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*
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 led to
independence in 1947.
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Location:
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Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between
Burma and Pakistan |
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Geographic coordinates:
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20 00 N, 77 00 E |
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Map references:
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Asia |
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Area:
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total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km
water: 314,400 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly more than one-third the size of the US |
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Land boundaries:
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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 |
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Coastline:
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7,000 km |
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Maritime claims:
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contiguous zone: 24 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM |
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Climate:
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varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north |
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Terrain:
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upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the
Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m |
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Population: |
1.045 billion |
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Natural hazards:
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droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from
monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes |
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Ethnic groups:
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Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000) |
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Religions:
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Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups including
Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000) |
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Languages:
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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 |
*excerpts from CIA Factbook
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