TABLE OF CONTENTS India is located in the southern part of the region known as South Asia. The Himalaya mountains form its northern border, and a vast 6100-kilometre coastline the southern boundary of the peninsula. On the east of the peninsula is the Bay of Bengal and on the west the Arabian Sea. The country's northern neighbours are Bhutan, Nepal and the Tibet region of China; to the east lie Bangaladesh and Myanmar and in the northwest Pakistan and a wedge of Afghanistan. India has an area of almost 3 290 000 square kilometres which makes it the seventh largest country in the world.
While there is a great deal of variation across the country, the climate can broadly be described as monsoon tropical, with the rains determining the division in seasons. The temperature in the capital, New Delhi, ranges from 7 C in winter to well over 40 C in summer; in other major cities, the variation in temperature is less - Calcutta ranges from 12 to 35 C, Chennai from 19 to 37 C and Mumbai from 20 to 34 C.
The country's population, according to the last census, conducted in 1991, was 846.30 million. While almost three-quarters of the population live in the rural areas, the population density of the major cities can reach almost 7000 persons per square kilometre.
A majority of the people - more than 82 per cent - are Hindus, and 11 per cent are Muslims. The other major...
