India

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Country summary

Capital

New Delhi

Borders

Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km

Government type

federal republic

Population

1,156,897,766 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

1.407% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

66.09 years[1]

Unemployment

10.7% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

124[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

84[3]

Doing Business ranking

133[4]


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 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. 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. The British Indian Army played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent resistance to British rule, led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU, eventually brought about independence in 1947. Communal violence led to the subcontinent's bloody partition, which resulted in the creation of two separate states, India and Pakistan. The two countries have fought three wars since independence, the last of which in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. India's nuclear weapons tests in 1998 caused Pakistan to conduct its own tests that same year. In November 2008, terrorists allegedly originating from Pakistan conducted a series of coordinated attacks in Mumbai, India's financial capital. Despite pressing problems such as significant overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and widespread corruption, rapid economic development is fueling India's rise on the world stage.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Indian rupee (ISO code: INR)
  • Central bank discount rate: 4.75% (9 December 2009)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 11% (31 December 2009 est.)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $278.8 billion (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $853.4 billion (31 December 2009)[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[7] 450 476 460 182 477 849 507 190 599 461 700 921 810 151 914 892 1 176 890 1 159 170
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] 52.306 55.987 59.958 63.523 63.046 63.327 63.014 61.480 61.334 57.555
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] 11.920 11.913 11.216 11.774 12.016 12.225 12.491 13.721 14.652 14.993
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] 15.079 15.686 15.793 16.302 15.792 15.311 15.366 15.651 16.010 16.168
Debt to revenue (years) 4.388 4.700 5.346 5.395 5.247 5.180 5.045 4.481 4.186 3.839

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "India", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  2. ↑ Heritage Foundation. "India", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  3. ↑ Transparency International. "India", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  4. ↑ Doing Business. "India", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  5. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 367. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  6. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 61. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  7. ↑ World Bank. "India: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  8. ↑ World Bank. "India: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  9. ↑ World Bank. "India: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  10. ↑ World Bank. "India: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.

Links

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