y rate: 65.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 62.41 years
male: 61.68 years
female: 63.18 years (1997 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.29 children born/woman (1997 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Indian(s)
adjective: Indian
Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3%
Religions: Hindu 80%, Muslim 14%, Christian 2.4%, Sikh 2%, Buddhist
0.7%, Jains 0.5%, other 0.4%
Languages: English enjoys associate status but is the most important
language for national, political, and commercial communication, Hindi
the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people, Bengali
(official), Telugu (official), Marathi (official), Tamil (official),
Urdu (official), Gujarati (official), Malayalam (official), Kannada
(official), Oriya (official), Punjabi (official), Assamese (official),
Kashmiri (official), Sindhi (official), Sanskrit (official),
Hindustani a popular variant of Hindu/Urdu, is spoken widely
throughout northern India
note : 24 languages each spoken by a million or more persons; numerous
other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually
unintelligible
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 52%
male: 65.5%
female: 37.7% (1995 est.)
@India:Government
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of India
conventional short form: India
Data code: IN
Government type: federal republic
National capital: New Delhi
Administrative divisions: 25 states and 7 union territories*; Andaman
and Nicobar Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,
Chandigarh*, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*, Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa,
Gujarat, Haryana, Himachel 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
Independence: 15 August 1947 (from UK)
National holiday: Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic, 26
January (1950)
Constitution: 26 January 1950
Legal system: based on English common law; limited judicial review of
legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with
reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Shankar Dayal SHARMA (since 25 July 1992);
Vice President Kicheril Raman NARAYANAN (since 21 August 1992)
head of government: Prime Mi
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