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South Asia
Page last updated: January 31, 2024
The Indus Valley civilization, one of the world's oldest, flourished during the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C. and extended into northwestern India. Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated 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. Islam spread across the subcontinent over a period of 700 years. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established the Delhi Sultanate. In the early 16th century, the Emperor BABUR established the Mughal Dynasty, which ruled India for more than three centuries. European explorers began establishing footholds in India during the 16th century.
By the 19th century, Great Britain had become the dominant political power on the subcontinent and India was seen as the "Jewel in the Crown" of the British Empire. The British Indian Army played a vital role in both World Wars. Years of nonviolent resistance to British rule, led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU, eventually resulted in Indian independence in 1947. Large-scale communal violence took place before and after the subcontinent partition into two separate states - India and Pakistan. The neighboring countries have fought three wars since independence, the last of which was in 1971 and resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. India's nuclear weapons tests in 1998 emboldened Pakistan to conduct its own tests that same year. In November 2008, terrorists originating from Pakistan conducted a series of coordinated attacks in Mumbai, India's financial capital. India's economic growth following the launch of economic reforms in 1991, a massive youthful population, and a strategic geographic location have contributed to India's emergence as a regional and global power. However, India still faces pressing problems such as environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and widespread corruption, and its restrictive business climate challenges economic growth expectations.
Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
20°00' N, 77°00' E
Asia
Total: 3,287,263 km²
Land: 2,973,193 km²
Water: 314,070 km²
Slightly more than one-third the size of the US
Area comparison map:
Total: 13,888 km
Border countries (6): Bangladesh 4,142 km; Bhutan 659 km; Burma 1,468 km; China 2,659 km; Nepal 1,770 km; Pakistan 3,190 km
7,000 km
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
Varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
Upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
Highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,586 m
Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
Mean elevation: 160 m
Coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), antimony, iron ore, lead, manganese, mica, bauxite, rare earth elements, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land
Agricultural land: 60.5% (2018 est.)
Arable land: 52.8% (2018 est.)
Permanent crops: 4.2% (2018 est.)
Permanent pasture: 3.5% (2018 est.)
Forest: 23.1% (2018 est.)
Other: 16.4% (2018 est.)
715,539 km² (2020)
Salt water lake(s): Chilika Lake - 1,170 km²
Brahmaputra (shared with China [s] and Bangladesh [m]) - 3,969 km; Indus (shared with China [s] and Pakistan [m]) - 3,610 km; Ganges river source (shared with Bangladesh [m]) - 2,704 km; Godavari - 1,465 km; Sutlej (shared with China [s] and Pakistan [m]) - 1,372 km; Yamuna - 1,370 km; Narmada - 1,289 km; Chenab river source (shared with Pakistan [m]) - 1,086 km; Ghaghara river mouth (shared with China [s] and Nepal) - 1,080 km
Note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Indian Ocean drainage: Brahmaputra (651,335 km²), Ganges (1,016,124 km²), Indus (1,081,718 km²), Irrawaddy (413,710 km²)
Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin
With the notable exception of the deserts in the northwest, including the Thar Desert, and the mountain fringe in the north, a very high population density exists throughout most of the country; the core of the population is in the north along the banks of the Ganges, with other river valleys and southern coastal areas also having large population concentrations
Droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes
Volcanism: Barren Island (354 m) in the Andaman Sea has been active in recent years
Dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes; Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in the world, lies on the border with Nepal
1,399,179,585 (2023 est.)
Noun: Indian(s)
Adjective: Indian
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, and other 3% (2000)
Hindi 43.6%, Bengali 8%, Marathi 6.9%, Telugu 6.7%, Tamil 5.7%, Gujarati 4.6%, Urdu 4.2%, Kannada 3.6%, Odia 3.1%, Malayalam 2.9%, Punjabi 2.7%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.1%, other 5.6%; note - English enjoys the status of subsidiary official language but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; there are 22 other officially recognized languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2011 est.)
Major-language sample(s):
विश्व फ़ैक्टबुक, आधारभूत जानकारी का एक अनिवार्य स्रोत (Hindi)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, other and unspecified 2% (2011 est.)
0-14 years: 24.77% (male 182,143,540/female 164,492,120)
15-64 years: 68.42% (male 494,814,550/female 462,533,456)
65 years and over: 6.8% (2023 est.) (male 43,860,101/female 51,335,818)
2023 population pyramid:
Total dependency ratio: 48.1
Youth dependency ratio: 38.1
Elderly dependency ratio: 10.1
Potential support ratio: 9.9 (2021 est.)
Total: 29.5 years (2023 est.)
Male: 28.8 years
Female: 30.2 years
0.7% (2023 est.)
16.5 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
9.7 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
0.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
With the notable exception of the deserts in the northwest, including the Thar Desert, and the mountain fringe in the north, a very high population density exists throughout most of the country; the core of the population is in the north along the banks of the Ganges, with other river valleys and southern coastal areas also having large population concentrations
Urban population: 36.4% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 2.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030
32.941 million NEW DELHI (capital), 21.297 million Mumbai, 15.333 million Kolkata, 13.608 million Bangalore, 11.776 million Chennai, 10.801 million Hyderabad (2023)
At birth: 1.1 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.11 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
21.2 years (2019/21)
Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
103 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Total: 30.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Male: 30 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 30.8 deaths/1,000 live births
Total population: 67.7 years (2023 est.)
Male: 66 years
Female: 69.6 years
2.07 children born/woman (2023 est.)
0.98 (2023 est.)
66.7% (2019/20)
Improved: urban: 96.9% of population
Rural: 94.7% of population
Total: 95.5% of population
Unimproved: urban: 3.1% of population
Rural: 5.3% of population
Total: 4.5% of population (2020 est.)
3% of GDP (2020)
0.74 physicians/1,000 population (2020)
0.5 beds/1,000 population (2017)
Improved: urban: 98.6% of population
Rural: 75.2% of population
Total: 83.4% of population
Unimproved: urban: 1.4% of population
Rural: 24.8% of population
Total: 16.6% of population (2020 est.)
Degree of risk: very high (2023)
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
Vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria
Water contact diseases: leptospirosis
Animal contact diseases: rabies
3.9% (2016)
Total: 3.09 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Beer: 0.23 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Wine: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Spirits: 2.85 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Total: 27.2% (2020 est.)
Male: 41.3% (2020 est.)
Female: 13% (2020 est.)
31.5% (2019/21)
72.6% (2023 est.)
Women married by age 15: 4.8%
Women married by age 18: 23.3%
Men married by age 18: 2.6% (2021 est.)
4.5% of GDP (2020 est.)
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 74.4%
Male: 82.4%
Female: 65.8% (2018)
Total: 12 years
Male: 12 years
Female: 12 years (2020)
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; preservation and quality of forests; biodiversity loss
Party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling
Signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
Agricultural land: 60.5% (2018 est.)
Arable land: 52.8% (2018 est.)
Permanent crops: 4.2% (2018 est.)
Permanent pasture: 3.5% (2018 est.)
Forest: 23.1% (2018 est.)
Other: 16.4% (2018 est.)
Urban population: 36.4% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 2.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030
0.14% of GDP (2018 est.)
1.15% of GDP (2018 est.)
Particulate matter emissions: 50.17 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 2,407.67 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 559.11 megatons (2020 est.)
Municipal solid waste generated annually: 168,403,240 tons (2001 est.)
Municipal solid waste recycled annually: 8,420,162 tons (2013 est.)
Percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 5% (2013 est.)
Salt water lake(s): Chilika Lake - 1,170 km²
Brahmaputra (shared with China [s] and Bangladesh [m]) - 3,969 km; Indus (shared with China [s] and Pakistan [m]) - 3,610 km; Ganges river source (shared with Bangladesh [m]) - 2,704 km; Godavari - 1,465 km; Sutlej (shared with China [s] and Pakistan [m]) - 1,372 km; Yamuna - 1,370 km; Narmada - 1,289 km; Chenab river source (shared with Pakistan [m]) - 1,086 km; Ghaghara river mouth (shared with China [s] and Nepal) - 1,080 km
Note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Indian Ocean drainage: Brahmaputra (651,335 km²), Ganges (1,016,124 km²), Indus (1,081,718 km²), Irrawaddy (413,710 km²)
Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin
Municipal: 56 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
Industrial: 17 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
Agricultural: 688 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
1.91 trillion cubic meters (2019 est.)
