India, which lies within the Indomalaya ecozone, displays significant biodiversity. One of eighteenmegadiverse countries, it is home to 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of all avian, 6.2% of all reptilian, 4.4% of all amphibian, 11.7% of all fish, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species.[90] Many ecoregions, such as theshola forests, exhibit extremely high rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indian plant species are endemic.[91][92] India's forest cover ranges from the tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and North-East India to the coniferous forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the sal-dominated moist deciduous forest of eastern India; the teak-dominated dry deciduous forest of central and southern India; and the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain.[93]Important Indian trees include the medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies. The pipal figtree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, shaded Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment.
Many Indian species are descendants of taxa originating in Gondwana, to which India originally belonged.Peninsular India's subsequent movement towards, and collision with, the Laurasian landmass set off a mass exchange of species. However, volcanism and climatic changes 20 million years ago caused theextinction of many endemic Indian forms.[94] Soon thereafter, mammals entered India from Asia through twozoogeographical passes on either side of the emerging Himalaya.[93] Consequently, among Indian species, only 12.6% of mammals and 4.5% of birds are endemic, contrasting with 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians.[90] Notable endemics are the Nilgiri leaf monkey and the brown and carmine Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172, or 2.9%, of IUCN-designatedthreatened species.[95] These include the Asiatic Lion, the Bengal Tiger, and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which suffered a near-extinction from ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle.
In recent decades, human encroachment has posed a threat to India's wildlife; in response, the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act[96] and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial habitat; in addition, the Forest Conservation Act[97] was enacted in 1980. Along with more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries, India hosts thirteen biosphere reserves,[98] four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; twenty-five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.[99]
Economy
From the 1950s to the 1980s, India followed socialist-inspired policies. The economy was shackled byextensive regulation, protectionism, and public ownership, leading to pervasive corruption and slow growth.[100][101][102][103] Since 1991, the nation has moved towards a market-based system.[101][102] The policy change in 1991 came after an acute balance of payments crisis, and the emphasis since then has been to use foreign trade and foreign investment as integral parts of India's economy.[104]
With an average annual GDP growth rate of 5.8% for the past two decades, the economy is among thefastest growing in the world.[105] It has the world's second largest labour force, with 516.3 million people. In terms of output, the agricultural sector accounts for 28% of GDP; the service and industrial sectors make up 54% and 18% respectively. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish.[54] Major industries include textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software.[54] India's trade has reached a relatively moderate share 24% of GDP in 2006, up from 6% in 1985.[101] India's share of world trade has reached 1%. Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, gems and jewelry, software, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures.[54] Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals.[54]
India's GDP is US$1.237 trillion, which makes it the twelfth-largest economy in the world[106] or fourth largest by purchasing power adjusted exchange rates. India's nominal per capita income US$1,068 is ranked 128th in the world. In the late 2000s, India's economic growth has averaged 7½% a year, which will double the average income in a decade.[101]
Despite India's impressive economic growth over recent decades, it still contains the largest concentrationof poor people in the world, and has a higher rate of malnutrition among children under the age of three (46% in year 2007) than any other country in the world[110][111]. The percentage of people living below theWorld Bank's international poverty line of $1.25 a day (PPP, in nominal terms Rs. 21.6 a day in urban areas and Rs 14.3 in rural areas in 2005) decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005[112] Even though India has avoided famines in recent decades, half of children are underweight, one of the highest rates in the world and nearly double the rate of Sub-Saharan Africa.[113]
A 2007 Goldman Sachs report projected that "from 2007 to 2020, India’s GDP per capita will quadruple," and that the Indian GDP will surpass that of the United States' before 2050, but India "will remain a low-income country for several decades, with per capita incomes well below its other BRIC peers."[103] Although the Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades; its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas.[114]The World Bank suggests that the most important priorities should be public sector reform, infrastructure, agricultural and rural development, removal of labor regulations, reforms in lagging states, and combating HIV/AIDS.[115]
