Swaziland (2003) | India (2007) | |
Administrative divisions | 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni | 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, Puducherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 41.4% (male 242,762; female 238,141)
15-64 years: 55.1% (male 317,526; female 321,709) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 18,040; female 23,041) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years: 31.8% (male 188,208,196/female 171,356,024)
15-64 years: 63.1% (male 366,977,821/female 346,034,565) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 27,258,259/female 30,031,289) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep | rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish |
Airports | 18 (2002) | 346 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 250
over 3,047 m: 18 2,438 to 3,047 m: 52 1,524 to 2,437 m: 75 914 to 1,523 m: 84 under 914 m: 21 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 10 (2002) |
total: 96
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 40 under 914 m: 47 (2007) |
Area | total: 17,363 sq km
land: 17,203 sq km water: 160 sq km |
total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km water: 314,400 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than New Jersey | slightly more than one-third the size of the US |
Background | Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted 1968. Student and labor unrest during the 1990s have pressured the monarchy (one of the oldest on the continent) to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy. | 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. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkic in the 12th were followed by those of European traders, beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Indian armed forces in the British army played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU brought 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. India's nuclear weapons testing in 1998 caused Pakistan to conduct its own tests that same year. The dispute between the countries over the state of Kashmir is ongoing, but discussions and confidence-building measures have led to decreased tensions since 2002. Despite impressive gains in economic investment and output, India faces pressing problems such as significant overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife. |
Birth rate | 29.37 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 22.69 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $448 million
expenditures: $506.9 million, including capital expenditures of $147 million (FY 01/02) |
revenues: $97.16 billion
expenditures: $128.7 billion (2006 est.) |
Capital | Mbabane; note - Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital | 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) |
Climate | varies from tropical to near temperate | varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 7,000 km |
Constitution | none; constitution of 6 September 1968 was suspended 12 April 1973; a new constitution was promulgated 13 October 1978, but was not formally presented to the people; since then a few more outlines for a constitution have been compiled under the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), but so far none have been accepted | 26 January 1950; amended many times |
Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Swaziland
conventional short form: Swaziland |
conventional long form: Republic of India
conventional short form: India local long form: Republic of India/Bharatiya Ganarajya local short form: India/Bharat |
Currency | lilangeni (SZL) | - |
Death rate | 21.08 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 6.58 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $320 million (2002 est.) | $131.1 billion (2006 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador James D. McGEE
embassy: Central Bank Building, Warner Street, Mbabane mailing address: P. O. Box 199, Mbabane telephone: [268] 404-6441 through 404-6445 FAX: [268] 404-5959 |
chief of mission: Ambassador David C. MULFORD
embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [91] (011) 2419-8000 FAX: [91] (11) 2419-0017 consulate(s) general: Chennai (Madras), Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Mary Madzandza KANYA
chancery: 3400 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 362-6683 FAX: [1] (202) 244-8059 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Ranendra SEN
chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; note - Consular Wing located at 2536 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-7000 FAX: [1] (202) 265-4351 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco |
Disputes - international | none | since China and India launched a security and foreign policy dialogue in 2005, consolidated discussions related to the dispute over most of their rugged, militarized boundary, regional nuclear proliferation, Indian claims that China transferred missiles to Pakistan, and other matters continue; various talks and confidence-building measures have cautiously begun to defuse tensions over Kashmir, particularly since the October 2005 earthquake in the region; Kashmir nevertheless remains the site of the world's largest and most militarized territorial dispute with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas); India and Pakistan have maintained the 2004 cease fire in Kashmir and initiated discussions on defusing the armed stand-off in the Siachen glacier region; Pakistan protests India's fencing the highly militarized Line of Control and construction of the Baglihar Dam on the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir, which is part of the larger dispute on water sharing of the Indus River and its tributaries; UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has maintained a small group of peacekeepers since 1949; India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China in 1964; to defuse tensions and prepare for discussions on a maritime boundary, India and Pakistan seek technical resolution of the disputed boundary in Sir Creek estuary at the mouth of the Rann of Kutch in the Arabian Sea; Pakistani maps continue to show its Junagadh claim in Indian Gujarat State; discussions with Bangladesh remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, to exchange territory for 51 Bangladeshi exclaves in India and 111 Indian exclaves in Bangladesh, to allocate divided villages, and to stop illegal cross-border trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous border; Bangladesh protests India's attempts to fence off high-traffic sections of the border; dispute with Bangladesh over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation; India seeks cooperation from Bhutan and Burma to keep Indian Nagaland and Assam separatists from hiding in remote areas along the borders; Joint Border Committee with Nepal continues to examine contested boundary sections, including the 400 square kilometer dispute over the source of the Kalapani River; India maintains a strict border regime to keep out Maoist insurgents and control illegal cross-border activities from Nepal |