Conventional long form: Republic of India
Conventional short form: India
Local long form: Republic of India (English)/ Bharatiya Ganarajya (Hindi)
Local short form: India (English)/ Bharat (Hindi)
Etymology: the English name derives from the Indus River; the Indian name "Bharat" may derive from the "Bharatas" tribe mentioned in the Vedas of the second millennium B.C.; the name is also associated with Emperor Bharata, the legendary conqueror of all of India
Federal parliamentary republic
Name: New Delhi
Geographic coordinates: 28 36 N, 77 12 E
Time difference: UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Etymology: the city's name is associated with various myths and legends; the original name for the city may have been Dhilli or Dhillika; alternatively, the name could be a corruption of the Hindustani words "dehleez" or "dehali" - both terms meaning "threshold" or "gateway" - and indicative of the city as a gateway to the Gangetic Plain; after the British decided to move the capital of their Indian Empire from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911, they created a new governmental district south of the latter designated as New Delhi; the new capital was not formally inaugurated until 1931
28 states and 8 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir*, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh*, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Puducherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal
Note: although its status is that of a union territory, the official name of Delhi is National Capital Territory of Delhi
15 August 1947 (from the UK)
Republic Day, 26 January (1950)
History: previous 1935 (preindependence); latest draft completed 4 November 1949, adopted 26 November 1949, effective 26 January 1950
Amendments: proposed by either the Council of States or the House of the People; passage requires majority participation of the total membership in each house and at least two-thirds majority of voting members of each house, followed by assent of the president of India; proposed amendments to the constitutional amendment procedures also must be ratified by at least one half of the India state legislatures before presidential assent; amended many times, last in 2020
Common law system based on the English model; separate personal law codes apply to Muslims, Christians, and Hindus; judicial review of legislative acts
Accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; non-party state to the ICCt
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of India
Dual citizenship recognized: no
Residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
18 years of age; universal
Chief of state: President Droupadi MURMU (since 25 July 2022); Vice President Jagdeep DHANKHAR (since 11 August 2022)
Head of government: Prime Minister Narendra MODI (since 26 May 2014)
Cabinet: Union Council of Ministers recommended by the prime minister, appointed by the president
Elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament for a 5-year term (no term limits); election last held on 18 July 2022 (next to be held in July 2027); vice president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament for a 5-year term (no term limits); election last held on 5 August 2022 (next to be held in August 2027); following legislative elections, the prime minister is elected by Lok Sabha members of the majority party
Election results:
2022: Droupadi MURMU elected president; percent of electoral college vote - Droupadi MURMU (BJP) 64%, Yashwant SINHA (AITC) 35.9%; Jagdeep DHANKHAR elected vice president; percent of electoral college vote - Jagdeep DHANKHAR (BJP) 74.4%, Margaret ALVA (INC) 25.6%
2017: Ram Nath KOVIND elected president; percent of electoral college vote - Ram Nath KOVIND (BJP) 65.6%, Meira KUMAR (INC) 34.4%; Venkaiah NAIDU elected vice president; percent of electoral college vote - Venkaiah NAIDU (BJP) 67.9%, Gopal-krishna GANDHI 32.1%
Description: bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of:
Council of States or Rajya Sabha (245 seats; 233 members indirectly elected by state and territorial assemblies by proportional representation vote and 12 members appointed by the president; members serve 6-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years at various dates)
House of the People or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 2 appointed by the president; members serve 5-year terms)
Elections: Council of States - last held by state and territorial assemblies at various dates in 2019 (in progress March through July 2022 to fill 70 expiry seats)
House of the People - last held April-May 2019 in 7 phases (next to be held in 2024)
Election results: Council of States - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - BJP 97, INC 34, AITC 13, DMK 10, other 2, independent 2; composition - men 209, women 29, percent of women 13.8%
House of the People - percent of vote by party - BJP 55.8%, INC 9.6%, AITC 4.4%, YSRCP 4.4%, DMK 4.2%, SS 3.3%, JDU 2.9%, BJD 2.2%, BSP 1.8%, TRS 1.7%, LJP 1.1%, NCP 0.9%, SP 0.9%, other 21.2%, independent 0.7%; seats by party - BJP 303, INC 52, DMK 24, AITC 22, YSRCP 22, SS 18, JDU 16, BJD 12, BSP 10, TRS 9, LJP 6, NCP 5, SP 5, other 35, independent 4, vacant 2; composition - men 465, women 78, percent of women 14.3%; note - total Parliament percent of women 11.3%