Demographics
With an estimated population of 1.2 billion,[9] India is the world's second most populous country. The last 50 years have seen a rapid increase in population due to medical advances and massive increase in agricultural productivity made by the green revolution.[116][117] Almost 70% of Indians reside in rural areas, although in recent decades migration to larger cities has led to a dramatic increase in the country's urban population. India's largest cities are Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad andAhmedabad.[54]
India is the world's most culturally, linguistically and genetically diverse geographical entity after the African continent.[54] India is home to two major linguistic families: Indo-Aryan (spoken by about 74% of the population) and Dravidian (spoken by about 24%). Other languages spoken in India come from the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman linguistic families. Hindi, with the largest number of speakers,[118] is the official language of the union.[119] English is used extensively in business and administration and has the status of a 'subsidiary official language;'[120] it is also important in education, especially as a medium of higher education. In addition, every state and union territory has its own official languages, and the constitution also recognises in particular 21 other languages that are either abundantly spoken or have classical status. While Sanskrit and Tamil have been studied as classical languages for many years,[121] the Government of India has also accorded classical language status to Kannada andTelugu using its own criteria.[122] The number of dialects in India is as high as 1,652.[123]
Over 800 million Indians (80.5%) are Hindu. Other religious groups include Muslims (13.4%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%), Buddhists(0.8%), Jains (0.4%), Jews, Zoroastrians, Bahá'ís and others.[124] Tribals constitute 8.1% of the population.[125] India has the third-highest Muslim population in the world and has the highest population of Muslims for a non-Muslim majority country.
India's literacy rate is 64.8% (53.7% for females and 75.3% for males).[34] The state of Kerala has the highest literacy rate at 91% while Biharhas the lowest at 47%.[126][127] The national human sex ratio is 944 females per 1,000 males. India's median age is 24.9, and the population growth rate of 1.38% per annum; there are 22.01 births per 1,000 people per year.[34]
| Rank | Core City | State | Population | Rank | Core City | State | Population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mumbai | Maharashtra | 13,922,125 | 11 | Jaipur | Rajasthan | 3,102,808 | |||
| 2 | Delhi | Delhi | 12,259,230 | 12 | Lucknow | Uttar Pradesh | 2,685,528 | |||
| 3 | Bangalore | Karnataka | 5,310,318 | 13 | Nagpur | Maharashtra | 2,403,239 | |||
| 4 | Kolkata | West Bengal | 5,080,519 | 14 | Patna | Bihar | 1,814,012 | |||
| 5 | Chennai | Tamil Nadu | 4,590,267 | 15 | Indore | Madhya Pradesh | 1,811,513 | |||
| 6 | Hyderabad | Andhra Pradesh | 4,025,335 | 16 | Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | 1,752,244 | |||
| 7 | Ahmedabad | Gujarat | 3,913,793 | 17 | Thane | Maharashtra | 1,739,697 | |||
| 8 | Pune | Maharashtra | 3,337,481 | 18 | Ludhiana | Punjab | 1,701,212 | |||
| 9 | Surat | Gujarat | 3,233,988 | 19 | Agra | Uttar Pradesh | 1,638,209 | |||
| 10 | Kanpur | Uttar Pradesh | 3,144,267 | 20 | Pimpri Chinchwad | Maharashtra | 1,553,538 | |||
| 2009 estimation[128] | ||||||||||
Culture
India's culture is marked by a high degree of syncretism[130] and cultural pluralism.[131] It has managed to preserve established traditions while absorbing new customs, traditions, and ideas from invaders and immigrants and spreading its cultural influence to other parts of Asia, mainly South East and East Asia. Traditional Indian society is defined by relatively strict social hierarchy. The Indian caste system describes the social stratification and social restrictions in the Indian subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as jātis or castes.
Traditional Indian family values are highly respected, and multi-generational patriarchal joint families have been the norm, although nuclear family are becoming common in urban areas.[100] An overwhelming majority of Indians have their marriages arranged by their parents and other respected family members, with the consent of the bride and groom.[132] Marriage is thought to be for life,[132] and the divorce rate is extremely low.[133] Child marriage is still a common practice, with half of women in India marrying before the legal age of 18.[134][135]
Indian cuisine is characterised by a wide variety of regional styles and sophisticated use of herbs and spices. The staple foods in the region are rice (especially in the south and the east) and wheat (predominantly in the north).[136] Spices likeblack pepper that are now consumed world wide are originally native to the Indian subcontinent. Chili pepper, which was introduced by thePortuguese is also very much used within Indian Cuisine.[137]
Traditional Indian dress varies across the regions in its colours and styles and depends on various factors, including climate. Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as sari for women and dhoti orlungi for men; in addition, stitched clothes such as salwar kameez for women and kurta-pyjama and European-style trousers and shirts for men, are also popular.
