Chapter 5 Sec 1

India

Land

• India and several other countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives) make up the South Asian Subcontinent.

• A subcontinent- is a large landmass that is part of another continent but distinct from it.

• India is bordered in the North by two mountain ranges. The Karakoram range and the Himalayas.

• The Himalayas are the largest mountain in the world with an average peak height of 5 miles tall.

• There are also mountain in the southern part of India.

• Most of India is warm or hot all year long because the Himalayas keep cold northern air from reaching the country.

• Monsoons- or seasonal winds that blow steadily from the same direction for months, also influence the climate.

• May through October the monsoons bring rains from the Indian Ocean.

Green Revolution

• India raises most of the foods it needs today.• During the Bengal Famine, in 1943, 4 million

people died of starvation.• When India won its independence from Great

Britain in 1947, Indian officials improved India’s farm land.

• The Green Revolution- was an effort to use modern techniques and science to increase production of food.

Green Revolution Cont.

• The government built dams to collect water and spread this water to the farms through irrigation.

• This allowed the farmers to plant more than once a year and they could plant multiple crops.

• Today’s India grows rice, wheat, cotton, tea, sugarcane, and jute- a plant fiber used to make rope, burlap bags and carpet backing.

• Huge factories in India’s cities turn out cotton textiles and produce iron and steel.

• They also have oil and sugar refineries.• Recently American computer companies have

opened offices in India to make software.• India also has cottage industry- or a home or

village-based industry in which family members, including children, supply their own equipment to make goods.

Government

• Like the U.S., India is a democracy.• It has two houses of parliament or congress.• The Council of States, like our senate, and the

House of the People which is like our house of representatives.

• The prime minister- an official who heads the government in a parliamentary democracy, is elected by the party with the most votes and does the job of a president.

Environment

• India’s economic growth has brought challenges of pollution.

• Some of the problems are Deforestation.• The pollution of water and land from burning

coal, industrial waste, and pesticides- or chemicals used to kill insects that destroy crops.

• The main river the Ganges is considered one of the most polluted in the world.

India’s History

• About 4,000 years ago the 1st Indian civilization was along the Indus River Valley in present day Pakistan.

• Later Aryans came and blended their beliefs into the local customs and the religion eventually became Hinduism.

• Under Hinduism the people created castes. A caste- was a social class based on a persons ancestry.

• You were not allowed to do anything out of your caste.

• Islam influenced India through the Mogul Empire. They ruled India for 200 years in the 1500s.

• The British were the last of India’s conquerors, they ruled from 1700s-1900s.

• Mohandas Gandhi led a non violent resistance in the mid 1900s. Eventually India gained its freedom in 1947.

• East and West Pakistan, one on each side of India, were created as Muslim homelands. East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971.

Religion

• About 80% of India follow Hinduism.• They believe in Reincarnation- this is the belief

that after the body dies the soul is reborn, often in human or animal form, until they reach perfection.

• Many Hindu's believe it is wrong to kill any living creature for this reason.

• Cows are believed to be sacred and are allowed to roam freely.

Religion cont.

• Diwali is a major holiday in India. It is the festival of lights and celebrates the coming of winter and the victory of good over evil.

• Sikhs is a religion that believes in one god like Christians but shares Hindu beliefs too. They want to create their own state apart from India.

Daily Life

• There are around 1.2 billion people in India today.

• There are 18 official languages• Hindi is the most common but English is used

in business and government.• About 70% of the population live in a rural

environment.