India(The Republic of India)

Mark Twain said

"India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the

great-grandmother of tradition".

•Saffron represents courage, sacrifice, and the spirit of renunciation

•White signifies purity and truth

•Green stands for faith and fertility

•Blue chakra symbolizes the wheel of life in movement and death in stagnation

The national flag of India has three equal horizontal bands of saffron (top), white, and green, with a blue chakra (24-spoked wheel) centered in the white band

Capital is New Dehli.

Early HistoryThe Indus River Valley was the location of

the earliest civilization on the Indian Subcontinent. This was the Harappan civilization.

The Indo-Aryans moved into northern India in about 1500 B.C. Their language was Sanskrit (still used in official documents in India today).

They created cotton fabric, the game of chess, and the beginnings of the number system we use today.

Around A.D.1000, Muslim armies moved into India. The Delhi sultanate (an Muslim kingdom) began in the 1200’s

In the 1500’s, a group called the Muguhls took over India. The first Muguhl emperor was Babur. His grandson Akbar began the golden age of the Muguhl empire.

Akbar’s grandson, Shah Jahan, built the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his wife.

Great Britain took over control of India in the 1700’s and 1800’s. This rule was first under the British East India Company. After years of control by this company, India became a colony of Great Britain.

In the 1800’s, Indians began to look for ways to gain independence from Great Britain.

After WWI, Mohandas Gandhi began leading a nonviolent protest to gain India’s freedom. It succeeded in 1947.

Government• India is a federal republic.

Executive branch

• President--Pratibha Devisingh Patil

• President elected by members of legislature

• Head of Government--Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

• Prime Minister elected by members of legislature

Legislative branch• Bicameral legislature (Sandad, or

Parliament)• Members of legislature are elected by

popular vote or by electoral college. A few are appointed by other governmental bodies

Judicial branch• Appointed by president

Religion and Ethic Groups

Religious Groups

o Hindu 80.5%

o Muslim 13.4%

o Christian 2.3%

o Sikh 1.9%

o other 1.8%

o Unspecified 0.1%

Ethnic Groups

o Indo-Aryan 72%

o Dravidian 25%

o Mongoloid & other 3%

Language

Hindi 41% Kannada 3.7%, Bengali 8.1% Malayalam 3.2%, Telugu 7.2% Oriya 3.2%, Marathi 7% Punjabi 2.8%, Tamil 5.9% Assamese 1.3%, Urdu 5% Maithili 1.2%, Gujarati 4.5%, other 5.9%

***English is the secondary language in many regions of India. It is used in much of government and business.

Economy

• India is developing into an open market economy.

• While more than half of the population works in agriculture, the growth in the economy is coming from service jobs.

• Many jobs in information and software are increasing India’s influence in the world.

• Major IndustryTextilesChemicalsFood processingSteelMiningPetroleumMachinerySoftwarePharmaceuticals

• Natural ResourcesCoal (fourth-largest

reserves in the world) Iron OreRare Earth ElementsNatural GasDiamondsPetroleum LimestoneArable Land

Geography & ClimateClimate

• Varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north

Geography

• Upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south,

• Flat to rolling plain along the Ganges

• Deserts in west

• Himalayas in north

Environmental 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

• Literacy Rate– Total 61%– Male 73%– Female 48%

• Life Expectancy– Total 66.5– Male 65.5– Female 67.5

• GDP– $3,200 per capita • Population

--1,173,108,018

--2nd largest population in the world

• Below Poverty Level– 25%