m

Coastline: 7,000 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone : 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point : Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m

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: 56%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures : 4%
forests and woodland: 23%
other: 16% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 480,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms common;
earthquakes

Environment - current 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 rapidly growing population is overstraining natural
resources

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified : none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important
Indian Ocean trade routes

@India:People

Population: 966,783,171 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 35% (male 173,420,822; female 163,433,648)
15-64 years: 61% (male 304,048,569; female 281,625,342)
65 years and over: 4% (male 22,536,104; female 21,718,686) (July 1997
est.)

Population growth rate: 1.72% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 26.19 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 8.87 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.04 male(s)/female
total population : 1.07 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortalit