Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of India
conventional short form:
India
local long form:
Republic of India/Bharatiya Ganarajya
local short form:
India/Bharat
Government type:
federal republic
Capital:
name:
New Delhi
geographic coordinates:
28 36 N, 77 12 E
time difference:
UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
29 states and 7 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*, Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Puducherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal
note:
although its status is that of a union territory, the official name of Delhi is National Capital Territory of Delhi
Independence:
15 August 1947 (from the UK)
National holiday:
Republic Day, 26 January (1950)
Constitution:
previous 1935 (preindependence); latest draft completed 4 November 1949, adopted 26 November 1949, effective 26 January 1950; amended many times, last in 2013 (2013)
Legal system:
common law system based on the English model; separate personal law codes apply to Muslims, Christians, and Hindus; judicial review of legislative acts
International law organization participation:
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; non-party state to the ICCt
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
:
chief of state:
President Pranab MUKHERJEE (since 22 July 2012); Vice President Mohammad Hamid ANSARI (since 11 August 2007)
head of government:
Prime Minister Narendra MODI (since 26 May 2014)
cabinet:
Union Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
elections:
president elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of the states for a five-year term (no term limits); election last held in July 2012 (next to be held in July 2017); vice president elected by both houses of Parliament for a five-year term; election last held in August 2012 (next to be held in August 2017); prime minister chosen by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections
election results:
Pranab MUKHERJEE elected president; percent of vote - Pranab MUKHERJEE 69.31%, Purno SANGMA - 30.69%
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of the Council of States or Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of 245 seats up to 12 of which are appointed by the president, the remainder chosen in staggered elections by the elected members of the state and territorial assemblies; members serve six-year terms) and the People's Assembly or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 members elected by popular vote, 2 appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms)
elections:
People's Assembly - last held April-May 2014 in 9 phases; (next election must be held by May 2019)
election results:
People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA, ; seats by party - BJP 282, INC 44, AIADMK 37, AITC 34, BJD 20, SS 18, TDP 16, TRS 11, CPI(M) 9, YSRC 9, LJP 6, NCP 6, SP 5, AAP 4, RJD 4, SAD 4, independents 3, other 31
Judicial branch:
highest court(s):
Supreme Court (the chief justice and 25 associate justices); note - parliament approved an additional 5 judges in 2008
note - in mid-2011 India�?"s Cabinet approved the program, National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reform, to eliminate judicial corruption and reduce the backlog of cases
judge selection and term of office:
justices appointed by the president to serve until age 65
subordinate courts:
High Courts; District Courts; Labour Court
Political parties and leaders:
Aam Aadmi Party or AAP [Arvind KEJRIWAL]
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK [J. JAYALALITHAA]
All India Trinamool Congress or AITC [Mamata BANERJEE]
Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]
Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Rajnath SINGH]
Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]
Communist Party of India or CPI [Suravaram Sudhakar REDDY, Secretary-General]
Communist Party of India-Marxist or CPI(M) [Prakash KARAT]
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or DMK [M.KARUNANIDHI]
Indian National Congress or INC [Sonia GANDHI]
Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) [Sharad YADAV]
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) [Ram Vilas PASWAN]
Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]
Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Lalu Prasad YADAV]
Rashtriya Lok Dal or RLD [Ajit SINGH]
Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV]
Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD [Parkash Singh BADAL]
Shiv Sena or SS [Uddhav THACKERAY]
Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]
Telegana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) [K. Chandrashekar RAO]
YSR Congress(YSRC) [Jaganmohan REDDY]
note:
India has dozens of national and regional political parties
Political pressure groups and leaders:
All Parties Hurriyat Conference in the Kashmir Valley (separatist group)
Bajrang Dal (religious organization)
India Against Corruption [Anna HAZARE]
Jamiat Ulema-e Hind (religious organization)
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [Mohan BHAGWAT] (nationalist organization)
Vishwa Hindu Parishad [Ashok SINGHAL] (religious organization)
other:
numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations
hundreds of social reform, anti-corruption, and environmental groups at state and local level
various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy
International organization participation:
ABEDA, ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIMSTEC, BIS, BRICS, C, CD, CERN (observer), CICA, CP, EAS, FAO, FATF, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAS (observer), MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, Pacific Alliance (observer), PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC, SACEP, SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNITAR, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNSC (temporary), UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Subrahmanyam JAISHANKAR (since 10 March 2014)
chancery:
2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; note - Consular Wing located at 2536 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
[1] (202) 939-7000
FAX:
[1] (202) 265-4351
consulate(s) general:
Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Nancy J. POWELL (since 19 April 2012)
embassy:
Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021
mailing address:
use embassy street address
telephone:
[91] (11) 2419-8000
FAX:
[91] (11) 2419-0017
consulate(s) general:
Chennai (Madras), Hyderabad; Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay)
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of saffron (subdued orange) (top), white, and green, with a blue chakra (24-spoked wheel) centered in the white band; saffron represents courage, sacrifice, and the spirit of renunciation; white signifies purity and truth; green stands for faith and fertility; the blue chakra symbolizes the wheel of life in movement and death in stagnation
note:
similar to the flag of Niger, which has a small orange disk centered in the white band
National symbol(s):
the Lion Capital of Ashoka, which depicts four Asiatic lions standing back to back mounted on a circular abacus, is the official emblem; the Bengal tiger is the national animal; the lotus is the national flower
National anthem:
name:
"Jana-Gana-Mana" (Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People)
lyrics/music: Rabindranath TAGORE
note: adopted 1950; Rabindranath TAGORE, a Nobel laureate, also wrote Bangladesh's national anthem