India and Brazil - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 163

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India and Br azil
India and Brazil are both developing countries, that is, former colonies
that were not industrialized until the mid-20th century. Both are vibrant
democracies, with rough and tumble politics based on many parties.
Their populations are big: India has more than a billion people and Brazil
has nearly 200 million. Many people are poor. Both have free markets,
with a background of socialism, that is, government ownership of major
industries, now largely abandoned. Their economies are big: $4.1 trillion
for India and $2.2 trillion for Brazil. Pollution has accompanied the
industrial development. Finally, both have remote regions of natural
beauty and wildness.
India: As early as 8000 years ago the inhabitants of the Indian subcon-
tinent first abandoned the natural life of hunting and gathering for life in
villages. The Indus River civilization flourished from 2500 BC onward,
making it nearly as ancient as Mesopotamia and Egypt and older than
China. India has fertile plains in the river basins of the Indus, the Ganges,
and the Brahmaputra, but it also has deserts and mountains. To the north,
the Himalayas, the highest mountains in the world, form a barrier both to
Arctic winds and to invading armies. The river valleys form a fertile belt
across the middle with moderate temperatures in the winter. The south-
ern third has mountains and deserts. Rainfall is sparse in the west and
torrential in the east. Except in the mountains, the temperature is hot.
Much farming depends on irrigation, and in some places flooding is a
danger. Spectacular wildlife like tigers and elephants still lives in patches
of the forests and mountains. Yet most of India has long been under
cultivation, and natural areas are scarce.