Note: in late September 2023, both the Council of States and the House of the People passed a bill that reserves one-third of the House seats for women; implementation could begin for the House election in 2029
Highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of 28 judges, including the chief justice)
Judge selection and term of office: justices appointed by the president to serve until age 65
Subordinate courts: High Courts; District Courts; Labour Court
Note: in mid-2011, India’s Cabinet approved the "National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reform" to eliminate judicial corruption and reduce the backlog of cases
Aam Aadmi Party or AAP [Arvind KEJRIWAL]
All India Trinamool Congress or AITC [Mamata BANERJEE]
Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]
Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Jagat Prakash NADDA]
Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]
Communist Party of India-Marxist or CPI(M) [Sitaram YECHURY]
Dravida Munnetra Khazhagam [Muthuvel Karunanidhi STALIN]
Indian National Congress or INC [Mallikarjun KHARGE]
Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]
Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Lalu Prasad YADAV]
Samajwadi Party or SP [Akhilesh YADAV]
Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD [Sukhbir Singh BADAL]
Shiv Sena or SS [Uddhav THACKERAY]
Telegana Rashtra Samithi or TRS [K. Chandrashekar RAO]
Telugu Desam Party or TDP [N. Chandrababu NAIDU]
YSR Congress or YSRCP or YCP [Y.S. Jaganmohan REDDY]
Note: India has dozens of national and regional political parties
ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIMSTEC, BIS, BRICS, C, CD, CERN (observer), CICA, CP, EAS, FAO, FATF, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-5, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAS (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, Pacific Alliance (observer), PCA, PIF (partner), Quad, SAARC, SACEP, SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNITAR, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNSOM, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Three equal horizontal bands of saffron (subdued orange) (top), white, and green, with a blue chakra (24-spoked wheel) centered in the white band; saffron represents courage, sacrifice, and the spirit of renunciation; white signifies purity and truth; green stands for faith and fertility; the blue chakra symbolizes the wheel of life in movement and death in stagnation
Note: similar to the flag of Niger, which has a small orange disk centered in the white band
The Lion Capital of Ashoka, which depicts four Asiatic lions standing back to back mounted on a circular abacus, is the official emblem; Bengal tiger; lotus flower; national colors: saffron, white, green
Name: "Jana-Gana-Mana" (Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People)
Lyrics/music: Rabindranath TAGORE
Note: adopted 1950; Rabindranath TAGORE, a Nobel laureate, also wrote Bangladesh's national anthem
Total World Heritage Sites: 42 (34 cultural, 7 natural, 1 mixed)
Selected World Heritage Site locales: Taj Mahal (c); Red Fort Complex (c); Ellora Caves (c); Hill Forts of Rajasthan (c); Sundarbans National Park (n); Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (c); Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park (c); Dholavira: A Harappan City (c); Jaipur (c); Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya (c); Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (n); Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks (n); Khangchendzonga National Park (m)
Largest South Asian economy; still informal domestic economies; COVID-19 reversed both economic growth and poverty reduction; credit access weaknesses contributing to lower private consumption and inflation; new social and infrastructure equity efforts
$9.279 trillion (2021 est.)
$8.538 trillion (2020 est.)
$9.14 trillion (2019 est.)
Note: data are in 2017 dollars
8.68% (2021 est.)
-6.6% (2020 est.)
3.74% (2019 est.)
$6,600 (2021 est.)
$6,100 (2020 est.)
$6,600 (2019 est.)
Note: data are in 2017 dollars
$2.836 trillion (2019 est.)
5.13% (2021 est.)
6.62% (2020 est.)
3.73% (2019 est.)
Fitch rating: BBB- (2006)
Moody's rating: Baa3 (2020)
Standard & Poors rating: BBB- (2007)
Note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
Agriculture: 15.4% (2016 est.)
Industry: 23% (2016 est.)
Services: 61.5% (2016 est.)
Comparison rankings: services 110; industry 123; agriculture 63
Household consumption: 59.1% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 11.5% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 28.5% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: 3.9% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 19.1% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -22% (2017 est.)
Sugarcane, rice, wheat, buffalo milk, milk, potatoes, vegetables, bananas, maize, mangoes/guavas
Textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software, pharmaceuticals
10.27% (2021 est.)
476.67 million (2021 est.)
5.98% (2021 est.)
8% (2020 est.)
5.27% (2019 est.)
Total: 28.3% (2021 est.)
Male: 28.6%
Female: 26.7%
21.9% (2011 est.)
35.7 (2019 est.)
On food: 29.8% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
On alcohol and tobacco: 2.4% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
Lowest 10%: 3.6%
Highest 10%: 29.8% (2011)
Revenues: $495.007 billion (2020 est.)
Expenditures: $818.94 billion (2020 est.)
-3.5% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
46.52% of GDP (2018 est.)
