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Food in Daily Life. About half the people eat rice as their
staple, while the remainder subsist on wheat, barley, maize,
and millet. There are thus major geographic differences in
diet. Just as fundamental is the division between those who
eat meat and those who are vegetarian .
Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, and Christians all eat meat,
with the important proviso that the first three groups do
not consume pork. Lower-caste Hindus eat any meat except
beef, whereas members of the higher castes and all Jains are
normally vegetarian , with most even avoiding eggs.
Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. every caste, tribe,
town, village, and religion has a panoply of traditional
ceremonies that are observed with enthusiasm and wide
participation.
Most of these ceremonies have a religious basis, and the
majority are linked with the deities of Hinduism.
Basic Economy. With a large proportion of the population
being located in rural areas (73 percent), farming is the
largest source of employment; for hundreds of millions of
people, this means subsistence farming on tiny plots of
land, whether owned or rented. |
In most parts of the country, some farmers produce cash
crops for sale in urban markets, and in some areas,
plantation crops such as tea, coffee, cardamom, and rubber
are of great economic importance because they bring in
foreign money.
In 1996, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was
$380, and the GDP growth rate was almost 6 percent from 1990
to 1996. In that period, the average annual inflation was 9
percent. In 1994, national debt was 27 percent of GDP.
over the past half century the economy has been expanding
slowly but at a steady rate on the basis of a wide range of
industries, including mining operations.
The United States has been the principal export market in
recent years, receiving 17 percent of exports in 1995 and
1996. Clothing, tea, and computer software are three major
categories of exports to the United States. |
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