India (2002) | Netherlands Antilles (2002) | |
Administrative divisions | 28 states and 7 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*, Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Pondicherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal | none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
note: each island has its own government |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 32.7% (male 175,858,386; female 165,724,901)
15-64 years: 62.6% (male 338,957,463; female 316,063,497) 65 years and over: 4.7% (male 24,975,465; female 24,265,514) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 25% (male 27,351; female 26,135)
15-64 years: 67.1% (male 68,431; female 75,312) 65 years and over: 7.9% (male 7,049; female 9,980) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish | aloes, sorghum, peanuts, vegetables, tropical fruit |
Airports | 335 (2001) | 5 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 232
over 3,047 m: 14 2,438 to 3,047 m: 47 1,524 to 2,437 m: 78 914 to 1,523 m: 73 under 914 m: 20 (2002) |
total: 5
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 102
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 9 914 to 1,523 m: 42 under 914 m: 48 (2002) |
- |
Area | total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km water: 314,400 sq km |
total: 960 sq km
land: 960 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin) |
Area - comparative | slightly more than one-third the size of the US | more than five times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world, goes back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest invaded about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkish in 12th were followed by European traders beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism under Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU led to 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. Fundamental concerns in India include the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife, all this despite impressive gains in economic investment and output. | Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade, the island of Curacao was hard hit by the abolition of slavery in 1863. Its prosperity (and that of neighboring Aruba) was restored in the early 20th century with the construction of oil refineries to service the newly discovered Venezuelan oil fields. The island of Saint Martin is shared with France; its northern portion is named Saint-Martin and is part of Guadeloupe, and its southern portion is named Sint Maarten and is part of the Netherlands Antilles. |
Birth rate | 23.79 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 16.16 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $48.3 billion
expenditures: $78.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $14 $13.5 billion (FY01/02 est.) |
revenues: $710.8 million
expenditures: $741.6 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) |
Capital | New Delhi | Willemstad |
Climate | varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north | tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds |
Coastline | 7,000 km | 364 km |
Constitution | 26 January 1950 | 29 December 1954, Statute of the Realm of the Netherlands, as amended |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of India
conventional short form: India |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Netherlands Antilles local long form: none local short form: Nederlandse Antillen former: Curacao and Dependencies |
Currency | Indian rupee (INR) | Netherlands Antillean guilder (ANG) |
Death rate | 8.62 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 6.4 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $100.6 billion (end-March 2001) (2001 est.) | $1.35 billion (1996) (1996) |
Dependency status | - | part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 1954; Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Robert D. BLACKWILL
embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [91] (11) 419-8000 FAX: [91] (11) 419-0017 consulate(s) general: Chennai (Madras), Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay) |
chief of mission: Consul General Deborah A. BOLTON
consulate(s) general: J. B. Gorsiraweg #1, Willemstad AN, Curacao mailing address: P. O. Box 158, Willemstad, Curacao telephone: [599] (9) 4613066 FAX: [599] (9) 4616489 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Lalit MANSINGH
chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; note - Embassy located at 2536 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-7000 FAX: [1] (202) 483-3972 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco |
none (represented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands) |
Disputes - international | discussions with Bangladesh remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, demarcate and fence off the entire boundary, exchange 162 minuscule enclaves, and allocate divided villages while skirmishes, illegal trafficking, and violence along the border continue; Bangladesh has protested India's attempts to fence off high traffic sections of the porous boundary; dispute with Bangladesh over New Moore/South Talpatty Island in the Bay of Bengal; much of the rugged, militarized boundary with China is in dispute but talks to resolve the least contested middle sector resumed in 2001; with Pakistan, armed stand-off over the status and sovereignty of Kashmir continues; dispute with Pakistan over terminus of Rann of Kutch prevents extension of a maritime boundary; water-sharing problems with Pakistan persist over the Indus River (Wular Barrage); Joint Border Committee formed with Nepal in 2001 is intended to resolve 53 disputed sections of boundary covering an area of 720 sq km | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $2.9 billion (FY98/99) | IMF provided $61 million in 2000, and the Netherlands continued its support with $40 million |
