268.1 million Poor*
*equals population of US or Indonesia.
Every fourth person in India lives below the poverty line - earns under a US dollar a day.
27.3 million Hungry*
*equals population of Morocco or Venezuela.
Three out of 100 people go hungry. India has the highest number of undernourished.
302.5 million Illiterate*
*equals population of Russia.
Both a cause and effect of poverty. Half the world's illiterates live in India.
1.8 million Infant Mortality*
*equals population of Panama or Kuwait.
Babies don't live long due to the lack of medical care and immunisation.
12.2 million Non-Immunised Children*
*equals population of Cambodia or Angola.
46.7 per cent of infants have no access to standard immunisation programmes.
Sources: Indicus Analytics | August, 2003
Economic Crises Affect Children. Interview with Jed Friedman.
WorldBank
Notes :
1 - Data refer to a year other than that specified.
2 - Preliminary UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates, subject to
further revision.
3 - Excluding the state of Tripura.
4 - Data refer to a UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimate where no
national estimate is available.
5 - Data refer to the 1998/99 school year.
6 - Preliminary UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates, subject to
further revision.
7 - Data refer to 1992.
8 - Data refer to 2000.
9 - Survey based on consumption.
10 - Data refer to 2000.
11 - Data refer to 1999.
12 - Preliminary UNESCO estimate, subject to further revision.
13 -
Ratification,
acceptance, approval, accession or succession.
Signature.
14 - Preliminary UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates, subject
to further revision.
15 - Data refer to the 1999/2000 school year.
16 - No wage data available. For purposes of calculating the
estimated female and male earned income, an estimate of 75% was used
for the ratio of the female non-agricultural wage to the male
non-agricultural wage.
17 - Data refer to the 1998/99 school year.
18 - Preliminary UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates, subject
to further revision.
19 - Data are preliminary and subject to further revision.
20 - Data refer to the 1998/99 school year .
21 - Data refer to the 1999/2000 school year.
22 - Preliminary UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimate, subject to
further revision.
23 - Data refer to 1989.
24 - Data refer to 2000.
25 - Data refer to 1992.
The
Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world, dates
back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest invaded
about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier
Dravidian inhabitants created the
classicalIndian
culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and
Turkish
in the 12th were followed by those of
European
traders, beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century,
Britain had assumed political control of virtually all
Indian lands.
Indian armed
forces in the
British army played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent
resistance to
British colonialism led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU
brought
independence in 1947. The subcontinent was divided into the
secular state of
India and the smaller
Muslim
state of Pakistan.
A third war between the two countries in 1971 resulted in East
Pakistan
becoming the separate nation of
Bangladesh.
Despite impressive gains in economic investment and output,
India faces
pressing problems such as the ongoing dispute with
Pakistan over
Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive
poverty, and ethnic and
religious
strife.
Population growth, from 443 million in 1960 to 1,004
million in 2000
Map showing the population density of each district in
India
Map showing the population growth over the past ten years
of each district in India
Map showing the literacy rate of each district in India
Chart showing the Total Fertility Rate of Indian states
(SRS survey 1996-98)[1]
India
has a population of approximately 1.136 billion people (estimate
for September 1, 2007 based on interpolating on estimates by Census
Bureau of India for March 1 of 2007 and 2008), comprising
approximately one-sixth of the world's population. This population
is remarkably diverse; it has more than two thousand
ethnic groups, and every major
religion is represented, as are four major
families of
languages (Indo-European,
Dravidian,
Austro-Asiatic and
Tibeto-Burman languages) as well as a
language isolate (the
Nihali language[2]
spoken in parts of
Maharashtra). Further complexity is lent by the great variation
that occurs across this population on social parameters such as
income and education. Only the continent of Africa exceeds the
linguistic, cultural and genetic diversity of India.[3]
These factors render the task of comprehensively detailing the
Demographics of India prohibitive; some important indices are
available, nevertheless.
