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LAND
3,136,500 km$2$ (includes Indian part of Jammu-Kashmir, Sikkim, Goa, Damao and Diu); 50% arable, 5% permanent meadows and pastures, 20% desert, waste, or urban, 22% forested, 3% inland water

Land boundaries: 12,700 km$2$

WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm (fishing 200 nm; additional 100 nm is fisheries conservation zone, December 1968; archipelago concept baselines); 200 nm exclusive economic zone

Coastline: 7,000 km (includes offshore islands)

PEOPLE
Population: 723,762,000, including Sikkim and the Indian-held part of disputed Jammu-Kashmir (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.2%

Nationality: noun—Indian(s); adjective—Indian

Ethnic divisions: 72% Indo-Aryan, 25% Dravidian, 3% Mongoloid and other

Religion: 83.5% Hindu, 10.7% Muslim, 1.8% Sikh, 2.6% Christian, 0.7% Buddhist, 0.7% other

Language: 24 languages spoken by a million or more persons each; numerous other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually unintelligible; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people; English enjoys "associate" status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindustani, a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu, is spoken widely throughout northern India

Literacy: males 39%; females 18%; both sexes 29% (1971 census)

Labor force: about 197 million; 70% agriculture, more than 10% unemployed and underemployed; shortage of skilled labor is significant and unemployment is rising

Organized labor: about 2.5% of total labor force

GOVERNMENT
Official name: Republic of India

Type: federal republic

Capital: New Delhi

Political subdivisions: 22 states, 9 union territories

Legal system: based on English common law; constitution adopted 1950; limited judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic, 26 January

Branches: parliamentary government, national and state; relatively independent judiciary

Government leader: Prime Minister Indira GANDHI

Suffrage: universal over age 21

Elections: national and state elections ordinarily held every five years; may be postponed in emergency and may be held more frequently if government loses confidence vote; last general election in January 1980; state elections staggered

Political parties and leaders: Indian National Congress, controlled national government from independence to March 1977, and split in January 1978; larger Congress group is headed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the smaller Congress group is headed by Sharad Pawar; Janata Party led by Chandra Shekhar; Lok Dal Party by Charan Singh; Bharatiya Janata Party by A. B. Vajpayee; Communist Party of India (CPI), C. Rajeswara Rao, general secretary; Communist Party of India/Marxist (CPI/M), E. M. S. Namboodiripad, general secretary; Communist Party of India/Marxist-Leninist (CPI/ML), Satyanarayan Singh, general secretary; All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK), a regional party in Tamil Nadu led by M. G. Ramachandran; Akali Dal representing Sikh religious community in the Punjab

Communists: 470,000 members claimed by CPI, 270,000 members claimed by CPI/M; Communist extremist groups, about 15,000 members

Other political or pressure groups: various separatist groups seeking reorganization of states; numerous "senas" or militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Shiv Sena in Bombay, the Anand Marg, and the Rashtriya Swayamserak Sangh

Member of: ADB, AIOEC, Colombo Plan, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMCO, IMF, IPU, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, NAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

ECONOMY
GNP: $150.6 billion (FY8I est. at current prices), $217 per capita; real growth 7% in FY81

Agriculture: main crops—rice, other cereals, pulses, oil-seed, cotton, jute, sugarcane, tobacco, tea, and coffee 105