India (The Republic of India) Mark Twain said "India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great-grandmother of tradition".

Saffron represents courage, sacrifice, and the spirit of renunciation White signifies purity and truth Green stands for faith and fertility Blue chakra symbolizes the wheel of life in movement and death in stagnation The national flag of India has three equal horizontal bands of saffron (top), white, and green, with a blue chakra (24-spoked wheel) centered in the white band

Capital is New Dehli.

Early History  The Indus River Valley was the location of the earliest civilization on the Indian Subcontinent. This was the Harappan civilization.  The Indo-Aryans moved into northern India in about 1500 B.C. Their language was Sanskrit (still used in official documents in India today).  They created cotton fabric, the game of chess, and the beginnings of the number system we use today.

 Around A.D.1000, Muslim armies moved into India. The Delhi sultanate (an Muslim kingdom) began in the 1200’s  In the 1500’s, a group called the Muguhls took over India. The first Muguhl emperor was Babur. His grandson Akbar began the golden age of the Muguhl empire.  Akbar’s grandson, Shah Jahan, built the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his wife.

 Great Britain took over control of India in the 1700’s and 1800’s. This rule was first under the British East India Company. After years of control by this company, India became a colony of Great Britain.  In the 1800’s, Indians began to look for ways to gain independence from Great Britain.  After WWI, Mohandas Gandhi began leading a nonviolent protest to gain India’s freedom. It succeeded in 1947.

Government India is a federal republic. Executive branch President--Pratibha Devisingh Patil President elected by members of legislature Head of Government--Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Prime Minister elected by members of legislature

Legislative branch Bicameral legislature (Sandad, or Parliament) Members of legislature are elected by popular vote or by electoral college. A few are appointed by other governmental bodies Judicial branch Appointed by president

Religion and Ethic Groups Religious Groups oHindu 80.5% oMuslim 13.4% oChristian 2.3% oSikh 1.9% oother 1.8% oUnspecified 0.1% Ethnic Groups oIndo-Aryan 72% oDravidian 25% oMongoloid & other 3%

Language Hindi 41%Kannada 3.7%, Bengali 8.1% Malayalam 3.2%, Telugu 7.2%Oriya 3.2%, Marathi 7% Punjabi 2.8%, Tamil 5.9%Assamese 1.3%, Urdu 5% Maithili 1.2%, Gujarati 4.5%, other 5.9% ***English is the secondary language in many regions of India. It is used in much of government and business.

Economy India is developing into an open market economy. While more than half of the population works in agriculture, the growth in the economy is coming from service jobs. Many jobs in information and software are increasing India’s influence in the world.

Major Industry Textiles Chemicals Food processing Steel Mining Petroleum Machinery Software Pharmaceuticals Natural Resources Coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world) Iron Ore Rare Earth Elements Natural Gas Diamonds Petroleum Limestone Arable Land

Geography & Climate Climate Varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north Geography Upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, Flat to rolling plain along the Ganges Deserts in west Himalayas in north

Environmental 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 growing population is overstraining natural resources

Literacy Rate –Total 61% –Male 73% –Female 48% Life Expectancy –Total 66.5 –Male 65.5 –Female 67.5 GDP –$3,200 per capita Population --1,173,108, nd largest population in the world Below Poverty Level –25%