My India

Background:

Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated onto the Indian subcontinent about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. The Maurya Empire of the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. - which reached its zenith under ASHOKA - united much of South Asia. The Golden Age ushered in by the Gupta dynasty (4th to 6th centuries A.D.) saw a flowering of Indian science, art, and culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkic 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. India's nuclear weapons testing in 1998 caused Pakistan to conduct its own tests that same year. Despite impressive gains in economic investment and output, India faces pressing problems such as significant overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and widespread corruption

Geography

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: 48.83% 

permanent crops: 2.8% 

other: 48.37% (2005) 
Irrigated land: 
558,080 sq km (2003) 
Total renewable water resources: 
1,907.8 cu km (1999) 
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): 
total: 645.84 cu km/yr (8%/5%/86%) 

per capita: 585 cu m/yr (2000) 
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; Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in the world, lies on the border with Nepal.