to west, with a total area of 3,287,263 sq. km. The land frontier is 15,200 km and the coastline is 7,516.5 km. It lies within the latitude of 8 degrees North in the extreme south and 37 degrees in the North, providing adequate sunshine throughout the year in most regions.

India has at its northern boundary, the highest and most extensive mountain system of the world, the Himalayas, which obstructs the moisture-laden clouds from the south, causing them to shed copious rain in the Indo-Gangetic plains, and snowfall in the ranges further north. At its west is the Arabian Sea, in the east the Bay of Bengal, in the south the Indian Ocean. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and the Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea are parts of India.

The rainfall distribution is very uneven. The southwest monsoon accounts for almost all the rain in 75% of the geographical area and 78% of the gross cropped area. The annual rainfall averages 1,170 mm. About a third of the cropped area is still rainfed. More than 61 million hectares receive the benefit of irrigation by exploiting groundwater. The three seasons of the sub-continent are winter (December-February), summer (March-May), and monsoon (southwest monsoon from June to September, and northeast monsoon from October-November).

The types of soil found are the red soil, alluvial soil, and black soil. The Gangetic plains lying about 100 metres above the sea level are ideal for intensive farming. The mountainous terrain of the Himalayas are uneconomical and environmentally too fragile to cultivate. With its varied climate, soil types and geographical areas, a rich diversity of habitats and wildlife is found. There are about 75,000 species of fauna and 45,000 species of flora.

India is a land of small farm holders. The average size of operational farm holding is about 1.18 hectares. Of the total 329 million hectares, 124.58 million hectares are devoted to raising food crops to provide food security for the country. The gross irrigated area is 61.78 million hectares. Rice, wheat, sorghum, maize, pearl millet, finger millet, minor millets, barley, pulses are the major staple crops. Groundnut (peanut), sesame, niger, sunflower, rapeseed, safflower, soybean and linseed are the important oilseeds. The country produces over 200 million tonnes of foodgrains, and it is self-sufficient in foodgrain production. Important commercial crops are sugarcane, cotton, jute, mesta, tobacco and potato and major plantation crops are tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber, coconut, arecanut. The country also boasts a host of spices such as pepper, cardamom, ginger, chillies, coriander, garlic, cloves and nutmeg. Popular horticultural crops include tropical to temperate fruits, vegetables, flowers, cashewnut, a host of root and tuber crops and medicinal and aromatic plants. Fruits and vegetables including onion and potato contribute 20% of the total agricultural output of the country. India occupies the second place in the world in the production of rice, wheat, fruits and vegetables. In the world trade of spices, its contribution is 20%. It is the largest producer of ginger and turmeric.

Next to crop production, animal husbandry is the most important economic activity in the rural areas. India has the largest bovine population in the world. The total milk production in 1998 was 74 million tonnes, which is the highest in the world. Egg production the country ranks sixth and broiler production eighteenth in the world. The annual fish production has exceeded 2.71 million tonnes in 1997-98, which is the seventh largest in the world.

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