Economy - overview | India's economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of support services. Overpopulation severely handicaps the economy and about a quarter of the population is too poor to be able to afford an adequate diet. Government controls have been reduced on imports and foreign investment, and privatization of domestic output has proceeded slowly. The economy has posted an excellent average growth rate of 6% since 1990, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. India has large numbers of well-educated people skilled in the English language; India is a major exporter of software services and software workers. The poor monsoon of mid-2002 has reduced agricultural output substantially. | Tourism, petroleum refining, and offshore finance are the mainstays of this small economy, which is closely tied to the outside world. Although GDP has declined in each of the past five years, the islands enjoy a high per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure compared with other countries in the region. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, the US and Mexico being the major suppliers. Poor soils and inadequate water supplies hamper the development of agriculture. |
Electricity - consumption | 509.89 billion kWh (2000) | 1.093 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 321 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 1.385 billion kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 547.12 billion kWh (FY 2000-01, utilities only) (2000) | 1.175 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 83%
hydro: 14% nuclear: 3% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Scenery 862 m |
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 | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
- |
Ethnic groups | Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000) | mixed black 85%, Carib Amerindian, white, East Asian |
Exchange rates | Indian rupees per US dollar - 48.336 (January 2002), 47.186 (2001), 44.942 (2000), 43.055 (1999), 41.259 (1998), 36.313 (1997) | Netherlands Antillean guilders per US dollar - 1.790 (fixed rate since 1989) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Abdul KALAM (since 26 July 2002); Vice President (vacant)
head of government: Prime Minister Atal Bihari VAJPAYEE (since 19 March 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of the states for a five-year term; election last held NA July 2002 (next to be held NA July 2007); vice president elected by both houses of Parliament for a five-year term; election last held 12 August 2002 (next to be held NA August 2007); prime minister elected by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections; election last held NA October 1999 (next to be held NA October 2004) election results: Abdul KALAM elected president; percent of electoral college vote - NA%; Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT elected vice president; percent of Parliament vote - 59.8; Atal Bihari VAJPAYEE elected prime minister; percent of vote - NA% |
chief of state: Queen BEATRIX of the Netherlands (since 30 April 1980), represented by Governor General Frits GOEDGEDRAG (since 1 July 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Etienne YS (since 3 June 2002) cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the Staten elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch for a six-year term; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually elected prime minister by the Staten; election last held 18 January 2002 (next to be held by NA 2006) note: government coalition - PDB, DP-St. M, FOL, PLKP, PNP |
Exports | $44.5 billion f.o.b. (2001) | $276 million f.o.b. (2000) |
Exports - commodities | textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures | petroleum products |
Exports - partners | US 20.9%, UK 5.2%, Germany 4.3%, Japan 4.0%, Benelux 3.3% (2000) | US 35.9%, Guatemala 9.4%, Venezuela 8.7%, France 5.4%, Singapore 2.8% (2000) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of orange (top), white, and green with a blue chakra (24-spoked wheel) centered in the white band; similar to the flag of Niger, which has a small orange disk centered in the white band | white, with a horizontal blue stripe in the center superimposed on a vertical red band, also centered; five white, five-pointed stars are arranged in an oval pattern in the center of the blue band; the five stars represent the five main islands of Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $2.66 trillion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 25%
industry: 25% services: 50% (2002 est.) |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 15% services: 84% (1996 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,540 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $11,400 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.3% (2002 est.) | -3.5% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 20 00 N, 77 00 E | 12 15 N, 68 45 W |
Geography - note | dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes | the five islands of the Netherlands Antilles are divided geographically into the Leeward Islands (northern) group (Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten) and the Windward Islands (southern) group (Bonaire and Curacao) |
Heliports | 19 (2002) | - |
Highways | total: 3,319,644 km
paved: 1,517,077 km unpaved: 1,802,567 km (1996) |
total: 600 km
paved: 300 km unpaved: 300 km (1992) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 4%
highest 10%: 34% (1997) (1997) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | world's largest producer of licit opium for the pharmaceutical trade, but an undetermined quantity of opium is diverted to illicit international drug markets; transit point for illicit narcotics produced in neighboring countries; illicit producer of methaqualone; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering through the hawala system | transshipment point for South American drugs bound for the US and Europe; money-laundering center |
Imports | $53.8 billion f.o.b. (2001) | $1.5 billion f.o.b. (2000) |
Imports - commodities | crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals | crude petroleum, food, manufactures |
Imports - partners | UK 6.3%, US 6.0%, Belgium 5.7%, Japan 3.5%, Germany 3.5% (2000) | US 25.8%, Mexico 20.7%, Gabon 6.6%, Italy 5.8%, Netherlands 5.5% (2000) |
Independence | 15 August 1947 (from UK) | none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) |
Industrial production growth rate | 4.7% (2002 est.) | NA% |
Industries | textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software | tourism (Curacao, Sint Maarten, and Bonaire), petroleum refining (Curacao), petroleum transshipment facilities (Curacao and Bonaire), light manufacturing (Curacao) |
