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Population

Total Population: 345,393 (2022 – UNPD via MacroTrends Data) | Projected by 2025 – 386,149

  • Population Density: 3.35 people per km2 / 8.63 people per mi2 
  • World Rank: #181, .004% of the world’s total population.
  • Iceland is the least populated country in Europe with about 80% of its land uninhabited.
  • Most Populous City: Reykjavik | 134,602 (Statista – City Populations, Iceland 2022).

Least Populous City (Village): Bakkafjordur (alsoBakkafjörður) | 72 (Guide to Iceland)

Surface Area

Total Surface Area: 3,287,259 km2 (1,269,218 mi2)

  • World Rank: #7
  • 91% Land Surface Area:  2,991,406 km2 (1,154,990 mi2) – 2.4% of the world’s total land area.
  • 9% Water Surface Area: 295,853 km2 (114,230 mi2) – 0.82% of the world’s water surface.

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Temperature

Average Annual Temperature (2012-2021): 25.86°C (78.55°F)

  • Coldest temperature on record: -48.8°C (-54.4°F) in Dras, Ladakh, on January 9, 1995.
  • Hottest temperature on record: 51°C (123.8°F) in Phalodi, Rajasthan, on May 19, 2016.

Water

Total Water Volume: 1,123 billion cubic meters (bcm) – or about 296.7 trillion gallons. 

  • Total water volume includes surface water (690 bcm or 182.3 trillion gallons) and ground water (433 bcm or 114.4 trillion gallons).
  • Annual Precipitation (average baseline): 1,190 mm | 46.9 inches.
  • Potable water supply per person (projected 2025): 1,401 m3 (370,105 US Gallons).
  • India’s monsoons can make the annual rainfall highly variable from year to year.

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Energy

Annual Total Energy Usage: 31.78 quadrillion BTU (768.6 MTOE – megatonnes of oil equivalent or 8.938 billion kWh – kilowatt hours)

  • Global Ranking in energy consumption: #3, behind China (1) and the United States (2).
  • Energy Sources (% of total):  Coal (44%), Oil (24%), Biomass (22%), Natural Gas (6%), Other Renewables (4%).

Air Quality

Air Quality Index – AQI (on average): 151 – Lower Unhealthy

  • Global ranking (Average Pollution): #5 most polluted.
  • Most polluted city: Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh | AQI = 378 – Hazardous (real time average per AQI India).
  • Least polluted city: Cuttack, Odisha | AQI = 30 – Good (real time average per AQI India).
  • Leading pollutants and sources: Coal-based power generation, industrial pollution, agricultural and automotive emissions.

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Flora

47,500 species – about 7-8% of the world’s total plant species.

  • Includes ~15,000 flowering plants. 
  • Includes 2,603 tree species. 
  • About 15,000 plants are threatened or endangered, about 33% of all plants in India, including 18% of its tree species.
  • There are 35 billion trees in India, or only 25 trees per person.

Fauna

91,000 species – about 6.5% of the world’s total animal species.

  • 683 animal species are endangered or threatened, .75% of its total fauna species. (IUCN 2018)
    • 60,000 insect species
    • 2,456 fish species
    • 1,230 bird species
    • 372 mammal species
    • 440 reptile species
    • 200 amphibian species
    • 500 mollusk species

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Sources and Research | Ecology Prime

India: Sources and Research

We’d like to credit this diverse list of organizations for providing source material to create this platform.

Notable India Colleges & Universities for Environmental Studies

  • Chintan Environmental Research & Action Group: With a focus on the marginalized communities, women and children citizens, Chintan uses waste management as a tool to fight poverty, child labor, gender-based violence and exclusion, and climate change, while creating green livelihoods.  Its impact is felt throughout India.  
  • Greenpeace India: A branch of the international Greenpeace environmental group whose reach extends to over 55 other countries, Greenpeace India is considered to be one of the best nonprofit environmental groups serving the country. Its mission is to use non-violent creative action to pave the way towards a greener, more peaceful world, and to confront the systems that threaten India’s environment.
  • Clean Air Asia – India: A branch of Clean Air Asia, this nonprofit organization focuses on creating solutions that reduce air pollution and its detrimental health impacts as well as to significantly mitigate the climate crisis.  Since its arrival in 2008, it has become one of the most effective environmental organizations in India in improving environmental conditions and the lives of Indian citizens.
  • The Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI): Established in 1994, WPSI’s mission is to bring new focus and energy in tackling the growing wildlife crisis in India, to protect endangered species and their habitats through awareness, support, and training. One of the leading environmental organizations in India, WPSI works with various government authorities in taking on the illegal wildlife poaching trade and human-animal conflicts to ensure a greener future and a peaceful coexistence between human and the wildlife.
  • India Climate Collaborative (ICC): ICC is a first of its kind collaborative working system that integrates cooperation of government, business, philanthropy, academia, and civil society to overcome the climate crisis facing the world’s population and India today. Launched in January 2020, ICC is an India-only climate narrative to identify solutions for the harsh effects of climate change.