| Land area (sq. km) |
2,973,190.00 |
WDI |
| Arable land (% of land area) |
53.99 (2003) |
WDI |
| Population, total |
1,079,721,216.00 |
WDI |
| Population growth (annual %) |
1.43 |
WDI |
| Population density (people per sq. km) |
363.15 |
WDI |
| Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) |
61.02 |
WDI/UN/UNICEF |
| Life expectancy at birth, total (years) |
63.46 |
WDI |
| Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) |
61.60 |
WDI |
| Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line (% of population)** |
25.0 (2002 est.) |
WDI/CIA/UNICEF |
| Urban population (% of total) |
28.50 |
WDI |
| Ethnic breakdown |
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000) |
CIA |
| Religious breakdown |
Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census) |
CIA |
| Language |
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, Marat |
CIA |
| Capital City |
New Delhi |
CIA |
| Character of government |
federal republic; Administrative Division: 28 states and 7 union territories, Independence day: 15 August 1947 (from UK) |
CIA* |
| Current President/Prime Minister |
President A.P.J. Abdul KALAM (since 26 July 2002) and Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH (since 22 May 2004) |
CIA* |
| Executive branch description |
President is the chief of state and Prime Minister is the chief of government. 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 (no term limit), Prime Minsiter chosen by parliamnetary members of the majority party. |
CIA* |
| Legislative branch description |
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 whom are appointed by the president, the remainder are chosen by the elected members of the state and territorial assemblies; members serve for six years term) and the People's assembly (545 seats; 543 ellected by popular vote, 2 by President, members serves for five years) |
CIA* |
| Judicial branch description |
Supreme Court (one chief justice and 25 associate justices are appointed by the president and remain in office until they reach the age of 65 or are removed for "proved misbehavior") |
CIA |
| Women in national parliament (% of total) |
9.00 |
WDI |
| Foreign aid per capita (current US$) |
0.64 |
WDI |
| Foreign direct investment, net inflow (BoP, current US$ bn) ** |
5.34 |
WDI |
| GDP growth (annual %) |
8.53 |
WDI |
| GDP per capita (constant 2000 US$) |
547.80 |
WDI |
| Inflation, consumer prices (annual %) |
3.77 |
WDI |
| Military expenditure (% of GDP) |
2.94 |
WDI/CIA/WRI |
| Military expenditure (% of central government expenditure) |
18.62 |
WDI/WRI/Dept of State/UNICEF |
| Health expenditure, public (% of GDP) |
1.19 (2003) |
WDI/WRI |
| Education expenditure, public (% of GDP) |
3.26 (2003) |
WDI/WRI |
| Main export |
textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures |
CIA |
| Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) |
9.20 |
WDI/CIA |
| External debt, total (DOD, current US$) |
122,722,697,216.00 |
WDI/CIA |
| Currency |
Indian Rupee (INR) |
CIA |
| Local Currency Rate, per US$ |
46.58 |
CIA |
| Internet users (per 1,000 people) |
32.42 |
WDI/Comp Industry Almanac |
| Mobile phone subscribers (per 1,000 people) |
43.81 |
WDI |
| Personal computers (per 1,000 people) |
12.07 |
WDI |
| Telephone mainlines (per 1,000 people) |
40.71 |
WDI |
