India

The land of Ghandi

India

• Physical Geography– On the Indian

subcontinent– Hindu Kush mountains

separate the Indian subcontinent from Central Asia.

– Himalayas separate India from China.

India

– Thar Desert – a large desert region in the northwestern part of India.

– Deccan Plateau – takes up most of the southern portion of India

India

• Waterways– Ganges River is India’s most important river.– Indus River makes up most of the fertile soil in

Pakistan.

• Natural Resources• Coal and other minerals• Crops such as tea, rice, nuts• Livestock• timber

IndiaHistory •One of the world’s oldest civilizations.•Indian culture was greatly influenced by the Aryans.•Hindu is the official language of India•Empires that ruled over India– Aryans– Mauryan– Mughal– British

IndiaHistory•Independence from Great Britain– Mohandas Gandhi’s strategy of non-violence led

India to independence from Great Britain.– India was divided into India and Pakistan.

Before independence

After Independence

India

Religion•Hinduism – world’s oldest religion and dominate religion of India.•Buddhism - religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama – the Buddha.

Gautama – the Buddha

Hindu god - Shiva

India

Economy •Open Market Economy– 4th largest economy in the world• Encompasses village farming, modern agriculture

and handcrafts with modern industry

Indian Rupee

India

Government•Federal Republic – after independence•President Pratibha Devisingh Patil•Prime Minister Manmohan Singh•Bi-cameral Parliament

President Patil

Prime Minister Singh

India

Miscellaneous•Over 1 Billion population – world’s second largest populous country.•Cities – two largest in India and among world’s most populous– Mumbia (Bombay)– Kolkata (Calcutta)

Calcutta

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• Villages– 70% of India’s population live in rural villages. – There are hundreds of thousands of villages– Some just recently received electricity and paved

roads.

Indian villages