Economic aid - recipient | $104 million (2001) | $1.724 billion (2005) |
Economy - overview | In this small, landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 80% of the population. The manufacturing sector has diversified since the mid-1980s. Sugar and wood pulp remain important foreign exchange earners. Mining has declined in importance in recent years with only coal and quarry stone mines remaining active. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives nine-tenths of its imports and to which it sends more than two-thirds of its exports. Customs duties from the Southern African Customs Union and worker remittances from South Africa substantially supplement domestically earned income. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign investment. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. More than one-fourth of the population needed emergency food aid in 2002 because of drought, and more than one-third of the adult population was infected by HIV/AIDS. | India's diverse economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of services. Services are the major source of economic growth, accounting for more than half of India's output with less than one third of its labor force. About three-fifths of the work force is in agriculture, leading the UPA government to articulate an economic reform program that includes developing basic infrastructure to improve the lives of the rural poor and boost economic performance. The government has reduced controls on foreign trade and investment. Tariffs averaged 12.5% on non-agricultural items in 2006. Higher limits on foreign direct investment were permitted in a few key sectors, such as telecommunications. However, tariff spikes in sensitive categories, including agriculture, and incremental progress on economic reforms still hinder foreign access to India's vast and growing market. Privatization of government-owned industries remained stalled in 2006, and continues to generate political debate; populist pressure from within the UPA government and from its Left Front allies continues to restrain needed initiatives. The economy has posted an average growth rate of more than 7% in the decade since 1996, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. India achieved 8.5% GDP growth in 2006, significantly expanding manufacturing. India is capitalizing on its large numbers of well-educated people skilled in the English language to become a major exporter of software services and software workers. Economic expansion has helped New Delhi continue to make progress in reducing its federal fiscal deficit. However, strong growth - more than 8 percent growth in each of the last three years - combined with easy consumer credit and a real estate boom is fueling inflation concerns. The huge and growing population is the fundamental social, economic, and environmental problem. |
Electricity - consumption | 962.9 million kWh (2001) | 488.5 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 67 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 639 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2001) | 1.764 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 348.3 million kWh (2001) | 661.6 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 58%
hydro: 42% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Great Usutu River 21 m
highest point: Emlembe 1,862 m |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m |
Environment - current issues | limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion | 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: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Desertification, Law of the Sea |
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 |
Ethnic groups | African 97%, European 3% | Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000) |
Exchange rates | emalangeni per US dollar - 10.54 (2002), 8.61 (2001), 6.94 (2000), 6.11 (1999), 5.53 (1998) | Indian rupees per US dollar - 45.3 (2006), 44.101 (2005), 45.317 (2004), 46.583 (2003), 48.61 (2002) |
Executive branch | chief of state: King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986)
head of government: Prime Minister Themba DLAMINI (since 14 November 2003) cabinet: Cabinet recommended by the prime minister and confirmed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch |
chief of state: President Pratibha PATIL (since 25 July 2007); Vice President Hamid ANSARI (since 11 August 2007)
head of government: Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH (since 22 May 2004) cabinet: Cabinet 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 (no term limits); election last held 21 July 2007 (next to be held in July 2012); vice president elected by both houses of Parliament for a five-year term; election last held 12 August 2002 (next to be held August 2007); prime minister chosen by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections; election last held April - May 2004 (next to be held May 2009) election results: Pratibha PATIL elected president; percent of vote - 65.8%; Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT - 34.2% |
Exports | NA (2001) | 350,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
Exports - commodities | soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit | textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures |
Exports - partners | South Africa 72%, EU 14.2%, Mozambique 3.7%, US 3.5%, UK (1999) | US 17%, UAE 8.3%, China 7.8%, UK 4.3% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in yellow; centered in the red band is a large black and white shield covering two spears and a staff decorated with feather tassels, all placed horizontally | three equal horizontal bands of saffron (subdued 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 |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.542 billion (2002 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 17%