Infant mortality rate | 61.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 11.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5.4% (2002 est.) | 5.8% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | AfDB, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G- 6, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer), IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | Caricom (observer), CCC, ECLAC (associate), Interpol, IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU, WCL, WMO, WToO (associate) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 43 (2000) | 6 |
Irrigated land | 590,000 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president and remain in office until they reach the age of 65) | Joint High Court of Justice (judges appointed by the monarch) |
Labor force | 406 million (1999) (1999) | 89,000 |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 60%, services 23%, industry 17% (1999) (1999) | agriculture 1%, industry 13%, services 86% (1994 est.) |
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 |
total: 10.2 km
border countries: Guadeloupe (Saint Martin) 10.2 km |
Land use | arable land: 54.35%
permanent crops: 2.66% other: 42.99% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 0% other: 90% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language | Dutch (official), Papiamento (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) predominates, English widely spoken, Spanish |
Legal system | based on English common law; limited judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | based on Dutch civil law system, with some English common law influence |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of the Council of States or Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of not more than 250 members, up to 12 of which are appointed by the president, the remainder are chosen by the elected members of the state and territorial assemblies; members serve six-year terms) and the People's Assembly or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 elected by popular vote, 2 appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Assembly - last held 5 September through 3 October 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - BJP alliance 40.8%, Congress (I) alliance 33.8%, other 25.4%; seats by party - BJP alliance 304, Congress (I) alliance 134, other 107 |
unicameral States or Staten (22 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 18 January 2002 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - FOL 5, PAR 4, PNP 3, PLKP 2, DP-St.M 2, UPB 2, DP 1, MAN 1, PDB 1, WIPM 1 note: the government of Prime Minister Miguel POURIER is a coalition of several parties; current seats by party - PAR 4, PNP 3, FOL 2, MAN 2, UPB 2, DP-St. M 2, PDB 1, SEA 1, WIPM 1, other 4 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 63.23 years
male: 62.55 years female: 63.93 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 75.15 years
male: 72.96 years female: 77.46 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 52% male: 65.5% female: 37.7% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 98% female: 99% (1981 est.) |
Location | Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan | Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - one includes Curacao and Bonaire north of Venezuela; the other is east of the Virgin Islands |
Map references | Asia | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
exclusive fishing zone: 12 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 319 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,325,284 GRT/10,581,459 DWT
ships by type: bulk 115, cargo 80, chemical tanker 16, combination bulk 1, combination ore/oil 3, container 13, liquefied gas 9, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 74, short-sea passenger 2, specialized tanker 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: China 1, United Arab Emirates 10, United Kingdom 1 (2002 est.) |
total: 123 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,056,362 GRT/1,341,735 DWT
ships by type: bulk 2, cargo 39, chemical tanker 2, combination ore/oil 4, container 24, liquefied gas 5, multi-functional large-load carrier 15, passenger 1, refrigerated cargo 24, roll on/roll off 7 note: includes foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belgium 3, Denmark 2, Germany 43, Monaco 8, Netherlands 52, New Zealand 1, Norway 3, Peru 1, Spain 1, Sweden 3, United Kingdom 5 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands |
Military branches | Army, Navy (including naval air arm), Air Force, Strategic Nuclear Command (SNC), Coast Guard, various security or paramilitary forces (including Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, Rashtriya Rifles, National Security Guards, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Special Frontier Force, Ladakh Scouts, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Railway Protection Force, Defense Security Corps, and Indian Reserve Battalions) | no regular indigenous military forces; Royal Netherlands Navy, Marine Corps, Royal Netherlands Air Force, National Guard, Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $12,079.7 million (FY01) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.5% (FY01) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 285,729,565 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 54,752 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 167,599,380 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 30,642 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 17 years of age (2002 est.) | 20 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 10,879,384 (2002 est.) | males: 1,610 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Republic Day, 26 January (1950) | Queen's Day (Birthday of Queen-Mother JULIANA in 1909 and accession to the throne of her oldest daughter BEATRIX in 1980), 30 April |
Nationality | noun: Indian(s)
adjective: Indian |
noun: Dutch Antillean(s)
adjective: Dutch Antillean |
Natural hazards | droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes | Curacao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean hurricane belt and are rarely threatened; Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes from July to October |
Natural resources | coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land | phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only) |
Net migration rate | -0.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | -0.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 3,005 km; petroleum products 2,687 km; natural gas 1,700 km (1995) | - |
