*Iceland, Defense Forces
Branches:
Police, Coast Guard
note:
no armed forces, Iceland's defense is provided by the US-manned Icelandic
Defense Force (IDF) headquartered at Keflavik
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 69,499; fit for military service 61,798 (1993 est.); no
conscription or compulsory military service
Defense expenditures:
none
*India, Geography
Location:
South Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between
Bangladesh and Pakistan
Map references:
Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
3,287,590 km2
land area:
2,973,190 km2
comparative area:
slightly more than one-third the size of the US
Land boundaries:
total 14,103 km, Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463 km, China
3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km
Coastline:
7,000 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
24 nm
continental shelf:
200 nm or the edge of continental margin
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
territorial sea:
12 nm
International disputes:
boundaries with Bangladesh and China; status of Kashmir with Pakistan;
water-sharing problems with downstream riparians, Bangladesh over the Ganges
and Pakistan over the Indus
Climate:
varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
Terrain:
upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the
Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
Natural resources:
coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica,
bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone
Land use:
arable land:
55%
permanent crops:
1%
meadows and pastures:
4%
forest and woodland:
23%
other:
17%
Irrigated land:
430,390 km2 (1989)
Environment:
droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms common; deforestation; soil
erosion; overgrazing; air and water pollution; desertification
Note:
dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important Indian Ocean trade routes
*India, People
Population:
903,158,968 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.86% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
29.11 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
10.52 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
80.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
58.12 years
male:
57.69 years
female:
58.59 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
3.57 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Indian(s)
adjective:
Indian
Ethnic divisions:
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3%
Religions:
Hindu 82.6%, Muslim 11.4%, Christian 2.4%, Sikh 2%, Buddhist 0.7%, Jains
0.5%, other 0.4%
Languages:
English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for
national, political, and commercial communication, Hindi the national
language and primary tongue of 30% of the people, Bengali (official), Telugu
(official), Marathi (official), Tamil (official), Urdu (official), Gujarati
(official), Malayalam (official), Kannada (official), Oriya (official),
Punjabi (official), Assamese (official), Kashmiri (official), Sindhi
(official), Sanskrit (official), Hindustani a popular variant of Hindu/Urdu,
is spoken widely throughout northern India
note:
24 languages each spoken by a million or more persons; numerous other
languages and dialects, for the most part mutually unintelligible
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population:
48%
male:
62%
female:
34%
Labor force:
284.4 million
by occupation:
agriculture 67% (FY85)
*India, Government
Names:
conventional long form:
Republic of India
conventional short form:
India
Digraph:
IN
Type:
federal republic
Capital:
New Delhi
Administrative divisions:
25 states and 7 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar Islands*, Andhra, Pradesh, Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*, Dadra and Nagar, Haveli*, Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa,,
Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh,, Maharashtra, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Pondicherry*,, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu,
Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal
Independence: 15 August 1947 (from UK)
Constitution:
26 January 1950
Legal system:
based on English common law; limited judicial review of legislative acts;
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday:
Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic, 26 January (1950)
Political parties and leaders:
Congress (I) Party, P. V. Narasimha RAO, president; Bharatiya Janata Party,
M. M. JOSHI; Janata Dal Party; Communist Party of India/Marxist (CPI/M),
Harkishan Singh SURJEET; Communist Party of India (CPI), C. Rajeswara RAO;
Telugu Desam (a regional party in Andhra Pradesh), N. T. Rama RAO; All-India
Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK; a regional party in Tamil Nadu),
JAYALALITHA Jeyaram; Samajwadi Janata Party, CHANDRA SHEKHAR; Shiv Sena, Bal
THACKERAY; Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Tridip CHOWDHURY; Bahujana
Samaj Party (BSP), Kanshi RAM; Congress (S) Party, leader NA; Communist
Party of India/Marxist-Leninist (CPI/ML), Satyanarayan SINGH; Dravida
Munnetra Kazagham (a regional party in Tamil Nadu), M. KARUNANIDHI; Akali
Dal factions representing Sikh religious community in the Punjab; National
Conference (NC; a regional party in Jammu and Kashmir), Farooq ABDULLAH;
Asom Gana Parishad (a regional party in Assam), Prafulla MAHANTA
Other political or pressure groups:
various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy;
numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Adam
Sena, Ananda Marg, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Elections:
People's Assembly:
last held 21 May, 12 and 15 June 1991 (next to be held by November 1996);
results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (545 total, 543 elected, 2
appointed) Congress (I) Party 245, Bharatiya Janata Party 119, Janata Dal
Party 39, Janata Dal (Ajit Singh) 20, CPI/M 35, CPI 14, Telugu Desam 13,
AIADMK 11, Samajwadi Janata Party 5, Shiv Sena 4, RSP 4, BSP 1, Congress (S)
Party 1, other 23, vacant 9
Executive branch:
president, vice president, prime minister, Council of Ministers
*India, Government
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament (Sansad) consists of an upper house or Council of
States (Rajya Sabha) and a lower house or People's Assembly (Lok Sabha)
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President Shankar Dayal SHARMA (since 25 July 1992); Vice President K.R.
NARAYANAN (since 21 August 1992)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha RAO (since 21 June 1991)
Member of:
AG (observer), AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-6, G-15, G-19, AfDB, G-24,
G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,
INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM,
ONUSAL, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNOMOZ,
UNTAC, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Siddhartha Shankar RAY
chancery:
2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
(202) 939-7000
consulates general:
Chicago, New York, and San Francisco
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering
embassy:
Shanti Path, Chanakyapuri 110021, New Delhi
mailing address:
use embassy street address
telephone:
[91] (11) 600651
FAX:
[91] (11) 687-2028, 687-2391
consulates general:
Bombay, Calcutta, Madras
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of 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