47.58% of GDP (2017 est.)
47.63% of GDP (2016 est.)
Note: data cover central government debt, and exclude debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data exclude debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions
12.02% (of GDP) (2018 est.)
1 April - 31 March
-$33.422 billion (2021 est.)
$32.73 billion (2020 est.)
-$29.763 billion (2019 est.)
$643.08 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$484.691 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$546.033 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
US 18%, UAE 6%, China 6%, Bangladesh 4%, Hong Kong 3% (2021)
Refined petroleum, diamonds, packaged medicines, jewelry, rice (2021)
$717.119 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$493.033 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$619.485 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
China 17%, United Arab Emirates 7%, United States 7%, Switzerland 6%, Saudi Arabia 5% (2021)
Crude petroleum, gold, coal, diamonds, natural gas (2019)
$638.485 billion (31 December 2021 est.)
$590.227 billion (31 December 2020 est.)
$463.47 billion (31 December 2019 est.)
$555.388 billion (2019 est.)
$518.34 billion (2018 est.)
Indian rupees (INR) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
73.918 (2021 est.)
74.1 (2020 est.)
70.42 (2019 est.)
68.389 (2018 est.)
65.122 (2017 est.)
Population without electricity: 3 million (2020)
Electrification - total population: 99.5% (2021)
Electrification - urban areas: 100% (2021)
Electrification - rural areas: 99.3% (2021)
Installed generating capacity: 432.768 million kW (2020 est.)
Consumption: 1,229,387,712,000 kWh (2019 est.)
Exports: 9.491 billion kWh (2019 est.)
Imports: 5.794 billion kWh (2019 est.)
Transmission/distribution losses: 270.701 billion kWh (2019 est.)
Comparison rankings: installed generating capacity 3; transmission/distribution losses 2; imports 38; exports 21; consumption 3
Fossil fuels: 75.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Nuclear: 2.8% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Solar: 4.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Wind: 4.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Hydroelectricity: 10.7% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Biomass and waste: 2.3% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Number of operational nuclear reactors: 19 (2023)
Number of nuclear reactors under construction: 8
Net capacity of operational nuclear reactors: 6.29GW (2023)
Percent of total electricity production: 3% (2021)
Percent of total energy produced: 2.7% (2021)
Number of nuclear reactors permanently shut down: 0
Production: 743.214 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Consumption: 883.979 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Exports: 1.029 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Imports: 219.212 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Proven reserves: 105.931 billion metric tons (2019 est.)
Total petroleum production: 771,400 bbl/day (2021 est.)
Refined petroleum consumption: 4,920,100 bbl/day (2019 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate imports: 4.53 million bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil estimated reserves: 4,604,900,000 barrels (2021 est.)
4.897 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
1.305 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
653,300 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Production: 27,734,833,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)
Consumption: 61,646,806,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)
Exports: 91.916 million cubic meters (2019 est.)
Imports: 33,911,973,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)
Proven reserves: 1,380,614,000,000 cubic meters (2021 est.)
2,314,738,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From coal and metallurgical coke: 1,574,331,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From petroleum and other liquids: 615.903 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From consumed natural gas: 124.505 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
23.231 million Btu/person (2019 est.)
Total subscriptions: 27.45 million (2022 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 2 (2021 est.)
Total subscriptions: 1.15 billion (2021 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 82 (2021 est.)