industry: 44% services: 39% (2001 est.) |
agriculture: 17.5%
industry: 27.9% services: 54.6% (2005 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $4,800 (2002 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.6% (2002 est.) | 9.4% (2006 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 26 30 S, 31 30 E | 20 00 N, 77 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa | dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes; Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in the world, lies on the border with Nepal |
Heliports | - | 30 (2007) |
Highways | total: 3,247 km
paved: NA unpaved: NA (1998) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 50.2% (1995) |
lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 31.1% (2004) |
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; licit ketamine and precursor production |
Imports | NA (2001) | 2.098 million bbl/day (2004 est.) |
Imports - commodities | motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals | crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals |
Imports - partners | South Africa 88.8%, EU 5.6%, Japan 0.6%, Singapore 0.4% (1999) | China 8.7%, US 6%, Germany 4.6%, Singapore 4.6%, Australia 4% (2006) |
Independence | 6 September 1968 (from UK) | 15 August 1947 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.7% (FY 95/96) | 7.5% (2006 est.) |
Industries | mining (coal), wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel | textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software |
Infant mortality rate | total: 67.44 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 70.79 deaths/1,000 live births female: 63.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
total: 34.61 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 39.42 deaths/1,000 live births female: 29.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 11.8% (2002 est.) | 6.2% (2006 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | AfDB, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIMSTEC, BIS, C, CERN (observer), CP, EAS, FAO, G- 6, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC, SACEP, SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 5 (2002) | - |
Irrigated land | 690 sq km (1998 est.) | 558,080 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | High Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch | Supreme Court (one chief justice and 25 associate justices are appointed by the president and remain in office until they reach the age of 65 or are removed for "proved misbehavior") |
Labor force | 383,200 (2000) | 506.9 million (2006 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | NA | agriculture: 60%
industry: 12% services: 28% (2003) |
Land boundaries | total: 535 km
border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km |
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 |
Land use | arable land: 9.77%
permanent crops: 0.7% other: 89.53% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 48.83%
permanent crops: 2.8% other: 48.37% (2005) |
Languages | English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official) | 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 |
Legal system | based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory courts and Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; separate personal law codes apply to Muslims, Christians, and Hindus |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament or Libandla, an advisory body, consists of the Senate (30 seats - 10 appointed by the House of Assembly and 20 appointed by the monarch; members serve five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (65 seats - 10 appointed by the monarch and 55 elected by popular vote; members serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Assembly - last held 18 October 2003 (next to be held NA October 2008) election results: House of Assembly - balloting is done on a nonparty basis; candidates for election are nominated by the local council of each constituency and for each constituency the three candidates with the most votes in the first round of voting are narrowed to a single winner by a second round |
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 whom 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 20 April through 10 May 2004 (next must be held before May 2009) election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - INC 147, BJP 129, CPI (M) 43, SP 38, RJD 23, DMK 16, BSP 15, SS 12, BJD 11, CPI 10, NCP 10, JD (U) 8, SAD 8, PMK 6, JMM 5, LJSP 4, MDMK 4, TDP 4, TRS 4, independent 6, other 29, vacant 13; note - seats by party as of December 2006 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 39.47 years
male: 41.02 years female: 37.87 years (2003 est.) |
total population: 68.59 years
male: 66.28 years female: 71.17 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.6% male: 82.6% female: 80.8% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 61% male: 73.4% female: 47.8% (2001 census) |
Location | Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa | Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan |
Map references | Africa | Asia |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | 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 |
Merchant marine | - | total: 477 ships (1000 GRT or over) 8,350,093 GRT/14,339,440 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 101, cargo 220, chemical tanker 18, combination ore/oil 1, container 9, liquefied gas 19, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 10, petroleum tanker 95, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: 5 (China 1, Hong Kong 1, UAE 2, UK 1) registered in other countries: 54 (Barbados 1, Comoros 2, Cyprus 1, Dominica 2, North Korea 1, Liberia 2, Malta 3, Mauritius 2, Panama 25, Singapore 9, St Kitts and Nevis 1, St Vincent and The Grenadines 5, unknown 2) (2007) |
Military branches | Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (Army), Royal Swaziland Police Force | Army, Navy (includes naval air arm), Air Force, Coast Guard, various security or paramilitary forces (includes Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, National Security Guards, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Special Frontier Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Railway Protection Force, and Defense Security Corps) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $20 million (FY01) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.75% (FY00) | 2.5% (2006) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 284,530 (2003 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 165,005 (2003 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 September (1968) | Republic Day, 26 January (1950) |
