Where is India?
About India
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media
India is a vast country in the centre of southern Asia.
India has a border on the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.
The land is a mixture of plains and deserts with the mountains of the Himalayas in the north.
The geographical coordinates for the centre of India, also known as lines of latitude and longtitude, are:-
Latitude - 20 00N
Longitude - 77 00E
Check the weather in New Delhi now.
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The Indian flag is 3 equal horizontal
stripes of Saffron, on top, white and green. There is a blue chakra (a 24-spoked wheel) in the centre of the white stripe.
We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in India to provide us with a detailed history of
their own country. Check how here.
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The total land area of India is 2,973,193 sq kms which is the 3rd largest in Asia.
India has lakes, rivers and canals which total 314,070 sq kms.
India has boundaries with 6 countries
India has a coastline of 7,000 kms which is the 7th longest in Asia.
The highest point in India is Kanchenjunga at 8,586 metres.
The total population of India is 1,266.89 million people, making it the 2nd largest country in Asia by population.
Of this number 609.31 million are females and 657.58 million are males.
A person from India is called an Indian.
To be a citizen of India, one of your parents must be a citizen of India. It is not sufficient to be born in India. You have to live in India for
5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.
The largest five cities in India, by population are:-
The birth rate in India is 19.3 births per 1,000 of population
The death rate in India is 7.3 deaths per 1,000 people.
Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then
the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.
There are 41.8 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 39.2 deaths of boys.
The median age for females is 28.6 and for males is 27.2. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number
of people above the median age as below it.
We have no figures for the average age of a woman when she has her first child.
The elderly dependency ratio is 8.6. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).
The potential support ratio is 11.7. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.
India spends 4.7% of its total income on health care.
There are 0.7 doctors per 1,000 people.
There are 0.7 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
3.9% of the population are estimated as obese.
97.1% of the urban population and 92.6% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or
protected rainwater collection facility.
62.6% of the urban population and 28.5% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer. a pit latrine (that is a
permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.
India spends 3.9% of its total income on education.
Children usually start school at age 5 in India. Primary education is for eight years until age 13 and is the end of compulsory education. Secondary education can continue till 17. This may be followed
by further education at a university or college.
Generally the school year consists of 3 terms and starts in the beginning of June and finishes at the end of April. There is usually a 1 week
in October or November and a 1 week break at the end of December.
60.6% of females and 81.3% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.
10.1% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 12.0% are unemployed while with males 9.5% can't find work.
The total number of people available for work in India is 521.90 million.
They work in the following sectors.
There are 253 paved airports in India, which is the 3rd highest number in Asia.
There are 68,525 kilometres of railways in India, the 3rd longest in Asia.
There are 4,699,024 kilometres of roads in India, which means India is in 1st place for the most kilometres of roads in Asia.