General assessment: India’s telecommunications sector has struggled for growth over the last five years; the sector��s lackluster performance has been in spite of concerted efforts by the government to bolster the underlying infrastructure in a bid to achieve universal coverage; instead, the country’s relatively liberal regulatory environment has encouraged fierce competition and price wars among the operators; State-owned as well as private operators have been forced to seek redress from the government in order to avoid bankruptcy; one particular area of contention has been the billions owed by the operators to the government in the form of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues – usage and licensing fees charged by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) – that have been the subject of long-standing court battles over what should be counted as revenue; the government won that battle in the Supreme Court in 2019, but the financial impairment of that decision has pushed a number of telcos to the brink; add the impact of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 and 2021 to the mix, and the government had to come to the industry’s rescue by introducing a major reform package in September 2021; along with changes to the definition of AGR with regard to non-telecom revenue, the package includes a four-year moratorium on AGR dues and spectrum instalments; the government has also deferred the spectrum auctions for 5G until later in 2022; mobile spectrum in India is already in short supply in terms of providing the necessary capacity to reach universal coverage, but the cash-strapped MNOs may not yet be in a sufficiently strong financial position for which to make the 5G spectrum auction viable (2022)
Domestic: fixed-line subscriptions 2 per 100 and mobile-cellular at nearly 82 per 100 (2021)
International: country code - 91; a number of major international submarine cable systems, including SEA-ME-WE-3 & 4, AAE-1, BBG, EIG, FALCON, FEA, GBICS, MENA, IMEWE, SEACOM/ Tata TGN-Eurasia, SAFE, WARF, Bharat Lanka Cable System, IOX, Chennai-Andaman & Nicobar Island Cable, SAEx2, Tata TGN-Tata Indicom and i2icn that provide connectivity to Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, South East Asia, numerous Indian Ocean islands including Australia ; satellite earth stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat; Indian Ocean region (2022)
Doordarshan, India's public TV network, has a monopoly on terrestrial broadcasting and operates about 20 national, regional, and local services; a large and increasing number of privately owned TV stations are distributed by cable and satellite service providers; in 2020, 130 million households paid for cable and satellite television across India and as of 2018, cable and satellite TV offered over 850 TV channels; government controls AM radio with All India Radio operating domestic and external networks; news broadcasts via radio are limited to the All India Radio Network; since 2000, privately owned FM stations have been permitted and their numbers have increased rapidly (2020)
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Total: 644 million (2021 est.)
Percent of population: 46% (2021 est.)
Total: 22.95 million (2020 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 2 (2020 est.)
Number of registered air carriers: 14 (2020)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 485
Annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 164,035,637 (2018)
Annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 2,703,960,000 (2018) mt-km
VT
346 (2021)
253
Note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
93
Note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control
45 (2021)
17,389 km natural gas, 10, 419 km crude oil, 3,544 liquid petroleum gas, 14,729 km refined products (2020) 9 km condensate/gas, 20 km oil/gas/water (2013) (2020)
Total: 65,554 km (2014)
Narrow gauge: 1,604 km (2014) 1.000-m gauge
Broad gauge: 63,950 km (2014) (39, 329 km electrified)
Total: 6,371,847 km (2021) note: includes 140,995 km of national highways and expressways, 171.039 km of state highways , and 6,059,813 km of other roads
Note: includes 96,214 km of national highways and expressways, 147,800 km of state highways, and 4,455,010 km of other roads
14,500 km (2012) (5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for mechanized vessels)
Total: 1,810 (2022)
By type: bulk carrier 65, container ship 23, general cargo 594, oil tanker 134, other 994
Major seaport(s): Chennai, Jawaharal Nehru Port, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), Sikka, Vishakhapatnam
Container port(s) (TEUs): Jawaharal Nehru Port (5,630,000), Mundra (6,660,000) (2021)
LNG terminal(s) (import): Dabhol, Dahej, Dhamra, Ennore, Hazira, Kochi, Mundra
Indian Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard; Defense Security Corps
Ministry of Home Affairs: Central Armed Police Forces (includes Assam Rifles, Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Security Guards, Sashastra Seema Bal) (2023)
Note 1: the Defense Security Corps provides security for Ministry of Defense sites
Note 2: the Border Security Force (BSF) is responsible for the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh borders; the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB or Armed Border Force) guards the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders
Note 3: the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) includes a Rapid Reaction Force (RAF) for riot control and the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) for counter-insurgency operations
Note 4: the Assam Rifles are under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs, while operational control falls under the Ministry of Defense (specifically the Indian Army)
Note 5: the Territorial Army (TA) is a military reserve force composed of part-time volunteers who provide support services to the Indian Army; it is a part of the Regular Army with the role of relieving Regular Army units from static duties and assisting civil authorities with natural calamities and maintaining essential services in emergencies, as well as providing units for the Regular Army as required
2% of GDP (2023 est.)
2.1% of GDP (2022 est.)
2.2% of GDP (2021 est.)
2.5% of GDP (2020 est.)
2.4% of GDP (2019 est.)
