Community-Based Conservation
Country Profile - India
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Get more detailed information on India, an important snow leopard range country.
Further information about India's environment, history, people, and
economy
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India's snow leopards are found in the
rugged, sparsely settled Himalayan region in the northern part of the
country. The Himalayas, formed as the Indian continental plate meets
and slides under the Eurasian plate, are the world's tallest mountain
range and are still growing.
Central India is made up of flat or rolling plains fed by a system of great rivers including the Ganges, the Indus, and the Brahmaputra. These rivers flow from the northern mountains and deposit rich soil to the fertile agricultural region. Most of India's population lives in the central part of the country.
The southern part of India is a series of rocky, arid plateaus. They are bordered by a pair of coastal mountain ranges, the Eastern and Western Ghats.
With its large land area--it is the seventh-largest country in the world--India encompasses a variety of ecosystems, ranging from desert to forest, grassland, and high alpine environments in the Himalayas. India's numerous wildlife species include at least six species in the cat family in addition to the snow leopard.
Scientists have estimated that there are approximately 75,000 sq km of potential snow leopard habitat in India. About 14.4% of this area is protected--a much higher proportion than the 4% of the country overall that lies within protected areas. Snow leopards are known to occur in at least eight protected areas in four northern states.
Most of India is tropical or subtropical, although the climate varies with topography. The Himalayas have a typical montane climate, with long, cold winters and short summers.
The climate of much of India is dominated by the monsoon rains, which occur from June through November. During the monsoon season, winds from the southwest pick up moisture from the Indian Ocean and then sweep over the Indian subcontinent until they hit the Himalayas, which force them to drop their moisture as intense rainfall. India's agricultural regions rely on the rains for irrigation, but the monsoon season also brings the constant threat of natural disasters in the form of widespread and destructive floods as well as drought. A bad monsoon season can ruin the next year's crop.
The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world, arose in the northern part off the Indian subcontinent more than 5,000 years ago. Around 1500 B.C., nomadic Aryan tribes from Central Asia invaded. Their Vedic culture included the rudiments of important elements of Indian culture including Hinduism, the caste system, and classical Indian literature and music.
Over the next three millenia, several powerful Indian empires rose and fell, and the subcontinent was visited by many different peoples engaged in conquest or trade: Greek armies under Alexander the Great, Mongols under Genghis Khan, Turks, Arabs, and Europeans. The British East India Company set up its first factory in India in 1612. The last Indian empire, the Muslim-ruled Mughal dynasty, formally ended in 1858, when control of India was transferred to the British.
A movement for Indian independence emerged almost as soon as British rule began. This struggle intensified in the years after World War I, when the London-educated Indian lawyer Mohandas K. Gandhi began his strategy of nonviolent resistance. The British relinquished control on August 15, 1947.
At the time of independence, the subcontinent was divided in two, forming the Hindu-majority, secular state of India, and the Muslim nation of Pakistan. Border disputes between India and Pakistan over the region of Jammu and Kashmir have led to two wars, a number of skirmishes, and almost constant tensions since independence. This conflict also threatens the snow leopards that live in India's mountainous northwest.
India is the second most populous nation in the world, behind China,
with over one billion citizens. Its people represent hundreds of ethnic
groups, speak over a thousand languages and dialects, and
include adherents of all the world's major religions as well as several
smaller faiths, including Jainism, Sikhism, and Parsiism.
About 30% of Indians speak Hindi. English is the official language of national, political, and commercial communication. An additional 14 languages also have official status under India's constitution.
India has no state religion, but the majority (81%) of the people are Hindu. Muslims make up about 12% of the population, mainly in cities in the north.
For thousands of years, India's society has been organized according to the caste system, a social hierarchy in which the class a person is born into determines their eventual profession and their place in society. The caste system has become less important in recent years, especially because many of the common professions in urban areas are not associated with any particular caste. However, the caste system remains an organizing force in Indian society today, in part because arranged marriages are still common, and usually occur between members of the same caste.
In India's growing cities, there are a growing middle class, modern comforts, and expanding and diversifying industrial and service sectors. The country's large numbers of educated English speakers are making it a center of software development, call centers, information technnology, and other international services.
But life is very different for the 72% of Indians living in rural areas, who are mostly subsistence farmers. Agriculture, including both traditional village farming and large-scale modern cultivation, employs 60% of India's total workforce. As in many other parts of the world, a "Green Revolution" in the 1970s improved irrigation techniques and introduced chemical fertilizers and high-yield strains of rice and wheat. Yet poverty and an inadequate food distribution system mean that an estimated 40% of the rural population is unable to afford adequate food. In snow leopard regions, the main occupations are agriculture and animal herding.
