Head of state: Emperor Akihito Prime minister: Yoshihiko Noda
Population
1,205,073,612
127,368,088
Life Expectancy
67.140 years
83.910 years
Capital City
New Delhi
Tokyo
Largest city
Mumbai (population: 12,691,800)
Tokyo (population: 8,336,600)
Human Development Index
0.609
0.956
GDP per capita
$3,700 US
$35,200 US
Literacy Rate
61%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
3.4
7.3
Percentage of Women in Parliament
9.2%
12.3%
Wealthiest Citizens
Mukesh Ambani ($19.5bn US)
Tadashi Yanai & family ($6.0bn US)
Unemployment Rate
9.800%
4.600%
Death Penalty
Legal
Legal
Political System
federal republic
constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government
Independence date
15 August 1947 (from UK)
660 B.C. (traditional date of the founding of the nation by Emperor JIMMU)
Religions
Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)
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)