Information varies; approximately 1.5 million active personnel (approximately 1.25 million Army; 65,000 Navy; 140,000 Air Force; 12,000 Coast Guard) (2023)
The majority of the military's inventory consists of Russian- and Soviet-origin equipment; there is a smaller, but growing mix of Western and domestically produced arms; Russia continues to be the leading provider of arms to India, although in recent years India has increased acquisitions from other suppliers, including France, Israel, and the US; India's defense industry is capable of producing a range of air, land, missile, and naval weapons systems for both domestic use and export; it also produces weapons systems under license (2023)
Ages vary by service, but generally 16.5-27 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; no conscription (2023)
Note 1: in 2022, the Indian Government announced that it would begin recruiting 46,000 men aged 17.5-21 annually to serve on 4-year contracts under a process called the Agnipath scheme; at the end of their tenure, 25% would be retained for longer terms of service, while the remainder would be forced to leave the military, although some of those leaving would be eligible to serve in the Coast Guard, the Merchant Navy, civilian positions in the Ministry of Defense, and in the paramilitary forces of the Ministry of Home Affairs, such as the Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles
Note 2: as of 2023, women made up less than 1% of the Army, about 1% of the Air Force, and about 6% of the Navy
Note 3: the Indian military accepts citizens of Nepal and Bhutan; descendants of refugees from Tibet who arrived before 1962 and have resided permanently in India; peoples of Indian origin from nations such as Burma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India; eligible candidates from “friendly foreign nations” may apply to the Armed Forces Medical Services
Note 4: the British began to recruit Nepalese citizens (Gurkhas) into the East India Company Army during the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814-1816), and the Gurkhas subsequently were brought into the British Indian Army; following the partition of India in 1947, an agreement between Nepal, India, and Great Britain allowed for the transfer of the 10 regiments from the British Indian Army to the separate British and Indian armies; six regiments of Gurkhas (aka Gorkhas in India) regiments went to the new Indian Army; a seventh regiment was later added
1,800 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 200 Golan Heights (UNDOF); 675 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 2,300 South Sudan (UNMISS); 580 Sudan (UNISFA) (2023)
The Indian military performs a variety of missions; it is primarily focused on China and Pakistan and territorial defense, while secondary missions include regional power projection, UN peacekeeping deployments, humanitarian operations, and support to internal security forces; it has fought in several significant conflicts and counterinsurgency operations since 1947 and regularly conducts large-scale exercises; the military may act internally under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) of 1958, an act of the Indian Parliament that granted special powers to put down separatist movements in "disturbed areas"; the AFSPA of 1958 and a virtually identical law, the Armed Forces (Jammu & Kashmir) Special Powers Act of 1990, have been in force since 1958 in parts of northeast India, and since 1990 in Jammu & Kashmir
The Army is organized into 14 operational corps; the basic field formations under the corps are approximately 40 armored, artillery, infantry, mechanized, or mountain infantry divisions; there are also a number of independent airborne, armored, and artillery brigades, as well as special operations forces; in 2023, the Army announced that it was reorganizing its operational corps and divisions into division-sized “integrated battle groups,” which the Army assessed would be more agile and flexible
The Navy is a blue water force that operates in seas stretching from the western Mediterranean to the Strait of Malacca and the western Pacific; it routinely conducts months-long deployments, exercises with other navies, and conducts a variety of missions such as counter-piracy, humanitarian, and naval diplomacy; its principal ships include two aircraft carriers, more than 50 destroyers, frigates, corvettes, and large patrol vessels, 16 attack submarines, and two nuclear-powered ballistic missile capable submarines; the Navy also has several combat aircraft and anti-submarine warfare helicopter squadrons, as well as a marine amphibious brigade and a marine commando force
The Air Force is one of the World’s largest with more than 600 British-, French-, Russian/Soviet-, and domestically produced combat aircraft, plus nearly 500 combat helicopters; the tri-service Strategic Forces Command manages all of India’s strategic missile forces
The short 1962 Sino-India War left in place one of the World’s longest disputed international borders, resulting in occasional standoffs between Indian and Chinese security forces, including lethal clashes in 1975 and 2020; meanwhile, India and Pakistan have fought several conflicts since 1947, including the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 and the Indo-Pakistan and Bangladesh War of Independence of 1971, as well clashes over the disputed region of Kashmir (the First Kashmir War of 1947 and the 1999 Kargil Conflict); a fragile cease-fire in Kashmir was reached in 2003, revised in 2018, and reaffirmed in 2021, although the Line of Control remains contested, and India has accused Pakistan of backing armed separatists and terrorist organizations in Jammu and Kashmir where Indian forces have conducted counterinsurgency operations since the 1980s; in addition, India and Pakistan have battled over the Siachen Glacier of Kashmir, which was seized by India in 1984 with Pakistan attempting to retake the area at least three times between 1985 and 1995; despite a cease-fire, both sides continue to maintain a permanent military presence there with outposts at altitudes above 20,000 feet (over 6,000 meters) where most casualties are due to extreme weather and the hazards of operating in the high mountain terrain of the world’s highest conflict, including avalanches, exposure, and altitude sickness (2023)