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Environment
India's snow leopards are found in the
rugged, sparsely settled Himalayan region in the northern part of the
country. The Himalayas, formed as the Indian continental plate meets
and slides under the Eurasian plate, are the world's tallest mountain
range and are still growing. Central India is made up of flat or rolling plains fed by a system of great rivers including the Ganges, the Indus, and the Brahmaputra. These rivers flow from the northern mountains and deposit rich soil to the fertile agricultural region. Most of India's population lives in the central part of the country.
The southern part of India is a series of rocky, arid plateaus. They are bordered by a pair of coastal mountain ranges, the Eastern and Western Ghats.
With its large land area--it is the seventh-largest country in the world--India encompasses a variety of ecosystems, ranging from desert to forest, grassland, and high alpine environments in the Himalayas. India's numerous wildlife species include at least six species in the cat family in addition to the snow leopard.
Scientists have estimated that there are approximately 75,000 sq km of potential snow leopard habitat in India. About 14.4% of this area is protected--a much higher proportion than the 4% of the country overall that lies within protected areas. Snow leopards are known to occur in at least eight protected areas in four northern states.
Climate
Most of India is tropical or subtropical, although the climate varies with topography. The Himalayas have a typical montane climate, with long, cold winters and short summers.
The climate of much of India is dominated by the monsoon rains, which occur from June through November. During the monsoon season, winds from the southwest pick up moisture from the Indian Ocean and then sweep over the Indian subcontinent until they hit the Himalayas, which force them to drop their moisture as intense rainfall. India's agricultural regions rely on the rains for irrigation, but the monsoon season also brings the constant threat of natural disasters in the form of widespread and destructive floods as well as drought. A bad monsoon season can ruin the next year's crop.
History
The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world, arose in the northern part off the Indian subcontinent more than 5,000 years ago. Around 1500 B.C., nomadic Aryan tribes from Central Asia invaded. Their Vedic culture included the rudiments of important elements of Indian culture including Hinduism, the caste system, and classical Indian literature and music.
Over the next three millenia, several powerful Indian empires rose and fell, and the subcontinent was visited by many different peoples engaged in conquest or trade: Greek armies under Alexander the Great, Mongols under Genghis Khan, Turks, Arabs, and Europeans. The British East India Company set up its first factory in India in 1612. The last Indian empire, the Muslim-ruled Mughal dynasty, formally ended in 1858, when control of India was transferred to the British.
A movement for Indian independence emerged almost as soon as British rule began. This struggle intensified in the years after World War I, when the London-educated Indian lawyer Mohandas K. Gandhi began his strategy of nonviolent resistance. The British relinquished control on August 15, 1947.
At the time of independence, the subcontinent was divided in two, forming the Hindu-majority, secular state of India, and the Muslim nation of Pakistan. Border disputes between India and Pakistan over the region of Jammu and Kashmir have led to two wars, a number of skirmishes, and almost constant tensions since independence. This conflict also threatens the snow leopards that live in India's mountainous northwest.
People/Culture
India is the second most populous nation in the world, behind China,
with over one billion citizens. Its people represent hundreds of ethnic
groups, speak over a thousand languages and dialects, and
include adherents of all the world's major religions as well as several
smaller faiths, including Jainism, Sikhism, and Parsiism. About 30% of Indians speak Hindi. English is the official language of national, political, and commercial communication. An additional 14 languages also have official status under India's constitution.
India has no state religion, but the majority (81%) of the people are Hindu. Muslims make up about 12% of the population, mainly in cities in the north.
For thousands of years, India's society has been organized according to the caste system, a social hierarchy in which the class a person is born into determines their eventual profession and their place in society. The caste system has become less important in recent years, especially because many of the common professions in urban areas are not associated with any particular caste. However, the caste system remains an organizing force in Indian society today, in part because arranged marriages are still common, and usually occur between members of the same caste.
Economy
In India's growing cities, there are a growing middle class, modern comforts, and expanding and diversifying industrial and service sectors. The country's large numbers of educated English speakers are making it a center of software development, call centers, information technnology, and other international services.
But life is very different for the 72% of Indians living in rural areas, who are mostly subsistence farmers. Agriculture, including both traditional village farming and large-scale modern cultivation, employs 60% of India's total workforce. As in many other parts of the world, a "Green Revolution" in the 1970s improved irrigation techniques and introduced chemical fertilizers and high-yield strains of rice and wheat. Yet poverty and an inadequate food distribution system mean that an estimated 40% of the rural population is unable to afford adequate food. In snow leopard regions, the main occupations are agriculture and animal herding.