group); Bajrang Dal (religious organization); National Socialist
Council of Nagaland in the northeast (separatist group); Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (religious organization); Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(religious organization
other: numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations;
various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional
autonomy
International organization participation:
ADB, AfDB (nonregional members), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner),
BIMSTEC, BIS, C, CERN (observer), CP, EAS, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF,
IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAS
(observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, PIF
(partner), SAARC, SACEP, SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO,
UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL,
WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
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
Diplomatic representation from the US:
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)
Flag description:
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
Economy
India
Economy - overview:
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 United Progressive
Alliance (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. 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 remains
stalled 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
1997, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. India achieved
8.5% GDP growth in 2006, and again in 2007, significantly expanding
production of manufactures. 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 combined
with easy consumer credit and a real estate boom fueled inflation
concerns in 2006 and 2007, leading to a series of central bank
interest rate hikes that have slowed credit growth and eased
inflation concerns. The huge and growing population is the
fundamental social, economic, and environmental problem.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$2.966 trillion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$1.099 trillion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
9% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$2,600 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 17.8%
industry: 29.4%
services: 52.8% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
516.4 million (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 60%
industry: 12%
services: 28% (2003)
Unemployment rate:
7.2% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line:
25% (2007 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 31.1% (2004)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
36.8 (2004)
Investment (gross fixed):
33.9% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $141.2 billion
expenditures: $172.6 billion (2007 est.)
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March
Public debt:
58.2% of GDP (federal and state debt combined) (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
6.4% (2007 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
6% (31 December 2007)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
13.02% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$250.9 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:
$647.3 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:
$769.3 billion (31 December 2007)
Agriculture - products:
rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes;
cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish
Industries:
textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation
equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software
Industrial production growth rate:
8.5% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production:
665.3 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
517.2 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - exports:
378 million kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - imports:
3.189 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 81.7%
hydro: 14.5%
nuclear: 3.4%
other: 0.3% (2001)
Oil - production:
880,500 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption:
2.722 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - exports:
450,700 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - imports:
2.159 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - proved reserves:
5.625 billion bbl (1 January 2008 est.)
Natural gas - production:
31.7 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
41.7 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
10 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
1.075 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Current account balance:
-$12.11 billion (2007 est.)
Exports:
$151.3 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities:
petroleum products, textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering
goods, chemicals, leather manufactures
Exports - partners:
US 15%, China 8.7%, UAE 8.7%, UK 4.4% (2007)
Imports:
$230.5 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities:
crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals
Imports - partners:
China 10.6%, US 7.8%, Germany 4.4%, Singapore 4.4% (2007)
Economic aid - recipient:
$1.724 billion (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$275 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$149.2 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$95.96 billion (2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$37.5 billion (2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$818.9 billion (2006)
Currency (code):
Indian rupee (INR)
Currency code:
INR
Exchange rates:
Indian rupees (INR) per US dollar - 41.487 (2007), 45.3 (2006),
44.101 (2005), 45.317 (2004), 46.583 (2003)
Communications
India
Telephones - main lines in use:
38.76 million (2008)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
296.08 million (2008)
Telephone system:
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 30 for each 100
persons nationwide and much lower for persons in rural areas; rapid
growth in cellular service with modest declines in fixed lines
domestic: mobile cellular service 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
(2008)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998)
Radios:
116 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
562 (1997)
Televisions:
63 million (1997)
Internet country code:
.in
Internet hosts:
2.707 million (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
43 (2000)
Internet users:
80 million (2007)
Transportation
India
Airports:
346 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
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: 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)
Heliports:
30 (2007)
Pipelines:
condensate/gas 9 km; gas 7,488 km; liquid petroleum gas 1,861 km;
oil 7,883 km; refined products 6,422 km (2007)
Railways:
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)
Roadways:
total: 3,316,452 km (includes 200 km of expressways) (2006)
Waterways:
14,500 km
note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for
mechanized vessels (2006)
Merchant marine:
total: 501
by type: bulk carrier 102, cargo 241, carrier 1, chemical tanker 19,
container 13, liquefied gas 18, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 11,
petroleum tanker 92, roll on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 12 (China 1, Germany 2, Hong Kong 1, UAE 6, UK 2)
registered in other countries: 61 (Barbados 1, Comoros 2, Cyprus 2,
Dominica 2, Liberia 2, Malta 2, Marshall Islands 1, Panama 27, Saint
Kitts and Nevis 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 7, Singapore 13,
unknown 1) (2008)
Ports and terminals:
Chennai, Haldia, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta),
Mormugao, Mumbai (Bombay), New Mangalore, Vishakhapatnam
Military
India
Military branches:
Army, Navy (includes naval air arm), Air Force (Bharatiya Vayu
Sena), Coast Guard (2008)
Military service age and obligation:
16 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription;
women officers allowed in noncombat roles only (2008)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 301,094,084
females age 16-49: 283,047,141 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 231,161,111
females age 16-49: 236,633,962 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 11,592,516
female: 10,636,857 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:
2.5% of GDP (2006)
Transnational Issues
India
Disputes - international:
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
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 77,200 (Tibet/China); 69,609 (Sri
Lanka); 9,472 (Afghanistan)
IDPs: at least 600,000 (about half are Kashmiri Pandits from Jammu
and Kashmir) (2007)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: India is a source, destination, and transit
country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of
forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; internal forced
labor may constitute India's largest trafficking problem; men,
women, and children are held in debt bondage and face forced labor
working in brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture, and embroidery
factories; women and girls are trafficked within the country for the
purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage;
children are subjected to forced labor as factory workers, domestic
servants, beggars, and agriculture workers, and have been used as
armed combatants by some terrorist and insurgent groups; India is
also a destination for women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh
trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation; Indian
women are trafficked to the Middle East for commercial sexual
exploitation; men and women from Bangladesh and Nepal are trafficked
through India for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation in
the Middle East
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - India is on the Tier 2 Watch List
for a fifth consecutive year for its failure to provide evidence of
increasing efforts to combat human trafficking in 2007; despite the
reported extent of the trafficking crisis in India, government
authorities made uneven efforts to prosecute traffickers and protect
trafficking victims; government authorities continued to rescue
victims of commercial sexual exploitation and forced child labor and
child armed combatants, and began to show progress in law
enforcement against these forms of trafficking; a critical challenge
overall is the lack of punishment for traffickers, effectively
resulting in impunity for acts of human trafficking; India has not
ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)
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 and throughout Southwest Asia;
illicit producer of methaqualone; vulnerable to narcotics money
laundering through the hawala system; licit ketamine and precursor
production
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
======================================================================
@Indian Ocean
Introduction
Indian Ocean
Background:
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's five oceans
(after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the
Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean). Four critically important access
waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb
(Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of
Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia). The decision by the International
Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth
ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Indian Ocean
south of 60 degrees south latitude.
