Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Baldwin Spencer
Population
1,205,073,612
89,018
Life Expectancy
67.140 years
75.690 years
Capital City
New Delhi
Saint John's
Largest city
Mumbai (population: 12,691,800)
Saint John's (population: 24,226)
Human Development Index
0.609
0.83
GDP per capita
$3,700 US
$18,200 US
Literacy Rate
61%
85.8%
Corruption Perception Index
3.4
NA
Percentage of Women in Parliament
9.2%
16.7%
Wealthiest Citizens
Mukesh Ambani ($19.5bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.800%
11.000%
Death Penalty
Legal
Legal
Political System
federal republic
constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government
Independence date
15 August 1947 (from UK)
1 November 1981 (from UK)
Religions
Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
Anglican 25.7%, Seventh Day Adventist 12.3%, Pentecostal 10.6%, Moravian 10.5%, Roman Catholic 10.4%, Methodist 7.9%, Baptist 4.9%, Church of God 4.5%, other Christian 5.4%, other 2%, none or unspecified 5.8% (2001 census)
Languages
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)