Although
India
occupies only 2.4% of the world's land area, it supports over 16%
of the world's population. 31.8% of Indians are younger than 15
years of age.[4]
As per the 2001 census, 72.22% of the people live in more than
550,000 villages, and the remainder in more than 2000 towns and
cities.[citation
needed][5]
Although 80.5% of the people are
Hindus,[6]
India is also home to the third-largest
Muslim
population in the world 13.4% after Indonesia and Pakistan. India
also contains the majority of the world's
Zoroastrians,
Sikhs
and
Jains. Other religious groups include
Christians (2.3%),
Buddhists (0.8%),
Jews and
Bahá'ís.[7]
Census
The most recent
census
of India was performed in
2001
for enumeration as of March 1 of that year.[8]
It was the 14th census in an unbroken series, and the 6th after
independence in 1947 (with the exception that census could not be
held for
Assam in the 1981 and
Jammu & Kashmir in 1991). Eight censuses were performed under
the
British Raj, the first one was carried out throughout the
1860s
and completed in
1872.
After this, there has been 'one census every decade starting
1881'.
The 2001 census was conducted in two phases, the first being
Housenumbering and Houselisting operations, carried out in May
2000, and the second being population enumeration, carried out from
February 9 to 28, 2001. The reference time for the census is 1
March, 2001. The homeless population was enumerated on 28 February.
A revisional round was undertaken 1 to 5 March 2001 to account for
mutations between the time of visit in February and 1 March.[citation
needed]
The total population calculated for 1 March 2001 was
1,027,015,247, making the 2001 census the first to count more than
a billion Indians.[9]
The population had risen by 21.34% compared to the 1991 total. The
female population had increased by 0.3 percentage points to 48.4%.[10]
See list of
States of India by urban population. Maharashtra has the
largest urban agglomeration while Delhi is the most urbanised
market at over 93% urbanization.
There are several
nomadic
communities found in all over
India.
Their population is not estimated in India, but it is supposed that
they make up 7% of total population of India[citation
needed].
Key data
Total Population: 1,129.9 million(July 1, 2007 est. CIA)[11]
1,028.7 million(2001 Census final figures, March 1 enumeration and
estimated 124 thousand in areas of Manipur that could not be
covered in the enumeration)
Percent of the population under the poverty line: 22%
(2006 est.)
Unemployment Rate: 7.8%
Net migration rate: − -0.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2007 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.098 male(s)/female 15–64 years: 1.061 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.908 male(s)/female total population: 1.064 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 34.61 deaths/1,000 live
births (2007 est.) female: 29.23 deaths/1,000 live births male:
39.42 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 68.59 years male: 66.28 years female: 71.17 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.81 children born/woman (2007
est.) The TFR (Total number of children born per women ) according
to Religion in 2001 was : Hindus - 2.27, Muslims - 3.06, Sikhs -
1.86, Christians - 2.06, Buddhists - 2.29, Jains - 1.50 , Animists
and Others - 2.99, Tribals - 3.16, Scheduled Castes - 2.89.[13]
Nationality: noun: Indian(s) adjective: Indian
Religions: Hindu 82.5%, Muslim 11.4%, Christian 2.31%,
Buddhists 0.8%, Sikh 1.93%, Jains 0.41%, others or not stated 0.76%
(2001 Census)[citation
needed]
Censuses were conducted in parts of India in the ancient times
with examples such as
Kautilya's
Arthashastra which describes the collection of population
statistics for taxation in 4th century B.C.. The
British census in
1865-1872
was the first conducted in modern times in India.
The
2001 census figures released by the India Census Commission
give a breakdown by various parameters including religion.
β.^
The data is "unadjusted" (without excluding
Assam
and
Jammu and Kashmir); 1981 census was not conducted in Assam
and 1991 census was not conducted in Jammu and Kashmir
It should also be noted that about 40% of the Hindus speak Hindi
while the rest speak Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil,
Gujarati,Kannada and other languages. Almost 70% of the Muslims
speak Urdu while the rest speak Kashmiri, Bengali, Malayalam,
Tamil, Gujarati and other languages. About one-third of the
Christians speak Malayalam, one-sixth speak Tamil while the rest
speak a variety of languages.
It should be noted that
Indo-Aryan, Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman are racial and
linguistic terms and denote members of these racial groups and
speakers of their linguistic groups.
English enjoys associate status but is the most
important language for national, political, and commercial
communication; Hindi is the official language and primary tongue
of 30% 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.
Literacy Rate
(Definition: Age 15 and over that can read and write)