9781422273807

I N D I A

ASIAN COUNTRIES TODAY

ASIAN COUNTRIES TODAY

Afghanistan Asia: Facts & Figures Bangladesh India Pakistan

China Indonesia Japan Malaysia

Philippines Singapore South Korea Thailand Vietnam

I N D I A

ASIAN COUNTRIES TODAY

JACQUELINE HAVELKA

MASON CREST

MIAMI

MASON CREST PO Box 221876, Hollywood, FL 33022 (866) MCP-BOOK (toll-free) • www.masoncrest.com

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Printed in the United States of America

First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN (hardback) 978-1-4222-4432-6 ISBN (series) 978-1-4222-4430-2 ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4222-7380-7

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India at a Glance .......................................................................... 6 Chapter 1: India’s Geography & Landscape.............................. 11 Chapter 2: The Government & History of India......................... 21 Chapter 3 : The Indian Economy................................................ 33 Chapter 4 : Citizens of India—People, Customs & Culture........ 47 Chapter 5: Famous Cities of India............................................. 65 Chapter 6: A Bright Future for India.......................................... 77 Indian Food ................................................................................ 84 Festivals & Holidays .................................................................. 86 Series Glossary of Key Terms...................................................... 88 Chronology.................................................................................. 90 Further Reading & Internet Resources....................................... 91 Index............................................................................................ 92 Organizations to Contact............................................................ 95 Author’s Biography & Credits...................................................... 96

KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR: WORDS TO UNDERSTAND: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills. SIDEBARS: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! TEXT-DEPENDENT QUESTIONS: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there.

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SERIES GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

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India

G L A N C E

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The Geography of India

Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Myanmar (Burma) and Pakistan Area: Approx. one-third the size of the U.S. total : 2,042,610 sq. miles (3,287,263 sq km) 1,847,456 sq. miles (2,973,193 sq. km) water: 195,154 sq. miles (314,070 sq km) Borders: Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar (Burma) Nepal, Pakistan Climate: Varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north Terrain: Plains in the south, flatlands in the land: Elevation Extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean at exactly sea level highest Kanchenjunga 28,169 feet point: (8,586 m) above sea level Natural Hazards: Droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding frommonsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes Ganges, deserts in the western regions, and the Himalayas in the north

Source: www.cia.gov 2017

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The flag of India—often referred to as tiranga , meaning “tricolor”—is characterized by the three primary colors of India green, India saffron ( kesari ), and white. The saffron represents courage and sacrifice, the white stands for

F L A G O F I N D I A

peace and truth, and the green symbolizes chivalry and faith. Even the flag’s fabric represents something special about India. According to law, all Indian flags must be made of a special hand-spun cotton or silk cloth known as khadi . The material became popular thanks to Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian activist who led the movement against British colonial rule for Indian independence. Gandhi wanted Indians to learn to make their own fabric for clothing rather than relying on British manufactured goods. The government’s Bureau of Indian Standards established the Flag Code of India, which specifies everything from how the khadi cloth is manufactured to how the flag is used. In the center of the white horizontal stripe is a blue symbol known as the Ashoka Chakra, representing a wheel with twenty-four spokes, symbolizing Gandhi’s goal of a self-reliant India. It also stands for the “eternal wheel of law,” as well as life in movement, and death in stagnation.

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The People of India Population: 1,296,834,042 Ethnic Groups: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Mongoloid 0–14 years: 26.98% (349,930,959) 15–24 years: 17.79% (230,647,630) 25–54 years: 41% (534,847,416) 55–64 years: 7.6% (98,502,520) 65 years and over: 6.3% (88,382,517)

Age Structure:

Population Growth Rate: 1.14% Death Rate: 7.3 deaths/1,000 pop. Migration Rate: 0 migrants/1,000 pop. Infant Mortality Rate:

37.8 deaths/1,000 live births

Life Expectancy at Birth:

total population: 69.1 years male: 67.8 years female: 70.5 years

Total Fertility Rate:

2.4 children born/woman

Religions:

Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh

Languages:

Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Urdu, Kannada, Odia, Malayalam, Punjabi, Assamese, Maithili

Literacy Rate: 71.2

Source: www.cia.gov 2018

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Tea plantations along the Muthirappuzhayar River near Munnar, Kerala.

omnivorous: a species that will eat most things, including plant matter (herbivore) and meat (carnivore) poaching: the illegal hunting, capturing, or killing of animals by trespassing, or by pursuit of endangered or protected species

ungulate: an animal with hooves

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C H A P T E R

INDIA’S GEOGRAPHY & LANDSCAPE

1

T he British called India the “Jewel in the Crown” for good reason. If you look at a map of Southeast Asia, you can see that India dominates the region. It is the eighth largest country by land area and is about one-third the size of the United States. Geography India is vast, encompassing 2,042,610 square miles (3,287,263 sq. km), with the majority of its land area at 1,847,456 square miles (2,973,193 sq. km). The rest, 195,154 square miles (314,070 sq. km), is water. The Indian Ocean lies to the south, the Arabian Sea to the west, and the Bay of Bengal to the east. India borders several countries, including Myanmar (Burma), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and China. And the nation borders two large bodies of water, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Sri Lanka and The Maldives are nearby in the Indian Ocean. India is definitely a nation of extremes in terms of terrain. In the south and along the Ganges River, the terrain is flat, with plains and deserts. In the north, the Himalayas tower over the landscape. About 60 percent of land is used for

INDIA’S GEOGRAPHY & LANDSCAPE 11

Kanchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world. The town of Darjeeling is pictured in the foreground.

agriculture, 23 percent is forested, and 16.4 percent is made up of other terrains. The Indian Ocean represents the lowest point (sea level) of the country, and the highest point is Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas. Kanchenjunga sits on the border between India and Nepal and is the third highest mountain in the world at 28,169 feet (8,586 meters). Climate India has a wide-ranging climate, temperate in the north and tropical in the south. For four months during the year (June to September), monsoons plague the nation with rain, followed by a post-monsoon October and November that is fraught with flash floods and an incredibly unstable climate filled with severe thunderstorms and cyclones. India even has an active volcano with its own microclimate called Barren Island, situated in the Andaman Sea.

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Poaching in India

The country’s unique geography contributes to its climate. Deserts, like the Thar Desert, work in conjunction with the Himalaya mountain range to create the monsoon season. As the world’s tallest mountain range, the Himalayas act like a temperature dam to hold back the icy winds that roll in from Tibet and Central Asia. As a result, northern India is relatively warm while the other regions of India are incredibly hot during summers. The majority of

Because of India’s immense size, authorities have great difficulty controlling poaching of the Bengal tiger and other wildlife. Countries that border India have a huge demand for animal parts. Indian authorities do their best to intercept illegal poachers at the border, such as one case in which authorities seized nearly 500 leopard and tiger claws. In India, governmental and non governmental agencies work together to stop the poaching crisis.

The Thar Desert is a large arid region in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent.

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India has a tropical climate. During the hottest part of the year temperatures average around 90-104 degrees Fahrenheit (30-40 degrees Celsius). The town of Drass is known for its record low temperatures which can reach -40 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 degrees Celsius) in winter. Flora The amazingly varied climate of India makes it home to nearly 20,000 separate species of plants. Indeed, India contains about 7 percent of the world’s entire population of plant species. The country’s growing areas range from tropical rainforest regions to high altitude conifer forests of pines and junipers. Many of these species are native to

The Lotus Flower Nelumbo nucifera i s the national flower of India.

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