est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 31.7% (male 173,869,856; female 164,003,915)
15–64 years: 63.5% (male 349,785,804; female 326,289,402)
65 years and over: 4.8% (male 25,885,725; female 25,235,905) (2004
est.)
Median age:
total: 24.4 years
male: 24.4 years
female: 24.4 years (2004 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.44% (2004 est.)
Birth rate:
22.8 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Death rate:
8.38 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Net migration rate:
−0.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.03 male(s)/female
total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 57.92 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 57.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 58.52 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 63.99 years
male: 63.25 years
female: 64.77 years (2004 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.85 children born/woman (2004 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.8% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
3.97 million (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
310,000 (2001 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Indian(s)
adjective: Indian
Ethnic groups:
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
Religions:
Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups
including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000)
Languages:
English enjoys associate status but is the most important language
for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the
national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people; there are
14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu,
Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri,
Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu
spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official
language
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 59.5%
male: 70.2%
female: 48.3% (2003 est.)
Government India
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of India
conventional short form: India
Government type:
federal republic
Capital:
New Delhi
Administrative divisions:
28 states and 7 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar Islands*,
Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*,
Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*, Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa,
Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Pondicherry*, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh,
West Bengal
Independence:
15 August 1947 (from UK)
National holiday:
Republic Day, 26 January (1950)
Constitution:
26 January 1950
Legal system:
based on English common law; limited judicial review of legislative
acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Abdul KALAM (since 26 July 2002); Vice
President Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT (since 19 August 2002)
elections: president elected by an electoral college consisting of
elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of
the states for a five-year term; election last held NA July 2002
(next to be held 18 July 2007); vice president elected by both
houses of Parliament for a five-year term; election last held 12
August 2002 (next to be held NA August 2007); prime minister chosen
by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative
elections; election last held April - May 2004 (next to be held NA
2009)
head of government: Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH (since NA May 2004)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the
recommendation of the prime minister
election results: Abdul KALAM elected president; percent of
electoral college vote - 89.6%; Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT elected vice
president; percent of Parliament vote - 59.8%
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of the Council of States or
Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of not more than 250 members, up to
12 of which are appointed by the president, the remainder are chosen
by the elected members of the state and territorial assemblies;
members serve six-year terms) and the People's Assembly or Lok Sabha
(545 seats; 543 elected by popular vote, 2 appointed by the
president; members serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Assembly - last held 20 April through 10 May
2004 (next to be held NA 2009)
election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA;
seats by party - INC 145, BJP 138, CPI(M) 43, SP 36, RJD 21, BSP 19,
DMK 16,