oken by
a million or more persons each; numerous other languages and dialects,
for the most part mutually unintelligible; Hindi is the national language
and primary tongue of 30% of the people; English enjoys associate status
but is the most important language for national, political, and
commercial communication; Hindustani, a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu, is
spoken widely throughout northern India

Literacy: 36%

Labor force: 284,400,000; 67% agriculture (FY85)

Organized labor: less than 5% of the labor force

- Government
Long-form name: Republic of India

Type: federal republic

Capital: New Delhi

Administrative divisions: 24 states and 7 union territories*; Andaman and
Nicobar Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,
Chandigarh*, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*, Delhi*, Goa and Daman and Diu*,
Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir,
Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Pondicherry*, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal;
note--Goa may have become a state with Daman and Diu remaining a union
territory

Independence: 15 August 1947 (from UK)

Constitution: 26 January 1950

Legal system: based on English common law; limited judicial review of
legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic,
26 January (1950)

Executive branch: president, vice president, prime minister,
Council of Ministers

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Sansad) consists of an upper
house or Government Assembly (Rajya Sabha) and a lower house or People's
Assembly (Lok Sabha)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Leaders:
Chief of State--President Ramaswamy Iyer VENKATARAMAN (since 25 July
1987); Vice President Dr. Shankar Dayal SHARMA (since 3 September 1987);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap SINGH
(since 2 December 1989)

Political parties and leaders: Janata Dal Party, Prime Minister
V. P. Singh; Congress (I) Party, Rajiv Gandhi; Bharatiya Janata Party,
L. K. Advani; Communist Party of India (CPI), C. Rajeswara Rao;
Communist Party of India/Marxist (CPI/M), E. M. S. Namboodiripad;
Communist Party of India/Marxist-Leninist (CPI/ML), Satyanarayan Singh;
All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK), a regional party
in Tamil Nadu, Jayalalitha; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham,