INDIA

ECONOMY

*India's population is estimated at more than 1.1 billion and is growing at 1.3% a year. It has the world's 12th largest economy--and the third largest in Asia behind Japan and China--with total GDP of around $1 trillion ($1,000 billion). Services, industry, and agriculture account for 55%, 27%, and 18% of GDP respectively. Nearly two-thirds of the population depends on agriculture for its livelihood. 700 million Indians live on $2 per day or less, but there is a large and growing middle class of 325-350 million with disposable income for consumer goods.

-Economy GDP (FY 2007): $1 trillion ($1,000 billion).
-Real growth rate (2006-2007 est.): 9.4%.
-Per capita GDP (FY 2006-2007): $909.
-Natural resources: Coal, iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, chromite, thorium, limestone, barite, titanium ore, diamonds, crude oil.
-Agriculture: 18% of GDP. Products--wheat, rice, coarse grains, oilseeds, sugar, cotton, jute, teaIndustry: 27% of GDP. -Products--textiles, jute, processed food, steel, machinery, transport equipment, cement, aluminum, fertilizers, mining, petroleum, chemicals, and computer software.
-Services and transportation: 55% of GDP.Trade: Exports (FY 2006-2007)--$127 billion; engineering goods, petroleum products, precious stones, cotton apparel and fabrics, gems and jewelry, handicrafts, tea. Software exports--$22 billion.
-Imports (FY 2006-2007)--$192 billion; petroleum, machinery and transport equipment, electronic goods, edible oils, fertilizers, chemicals, gold, textiles, iron and steel.
-Major trade partners--U.S., China, EU, Russia, Japan.



SOCIETY

* The ethnic and linguistic diversity of Indian civilization is more like the diversity of an area as variable as Europe than like that of any other single nation-state. Living within the embrace of the Indian nation are vast numbers of different regional, social, and economic groups, each with different cultural practices. Particularly noteworthy are differences between social structures in the north and the south, especially in the realm of kinship systems. Throughout the country, religious differences can be significant, especially between the Hindu majority and the large Muslim minority; and other Indian groups--Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Jews, Parsis, Sikhs, and practitioners of tribal religions--all pride themselves on being unlike members of other faiths.



HISTORY OF INDIA

India earned its independence from the British on the 15/8/47. But the British army left India ultimately in 1950. The Indians celebrate 26/1/1950 as the Republic Day of India. On this day the Indian constitution was adopted. Until its independence in 1947, other countries which neighbor India today; Pakistan, Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), Myanmar (formerly Burma) and distant places like Aden in present day Yemen; were all parts of British India and were all considered as India. Until then (including the British era) India was never one single country but a collection of kingdoms and authorities with no sense of unity. In this sense India as one single country is mainly a result of British rule. Before that the word India was not used to indicate the present day India, but any kingdom, culture or community that existed between present day Afganistan, in the west, up to China and Myanmar in the east.


CREDITS:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/India