fficial), 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: age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.)
total population: 52%
male: 65.5%
female: 37.7%

Government
----------

Name of country:
conventional long form: Republic of India
conventional short form: India

Data code: IN

Type of government: federal republic

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)
was elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting
of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures
of the states; Vice President Kicheril Raman NARAYANAN (since 21
August 1992) was elected by both houses of Parliament
head of government: Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha RAO (since 21
June 1991) was appointed by the president
cabinet: Council of Ministers was appointed by the president on
recommendation of the prime minister

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Sansad)
Council of States (Rajya Sabha): body consisting of not more than
250 members, up to 12 appointed by the president, the remainder
chosen by the elected members of the stat