Nationality | noun: Swazi(s)
adjective: Swazi |
noun: Indian(s)
adjective: Indian |
Natural hazards | drought | droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes |
Natural resources | asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc | coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | -0.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | condensate/gas 8 km; gas 5,184 km; liquid petroleum gas 1,993 km; oil 6,500 km; refined products 6,152 km (2006) |
Political parties and leaders | political parties are banned by the constitution - the following are considered political associations; Imbokodvo National Movement or INM [leader NA]; Ngwane National Liberatory Congress or NNLC [Obed DLAMINI, president]; People's United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO [Mario MASUKU, president]; Swaziland National Front or SWANAFRO [Elmond SHONGWE, president] | Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Rajnath SINGH]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]; Communist Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu Bhushan BARDHAN]; Communist Party of India-Marxist or CPI-M [Prakash KARAT]; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or DMK [M. KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National Congress or INC [Sonia GANDHI]; Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) [Sharad YADEV]; Jharkhand Mukti Morcha or JMM [Shibu SOREN]; Lok Jan Shakti Party or LJSP [Ram Vilas PASWAN]; Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or MDMK [VAIKU]; Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]; Pattali Makkal Katchi or PMK [S. RAMADOSS]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Laloo Prasad YADAV]; Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV]; Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD [Prakash Singh BADAL]; Shiv Sena or SS [Bal THACKERAY]; Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS [K. Chandrasekhar RAO]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]; note - India has dozens of national and regional political parties; only parties with four or more seats in the People's Assembly are listed |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | 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 in the Kashmir Valley and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland in the Northeast |
Population | 1,161,219
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2003 est.) |
1,129,866,154 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 40% (1995) | 25% (2002 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.83% (2003 est.) | 1.606% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 3, FM 2 plus 4 repeaters, shortwave 3 (2001) | AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998) |
Railways | total: 301 km
narrow gauge: 301 km 1.067-m gauge (2002) |
total: 63,221 km
broad gauge: 46,807 km 1.676-m gauge (17,343 km electrified) narrow gauge: 13,290 km 1.000-m gauge (165 km electrified); 3,124 km 0.762-m gauge and 0.610-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | Zionist (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship) 40%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 10%, Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish and other 30% | Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.098 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.061 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.908 male(s)/female total population: 1.064 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: a somewhat modern but not an advanced system
domestic: system consists of carrier-equipped, open-wire lines and low-capacity, microwave radio relay international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: recent deregulation and liberalization of telecommunications laws and policies have prompted rapid growth; local and long distance service provided throughout all regions of the country, with services primarily concentrated in the urban areas; steady improvement is taking place with the recent admission of private and private-public investors, but combined fixed and mobile telephone density remains low at about 20 for each 100 persons nationwide and much lower for persons in rural areas; fastest growth is in cellular service with modest growth in fixed lines
domestic: mobile cellular service (both CDMA and GSM) introduced in 1994 and organized nationwide into four metropolitan areas and 19 telecom circles each with about three private service providers and one state-owned service provider; in recent years significant trunk capacity added in the form of fiber-optic cable and one of the world's largest domestic satellite systems, the Indian National Satellite system (INSAT), with 6 satellites supporting 33,000 very small aperture terminals (VSAT) international: country code - 91; a number of major international submarine cable systems, including Sea-Me-We-3 with landing sites at Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay), Sea-Me-We-4 with a landing site at Chennai, Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) with a landing site at Mumbai (Bombay), South Africa - Far East (SAFE) with a landing site at Cochin, the i2i cable network linking to Singapore with landing sites at Mumbai (Bombay) and Chennai (Madras), and Tata Indicom linking Singapore and Chennai (Madras), provide a significant increase in the bandwidth available for both voice and data traffic; satellite earth stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean region); 9 gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai (Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, and Ernakulam (2006) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 38,500 (2001) | 49.75 million (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 45,000 (2001) | 166.1 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 5 plus 7 relay stations (2001) | 562 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains | upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north |
Total fertility rate | 3.92 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 2.81 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 34% (2000 est.) | 7.8% (2006 est.) |
Waterways | none | 14,500 km
note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for mechanized vessels (2006) |