National Health Profile 2018

19 / 354

National Health Profile 2018
The Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya) is one of the oldest civilizations with more than 1.2 billion people and
most populous Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of Government in
the world. India is the seventh-largest country by area as well as world’s seventh-largest economy1 and it has
achieved socio economic progress during the last 70 years of its independence. The country has become self
sufficient in agricultural production and is one of the top industrialised country in the world and emerged as
an important regional power. Over the seven decades since independence, life expectancy of the country has
increased2 , literacy rates have quadrupled and health conditions have improved to a great extent3.
Location: India covers an area of 32,87,263 sq. km (1,269,346 sq mi), extending from the snow-covered Himalayan
heights to the tropical rain forests of the south. As the 7th largest country in the world, India stands apart from
the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct geographical entity.
Bounded by the Great Himalayas in the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into
the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. Lying entirely in the
northern hemisphere, the mainland extends between latitudes 8° 4' and 37° 6' north, longitudes 68° 7' and 97°
25' east and measures about 3,214 km from north to south between the extreme latitudes and about 2,933 km
from east to west between the extreme longitudes.
Boundaries: Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal
on the south-east, India shares land borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan to the north-west; China, Bhutan and
Nepal to the north; Myanmar to the east; and Bangladesh to the east of West Bengal. Sri Lanka is separated from
India by a narrow channel of sea, formed by Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.
Physical Diversity –The main land comprises of four regions, namely, the great mountain zone, plains of the
Ganga and the Indus, the desert region and the southern peninsula. The Himalayas comprise three almost parallel
ranges interspersed with large plateaus and valleys, which extends over a distance of about 2,400 km with a
varying depth of 240 to 320 km in the northernmost part of the country. The plains of the Ganga and the Indus,
about 2,400 km long and 240 to 320 km broad, are formed by basins of three distinct river systems – the Indus,
the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. They are one of the world’s greatest stretches of flat alluvium and also one of
the most densely populated areas on the earth.
The desert region in the western part comprise of the great desert extending from the edge of the Rann of kuchh
beyond the Luni River northward including the whole of the Rajasthan-Sindh frontier. While the little desert
extends from the luni between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur up to the northern-west. Between the great and the little
deserts lies a zone of absolutely sterile country, consisting of rocky land cut up by limestone ridges.
The peninsular plateau is marked by a mass of mountain and hill. Prominent among these are the Aravalli, Vindhya,
Satpura, Maikala and Ajanta, flanked by the Eastern Ghats with average elevation is about 610 meters, and the
Western Ghats where it is generally from 915 to 1,220 meters, rising in places to over 2,440 meters.
India is rich in flora and fauna. Available data place India in the Tenth position in the world and 4th in Asia in plant
diversity. It has the second position in Horticulture in world and has world’s is greatest sundari tree (Mangrove in
Sunderban Delta).
Climate: The Indian climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive
the economically and culturally pivotal summer and winter monsoons. The Himalayas prevent cold Central
Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations
at similar latitudes. The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden south-west summer
monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall. Four major climatic
groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and mountain climate.
1
2 SELECTED SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATISTICS INDIA -2002 , CSO, Ministry of Statistics & PI
3
XI