Geography
Indian Ocean
Location:
body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia
Geographic coordinates:
20 00 S, 80 00 E
Map references:
Political Map of the World
Area:
total: 68.556 million sq km
note: includes Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Flores Sea,
Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Java Sea,
Mozambique Channel, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Savu Sea, Strait of
Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Area - comparative:
about 5.5 times the size of the US
Coastline:
66,526 km
Climate:
northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to
October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and
October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and January/February
in the southern Indian Ocean
Terrain:
surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad, circular system
of currents) in the southern Indian Ocean; unique reversal of
surface currents in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric
pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in
the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents,
while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter
air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest
winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean
Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest
Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninetyeast Ridge
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Java Trench -7,258 m
highest point: sea level 0 m
Natural resources:
oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer
deposits, polymetallic nodules
Natural hazards:
occasional icebergs pose navigational hazard in southern reaches
Environment - current issues:
endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and
whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea
Geography - note:
major chokepoints include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Strait of
Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the Lombok Strait
Economy
Indian Ocean
Economy - overview:
The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle
East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries
a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products
from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Its fish are
of great and growing importance to the bordering countries for
domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan,
South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for
shrimp and tuna. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in
the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and western
Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production
comes from the Indian Ocean. Beach sands rich in heavy minerals and
offshore placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering
countries, particularly India, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka,
and Thailand.
Transportation
Indian Ocean
Ports and terminals:
Chennai (Madras; India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Durban (South Africa),
Jakarta (Indonesia), Kolkata (Calcutta; India) Melbourne
(Australia), Mumbai (Bombay; India), Richards Bay (South Africa)
Transportation - note:
the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial waters of
littoral states and offshore waters as high risk for piracy and
armed robbery against ships, particularly in the Gulf of Aden, along
the east coast of Africa, the Bay of Bengal, and the Strait of
Malacca; numerous vessels, including commercial shipping and
pleasure craft, have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and
while underway; hijacked vessels are often disguised and cargoes
stolen; crew and passengers are often held for ransom, murdered, or
cast adrift
Transnational Issues
Indian Ocean
Disputes - international:
some maritime disputes (see littoral states)
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
======================================================================
@Indonesia
Introduction
Indonesia
Background:
The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; the
islands were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared
its independence after Japan's surrender, but it required four years
of intermittent negotiations, recurring hostilities, and UN
mediation before the Netherlands agreed to relinquish its colony.
Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and home to the
world's largest Muslim population. Current issues include:
alleviating poverty, preventing terrorism, consolidating democracy
after four decades of authoritarianism, implementing financial
sector reforms, stemming corruption, holding the military and police
accountable for human rights violations, and controlling avian
influenza. In 2005, Indonesia reached a historic peace agreement
with armed separatists in Aceh, which led to democratic elections in
December 2006. Indonesia continues to face a low intensity
separatist movement in Papua.
Geography
Indonesia
Location:
Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Indian Ocean and the
Pacific Ocean
Geographic coordinates:
5 00 S, 120 00 E
Map references:
Southeast Asia
Area:
total: 1,919,440 sq km
land: 1,826,440 sq km
water: 93,000 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than three times the size of Texas
Land boundaries:
total: 2,830 km
border countries: Timor-Leste 228 km, Malaysia 1,782 km, Papua New
Guinea 820 km
Coastline:
54,716 km
Maritime claims:
measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands
Terrain:
mostly coastal lowlands; larger islands have interior mountains
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Puncak Jaya 5,030 m
Natural resources:
petroleum, tin, natural gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper,
fertile soils, coal, gold, silver
Land use:
arable land: 11.03%
permanent crops: 7.04%
other: 81.93% (2005)
Irrigated land:
45,000 sq km (2003)