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO; established 1969); the ISRO is subordinate to the Department of Space (DOS; established 1972); India’s first space organization was the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR; established 1962); Defense Space Agency (DSA; established 2019 to command the space assets of the Army, Navy, and Air Force; the Defense Imagery Processing and Analysis Center, Defense Satellite Control Center, and Defense Space Research Organization were also merged into the DSA); National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (established 2020 to facilitate India’s private sector in the country’s space program) (2023)
Satish Dhawan Space Center (aka Sriharikota Range; located in Andhra Pradesh); Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (Kerala) (2023)
Has one of the world’s largest space programs; designs, builds, launches, operates, and tracks the full spectrum of satellites, including communications, navigation, remote sensing (RS), and scientific/technology; designs, builds, and launches rockets, space/satellite launch vehicles (SLVs), and lunar/interplanetary probes; launches satellites for foreign partners; developing human space flight capabilities with Russian assistance; researching and developing additional space-related technologies and capabilities; has space-related agreements with more than 50 countries, including China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the US, as well as the European Space Agency; participates in international space projects such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) radio telescope; has a government-owned company under the administrative control of DOS; NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) is the commercial arm of the ISRO with the responsibility of researching and developing space-related technologies and promoting India’s growing space industry (2023)
Note: further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in Appendix S
Terrorist group(s): Harakat ul-Mujahidin; Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami; Hizbul Mujahideen; Indian Mujahedeen; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham – India; Jaish-e-Mohammed; Lashkar-e Tayyiba; al-Qa’ida; al-Qa’ida in the Indian Subcontinent; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)/Qods Force
Note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in Appendix-T
India-China: India’s relations with China have been fraught for decades; issues include disputed frontiers, as well as China’s support for Pakistan, India’s key rival, and China’s growing influence in India’s periphery, including in the Indian Ocean; in 2020, the two engaged in the worst bilateral border conflict since the Sino-Indian War of 1962; despite ongoing negotiations, including nearly 20 rounds of military-to-military talks as of 2023, tensions at the disputed border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), remain high, and China holds a reported 580 square miles of territory previously patrolled by India; non-lethal clashes involving hundreds of soldiers from each side occured in December 2022; both countries maintain tens of thousands of troops and heavy weaponry at the LAC, and both continue to improve their infrastructure and military capabilities in the disputed border region
India-Pakistan: India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1948 over the disputed former princely region of Kashmir, the most recent in 1999; the two sides are separated by a Line of Control (LoC), a provisional military control line established in 1972 that splits Kashmir into two administrative regions; both countries have maintained a fragile cease-fire since 2003, although they regularly exchange fire across the LoC; both sides accuse the other of violating the cease-fire and claim to be shooting in response to attacks; India largely cut off bilateral engagement following an early 2019 terrorist attack in Pulwama, in Indian-held Kashmir, and a subsequent Indian airstrike on a suspected militant camp inside Pakistan India’s government continues to hold Pakistan responsible for supporting cross-border anti-India militancy, while Islamabad highlights India’s alleged repression of the Kashmir Valley’s overwhelmingly Muslim populace
India-Bangladesh: boundary disputes have been arbitrated
India-Nepal: both sides claim ownership of the Kalapani-Limpiyadhura-Lipulekh tri-junction area, as well as the Susta area, located in the southern part of Nepal’s Nawalparasi district; there have also been sporadic disputes over other borders, such as in the Mechi River and Kali River regions related to issues of encroachment, land use, and cross-border crime
Refugees (country of origin): 92,131 (Sri Lanka), 72,315 (Tibet/China), 10,064 (Afghanistan) (mid-year 2022); 78,731 (Burma) (refugees and asylum seekers) (2023)
IDPs: 631,000 (armed conflict and intercommunal violence) (2022)
Stateless persons: 20,330 (2022)
India is a source, transit, and destination for illicit narcotics and precursor chemicals; drug abuse in India growing, facilitated by illicit narcotics and the availability of over-the-counter medicines; commonly abused substances in India include heroin, cannabis, and cocaine, with growing use of pharmaceutical drugs in recent years including tramadol, opioids, and MDMA (ecstasy) analogues; largest producer of generic drugs in the world which is also used to produce illicit synthetic drugs such as pharmaceutical opioids, methamphetamine, heroin, MDMA, and ketamine