Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
Sunni Muslim 98%, Roman Catholic 2%
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)
Arabic (official), French (official), Shikomoro (a blend of Swahili and Arabic)
Indian rupees (INR) per US dollar - 43.319 (2008 est.), 41.487 (2007), 45.3 (2006), 44.101 (2005), 45.317 (2004)
Comoran francs (KMF) per US dollar - 361.4 (2007), 391.8 (2006), 395.6 (2005), 396.21 (2004), 435.9 (2003) note: the Comoran franc is pegged to the euro at a rate of 491.9677 Comoran francs per euro
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.800%
2.800%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
3
0
Location
Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
Southern Africa, group of islands at the northern mouth of the Mozambique Channel, about two-thirds of the way between northern Madagascar and northern Mozambique
Area
3,287,263 km sq
2,235 km sq
Coastline
7,000 km
340 km
Climate
varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
