India

Country name	Republic of India
Capital	New Delhi
Independence	15 August 1947 (from the UK)
National holiday	Republic Day, 26 January (1950)
Population	1,220,800,359 (July 2013 est.)
Population growth rate	1.28% (2013 est.)
Birth rate	20.24 births/1,000 population (2013 est.)
Death rate	7.39 deaths/1,000 population (2013 est.)
Sex ratio	1.12 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.13 male(s)/female 15-24 years: 1.12 male(s)/female 25-54 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 55-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2013 est.)
Urbanization: urban population	31.3% of total population (2011)
Nationality	Indian(s)
Religions	Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
Languages	Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9%
Literacy	Age 15 and over can read and write Total population: 62.8% Male: 75.2% Female: 50.8% (2006 est.)
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: 3,287,263 sq km land: 2,973,193 sq km water: 314,070 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, rare earth elements, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land
Agriculture - products	Rice, Wheat, Oilseed, Cotton, Jute, Tea, Sugarcane, Lentils, Onions, Potatoes; Dairy products, Sheep, Goats, Poultry; Fish
Industries	Textiles, Chemicals, Food processing, Steel, Transportation equipment, Cement, Mining, Petroleum, Machinery, Software, Pharmaceuticals
Exports - commodities	petroleum products, precious stones, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, vehicles, apparel
Exports	$298.4 billion (2012 est.) $307.2 billion (2011 est.)
Imports - commodities	crude oil, precious stones, machinery, fertilizer, iron and steel, chemicals
Imports	$500.4 billion (2012 est.) $475.3 billion (2011 est.)
Land use	arable land: 48.83% permanent crops: 2.8% other: 48.37% (2005)
Irrigated land	622,860 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 volcanism: Barren Island (elev. 354 m) in the Andaman Sea has been active in recent years
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