India – Some Basic Facts

Location – 8 4’ to 37 6’north latitude and  68 7’ to 97 25’ east longitude. India is bounded on the north by the Himalayas and on the south by the Indian Ocean. Pakistan lies to the north west and Arabian Sea to the south west. To the east lie the eastern Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal.

Extent – The total area of India is 32,87,263 sq. km. She measures 3214 km from north to south and 2933 km from east to west. India has a land frontier of 15, 200 km and a coastline of 7516.6 kms which includes the coasts of the mainland, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Physiographic Regions – The mainland comprises of 5 main regions. These are

1. The great mountain zone  consisting of the northern and north east Himalayan range
2. The Indo – Gangetic Plain  consisting of the plains of Indus and Ganga.
3. The Desert which consists of Rann of Kutch, southern Rajasthan and western Rajasthan including the frontier with Sind.
4. The Deccan Plateau which is marked off from the       Indo–Gangetic plain by the Aravalli, Vindhya, Satpura, Maikal and Ajanta ranges. The southern most part of the Plateau is formed by the Nilgiri hills.
5. The Coastal Plains which consist of Sahyadris or the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats.

States and U.T.’s – India has 28 states, 6 U.T.’s and 1 National Capital Territory of Delhi.

India – Demography ( 2001 consensus)

Capital – New Delhi

Area – 32,87,263 sq km

Population – 1,02,70,15,247 or 1.027 billion ( 2001 consensus)  (Present  - 1.048 billion)

Sex Ratio – 933

Decadal Growth – 21.30 % or 18,06,27,359 in absolute numbers

Annual Growth Rate – 1.93 %

Life expectancy – 62.03 years

Infant mortality rate – 70/1000 live births

Rural Population – 72.22 %

Urban Population – 27.78 %

Density per sq km – 324

Literacy in percent – 65.38

Males – 75.85 , Females – 54.16

Urban – 80.3, Rural – 59.4

Economic Indicators

GDP – Rs. 18,95,843 crores ( at current prices )

Per Capita Income – Rs. 16,486

Share in GDP

Agriculture  - 24.3%

Industry       - 21.6%

Services      - 54.1%

External Debt – 98 billion  dollars

Poverty – 26 % .

National Insignia

National Emblem – The National Emblem of India is an adaptation form the Lion Capital of  the Ashoka Pillar at Sarnath. It consists of 4 lions standing back to back on an abacus, which carries pictures of four animals – a bull, a horse, an elephant and a lion. Below the abacus the words “ Satyameva Jayate” are inscribed.These have been taken from the Mundaka Upanishad.

 The emblem was adopted by the Government on 26 January. 1950.

National Flag- The National Flag is a horizontal tricolour. It consists of saffron at top, white in the middle and green at the bottom in equal proportions. In the centre of the white portion is a navy blue ‘ Chakra ‘ or wheel having 24 spokes. The ratio of the length of  the flag to its width is three to two.

The National Flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on 22 July , 1947.

The National Anthem – The National Anthem of India was adopted form the song Jana Gana Mana composed by Rabindra Nath Tagore. The first of the 5 stanzas has been chosen as the national anthem. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. The Hindi version of the first stanza was adopted as the National Anthem on 24 January 1950.

The time of the full version of the Anthem is 52 seconds. However, there is a shorter version consisting of the first and last lines of the stanza which is of a duration of 20 seconds. Its English translation has been rendered by Tagore himself.

National Song. ‘Vande Mataram’ is the National Song of India. It was composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji. It has an equal status with Jana Gana Mana. The National Song was sung for the first time at the Congress session  at                   in  1896.

            The English version of the song has been rendered by Sri Aurobindo.

National Calendar – The National Calendar is based on the Saka era. It has 365 days and its dates have a permanent correspondence with dates of the Gregorian calendar. Chaitra is the first month and 1 chaitra falls on 22^nd of March in normal years and on 21^st of March in a leap year.

The national calendar was adopted on 22 March 1957 on the basis of recommendations of the Calendar Reform Committee.

National Animal – The Panthera Tigris or the Tiger is the National animal of India.

National Bird- The Indian Peacock Pavo Cristatus is the National Bird of India.

National Flower – The National Flower of India is the Lotus ( Nelumbo Nucipera Gaertn).

* Please note that the demographic data is based on the last census conducted in 2001.