Many Indian festivals are religious in origin, although several are celebrated irrespective of caste and creed. Some popular festivals are Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Ugadi, Thai Pongal, Holi, Onam, Vijayadasami, Durga Puja, Eid ul-Fitr, Bakr-Id, Christmas, Buddha Jayanti and Vaisakhi.[138] India has three national holidays. Other sets of holidays, varying between nine and twelve, are officially observed in individual states. Religious practices are an integral part of everyday life and are a very public affair.
Indian architecture is one area that represents the diversity of Indian culture. Much of it, including notable monuments such as the Taj Mahal and other examples of Mughal architecture and South Indian architecture, comprises a blend of ancient and varied local traditions from several parts of the country and abroad. Vernacular architecture also displays notable regional variation.
Indian music covers a wide range of traditions and regional styles. Classical music largely encompasses the two genres – North IndianHindustani, South Indian Carnatic traditions and their various offshoots in the form of regional folk music. Regionalised forms of popular music include filmi and folk music; the syncretic tradition of the bauls is a well-known form of the latter.
Indian dance too has diverse folk and classical forms. Among the well-known folk dances are the bhangra of the Punjab, the bihu of Assam, the chhau of West Bengal, Jharkhand and sambalpuri of Orissa and the ghoomar of Rajasthan. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms and mythological elements, have been accorded classical dance status by India's National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama. These are:bharatanatyam of the state of Tamil Nadu, kathak of Uttar Pradesh, kathakali and mohiniyattam of Kerala, kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh,manipuri of Manipur, odissi of Orissa and the sattriya of Assam.[139]
Theatre in India often incorporates music, dance, and improvised or written dialogue.[140] Often based on Hindu mythology, but also borrowing from medieval romances, and news of social and political events, Indian theatre includes the bhavai of state of Gujarat, the jatra of West Bengal, the nautanki and ramlila of North India, the tamasha of Maharashtra, the burrakatha of Andhra Pradesh, the terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu, and the yakshagana of Karnataka.[141]
The Indian film industry is the largest in the world.[142] Bollywood, based in Mumbai, makes commercial Hindi films and is the most prolific film industry in the world.[143] Established traditions also exist in Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu language cinemas.[144]
The earliest works of Indian literature were transmitted orally and only later written down.[145] These included works of Sanskrit literature – such as the early Vedas, the epics Mahābhārata and Ramayana, the drama Abhijñānaśākuntalam (The Recognition of Śakuntalā), and poetry such as the Mahākāvya[146] – and the Tamil language Sangam literature.[147] Among Indian writers of the modern era active in Indian languages orEnglish, Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize in 1913.
Sports
India's official national sport is field hockey, administered by the Indian Hockey Federation. The Indian field hockey team won the 1975 Men's Hockey World Cup and 8 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals at theOlympic games. However, cricket is the most popular sport; the India national cricket team won the 1983 Cricket World Cup and the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Cricket in India is administered by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and domestic competitions include the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy, the Irani Trophy and theChallenger Series. In addition Indian cricket league and Indian premier league organise Twenty20competitions.
Tennis has become increasingly popular, owing to the victories of the India Davis Cup team. Association football is also a popular sport in northeast India, West Bengal, Goa and Kerala.[148] The Indian national football team has won the South Asian Football Federation Cup several times. Chess, commonly held to have originated in India, is also gaining popularity with the rise in the number of Indian Grandmasters.[149] Traditional sports include kabaddi,kho kho, and gilli-danda, which are played nationwide. India is also home to the ancient martial arts, Kalarippayattu and Varma Kalai.
The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award are India's highest awards for achievements in sports, while the Dronacharya Award is awarded for excellence in coaching. India hosted or co-hosted the 1951 and the 1982 Asian Games, the 1987 and 1996 Cricket World Cup. It is also scheduled to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
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