India | Facts & Information

Updated November 22, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

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Facts & Figures

  • President: Droupadi Murmu (2022)

    Prime Minister: Narendra Modi (2019)

    Land area: 1,147,949 sq mi (2,973,193 sq km); total area: 1,269,219 sq mi (3,287,263 sq km)

    Population (2022 est.): 1,389,637,446 (growth rate: .67%); birth rate: 16.82/1000; infant mortality rate: 30.31/1000; life expectancy: 67.22

    Capital (2020 est.): New Delhi, 32.066 million

    Largest cities: 20.961 million Mumbai, 15.134 million Kolkata, 13.193 million Bangalore, 11.503 million Chennai, 10.534 million Hyderabad (2022)

    Monetary unit: Rupee

    National name: Bharat

    Current Government Officials

    Principal 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 the status of subsidiary official language but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the most widely spoken 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)

    Ethnicity/race: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)

    Religions: Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001)

    National Holiday: Republic Day, January 26

    Literacy rate: 74.4% (2018 est.)

    Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2020 est.): $8,443,360,000,000; per capita $6,100. Real growth rate: 4.86%. Inflation: 3.7%. Unemployment: 8.5%. Arable land: 52.8%. Agriculture: rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish. Labor force: 521.9 million; agriculture 47%, services 22%, industry 31% (2017). Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software, pharmaceuticals. Natural resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land. Exports: $484.95 billion (2020 est.): petroleum products, precious stones, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, vehicles, apparel. Imports: $493.18 billion (2020 est.): crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals. Major trading partners: U.S., UAE, China, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong (2012)

    Member of Commonwealth of Nations

    Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 20,052,162 (2020); mobile cellular: 1.15 billion (2020). Broadcast media: Doordarshan, India's public TV network, operates about 20 national, regional, and local services; large number of privately-owned TV stations are distributed by cable and satellite service providers; government controls AM radio with All India Radio operating domestic and external networks; news broadcasts via radio are limited to the All India Radio Network; since 2000, privately-owned FM stations are permitted but limited to broadcasting entertainment and educational content (2020). Internet hosts: 22.95 million (2020). Internet users: 593.4 million (2020).

    Railways total: 65,554 km (2014). Roadways: total: 6,386,297 km (2015). Waterways: 14,500 km; note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for mechanized vessels (2012). Ports and harbors: Chennai, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), Sikka, Vishakhapatnam. Airports: 346 (2021).

    International disputes: since China and India launched a security and foreign policy dialogue in 2005, consolidated discussions related to the dispute over most of their rugged, militarized boundary, regional nuclear proliferation, Indian claims that China transferred missiles to Pakistan, and other matters continue; Kashmir remains the site of the world's largest and most militarized territorial dispute with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas); India and Pakistan resumed bilateral dialogue in February 2011 after a two-year hiatus, have maintained the 2003 cease-fire in Kashmir, and continue to have disputes over water sharing of the Indus River and its tributaries; UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan has maintained a small group of peacekeepers since 1949; India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China in 1964; to defuse tensions and prepare for discussions on a maritime boundary, India and Pakistan seek technical resolution of the disputed boundary in Sir Creek estuary at the mouth of the Rann of Kutch in the Arabian Sea; Pakistani maps continue to show its Junagadh claim in Indian Gujarat State; Prime Minister Singh's September 2011 visit to Bangladesh resulted in the signing of a Protocol to the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh, which had called for the settlement of longstanding boundary disputes over undemarcated areas and the exchange of territorial enclaves, but which had never been implemented; Bangladesh referred its maritime boundary claims with Burma and India to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea; Joint Border Committee with Nepal continues to examine contested boundary sections, including the 400 sq km dispute over the source of the Kalapani River; India maintains a strict border regime to keep out Maoist insurgents and control illegal cross-border activities from Nepal.

    Major sources and definitions

    Native States