Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor-General Quentin Bryce Prime minister: Julia Gillard
President: Pratibha Patil
Population
22,015,576
1,205,073,612
Life Expectancy
81.900 years
67.140 years
Capital City
Canberra
New Delhi
Largest city
Sydney (population: 4,394,580)
Mumbai (population: 12,691,800)
Human Development Index
0.965
0.609
GDP per capita
$40,800 US
$3,700 US
Literacy Rate
99%
61%
Corruption Perception Index
8.7
3.4
Percentage of Women in Parliament
29.6%
9.2%
Wealthiest Citizens
Frank Lowy & family ($2.7bn US)
Mukesh Ambani ($19.5bn US)
Unemployment Rate
5.100%
9.800%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Legal
Political System
federal parliamentary democracy
federal republic
Independence date
1 January 1901 (federation of UK colonies)
15 August 1947 (from UK)
Religions
Catholic 26.4%, Anglican 20.5%, other Christian 20.5%, Buddhist 1.9%, Muslim 1.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 12.7%, none 15.3% (2001 Census)
Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
Languages
English 79.1%, Chinese 2.1%, Italian 1.9%, other 11.1%, unspecified 5.8% (2001 Census)
Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9% note: 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 41% 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 (2001 census)
Exports
coal, iron ore, gold, meat, wool, alumina, wheat, machinery and transport equipment
