Capital:
New Delhi Government
type:
Federal Republic
Geography:
- Location: South Asia bordering the
Arabian Sea to the west and the Bay of Bengal to the
east. India shares land boundaries with Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Burma, China, Nepal, and Pakistan
- Area: 3,287,590 sq km
Population:
Total - 1,014,003,817 (July 2000 est.)
Urban population (% of total) - 28.4 Age
structure:
- 0-14 years: 34% (male 175,228,164;
female 165,190,951)
- 15-64 years:62% (male 324,699,562;
female 301,821,383)
- 65 years and over:4% (male 23,925,371;
female 23,138,386) (2000 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.8% (2000
est.)
Birth rate: 24.79 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate: 8.88 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 64.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2000
est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
- total population: 62.9 years
- male: 62 years
- female: 63.13 years (2000 est.)
Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian
25%, Mongoloid and other 3% Religions:
Hindu 80%, Muslim 14%, Christian 2.4%, Sikh 2%, Buddhist
0.7%, Jains 0.5%, other 0.4%
Languages:
English enjoys associate status but is the most important
language for national, political, and commercial communication.
The major official language of the Indian Union is Hindi,
which is the primary tongue of 30% of the people. Besides
Hindi, other official languages include: Bengali, Telugu,
Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada,
Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit,
and Hindustani (a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken
widely throughout northern India). 700 dialects are
also spoken. English has become a sort of "lingua
franca" and is the accepted language for business
and government.
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 52%
male: 65.5%
female: 37.7% (1995 est.)
Administrative
divisions:
29 states and 6 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar
Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Bihar, Chandigarh*, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*, Daman and
Diu*, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Nagaland, Orissa, Pondicherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim,
Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand,
Uttaranchal, Chattisgarh.
Independence:
15 August 1947 (from U.K.)
Legal
system:
based on English common law; limited judicial review
of legislative acts;
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Work
week:
Monday to Friday. Many offices work half day on Saturday.
Government offices are closed on Saturday.
Financial
Year:
April 1 to March 31
Entry/Exit
requirements:
A passport and visa are required for entry into India
for tourism or business. All visitors must obtain visas
at an Indian Embassy or Consulate abroad prior to entering
the country. There are no provisions for visas upon
arrival, and those arriving in India without visas bearing
the correct validity dates and number of entries are
subject to deportation.
Economy
2003-04 (Projected):
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