Political parties and leaders | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK [C. Jayalalitha JAYARAM]; All India Forward Bloc or AIFB, [D. BISWAS (general secretary)]; Asom Gana Parishad [Brindaban GOSWAMI]; Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Jana KRISNAMURTHY]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]; Communist Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu Bhushan BARDHAN]; Communist Party of India/Marxist-Leninist or CPI/ML [Dipankar BHATTACHARYA]; Congress (I) Party [Sonia GANDHI]; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or DMK (a regional party in Tamil Nadu) [M. KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National League [Suliaman SAITH]; Janata Dal (Secular) [H. D. Deve GOWDA]; Janata Dal (United) or JDU [Sharad YADAV]; Kerala Congress (Mani faction) [K. M. MANI]; Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or MDMK [VAIKO]; Muslim League [G. M. BANATWALA]; Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Laloo Prasad YADAV]; Revolutionary Socialist Party or RSP [Abani ROY]; Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV]; Shiromani Akali Dal [G. S. TOHRA]; Shiv Sena [Bal THACKERAY]; Tamil Maanila Congress [G. K. VASAN]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]; Trinamool Congress [Mamata BANERJEE] | Antillean Restructuring Party or PAR [Miguel POURIER]; C 93 [Stanley BROWN]; Democratic Party of Bonaire or PDB [Jopi ABRAHAM]; Democratic Party of Curacao or DP [Errol HERNANDEZ]; Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius or DP-St. E [Julian WOODLEY]; Democratic Party of Sint Maarten or DP-St. M [Sarah WESCOTT-WILLIAMS]; Foundation Energetic Management Anti-Narcotics or FAME [Eric LODEWIJKS]; Labor Party People's Crusade or PLKP [Errol COVA]; National People's Party or PNP [Susanne F. C. CAMELIA-ROMER]; New Antilles Movement or MAN [Kenneth GIJSBERTHA]; Patriotic Union of Bonaire or UPB [Ramon BOOI]; Patriotic Movement of Sint Maarten or SPA [Vance JAMES, Jr.]; People's Party or PAPU [Richard Hodi]; Pro Curacao Party or PPK [Winston LOURENS]; Saba Democratic Labor Movement [Steve HASSELL]; Saba Unity Party [Carmen SIMMONDS]; St. Eustatius Alliance or SEA [Kenneth VAN PUTTEN]; Serious Alternative People's Party or Sapp [Julian ROLLOCKS]; Social Action Cause or KAS [Benny DEMEI]; Windward Islands People's Movement or WIPM [Will JOHNSTON]; Workers' Liberation Front or FOL [Anthony GODETT, Rignald LAK, Editha WRIGHT]
note: political parties are indigenous to each island |
Political pressure groups and leaders | numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy, including the All Parties Hurriyat Conference | NA |
Population | 1,045,845,226 (July 2002 est.) | 214,258 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 25% (2002 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.51% (2002 est.) | 0.93% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Chennai (Madras), Cochin, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), Vishakhapatnam | Kralendijk, Philipsburg, Willemstad |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998) | AM 9, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 116 million (1997) | 217,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 63,693 km (13,771 km electrified)
broad gauge: 45,103 km 1.676-m gauge narrow gauge: 15,178 km 1.000-m gauge; 3,105 km 0.762-m gauge; 307 km 0.610-m gauge (2001) |
0 km (2002) |
Religions | Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000) | Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Seventh-Day Adventist |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.03 male(s)/female total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: mediocre service; local and long distance service provided throughout all regions of the country, with services primarily concentrated in the urban areas; major objective is to continue to expand and modernize long-distance network to keep pace with rapidly growing number of local subscriber lines; steady improvement is taking place with the recent admission of private and private-public investors, but, with telephone density at about two for each 100 persons and a waiting list of over 2 million, demand for main line telephone service will not be satisfied for a very long time
domestic: local service is provided by microwave radio relay and coaxial cable, with open wire and obsolete electromechanical and manual switchboard systems still in use in rural areas; starting in the 1980s, a substantial amount of digital switch gear has been introduced for local and long-distance service; long-distance traffic is carried mostly by coaxial cable and low-capacity microwave radio relay; since 1985 significant trunk capacity has been added in the form of fiber-optic cable and a domestic satellite system with 254 earth stations; mobile cellular service is provided in four metropolitan cities international: satellite earth stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean region); nine gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai (Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gaidhinagar, Hyderabad, and Ernakulam; 4 submarine cables - LOCOM linking Chennai (Madras) to Penang; Indo-UAE-Gulf cable linking Mumbai (Bombay) to Al Fujayrah, UAE; India-SEA-ME-WE-3, SEA-ME-WE-2 with landing sites at Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay); Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) with landing site at Mumbai (Bombay) (2000) |
general assessment: generally adequate facilities
domestic: extensive interisland microwave radio relay links international: submarine cables - 2; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 27.7 million (October 2000) | 76,000 (1995) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2.93 million (November 2000) | 13,977 (1996) |
Television broadcast stations | 562 (of which 82 stations have 1 kW or greater power and 480 stations have less than 1 kW of power) (1997) | 3 (there is also a cable service which supplies programs received from various US satellite networks and two Venezuelan channels) (1997) |
Terrain | upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north | generally hilly, volcanic interiors |
Total fertility rate | 2.98 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 2.06 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 8.8% (2002) | 15% (1998 est.) |
Waterways | 16,180 km
note: 3,631 km navigable by large vessels |
none |