Official Name: Bharat (Hindi); Republic of India (English)

Currency:  Indian Rupee

 

Current Exchange Rate:	Currency Converter

 

Hemisphere: Northern

Continent: Asia

Location: southern Asia, bordering Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar (Burma), Bangladesh, and the Indian Ocean.

Area: 1,222,559 sq mi, 3,166,414 sq km (excludes 46,660 sq mi [120,849 sq km] territory claimed by India as part of Jammu and Kashmir but occupied by Pakistan or China).

Form of Government: multiparty federal republic with two legislative houses (Council of States [245], House of the People [545].

Population: (2007) 1,129,866,000

Population Density: (2007) persons per sq mi 924.2, persons per sq km 356.8

Principal Language(s): English (most important lang. For national, political, commercial communication); Hindi (nat. lang. & primary tongue); 21 other official languages (incl. Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Malayalam; Nepali; Punjabi; Sanskrit; Sindhi; Tamil; Urdu; Hindustani; popular variant of Hindu/Urdu widely spoken throughout N.

Religions: Hindu 81%, Muslim 13%, Christian 2%.

Capital: Delhi

Capital Population: (2001: urban agglomeration) 12,877,470

Capital Average Temperature: N/A
                                                  
Major Cities: (2001; urban agglomerations); Greater Mumbai (Greater Bombay) 11,978,450 (16,434,386); Delhi 9,879,172 (12,877,470); Kolkata (Calcutta) 4,580,546 (13,205,697); Chennai (Madras) 4,343,645 (6,560,242); Bengaluru (Bangalore) 4,301,326 (5,701,466); Hyderabad 3,637,483 (5,742,036); Ahmadabad 3,520,085 (4,525,013); Kanpur 2,551,337 (2,715,555); Pune (Poona) 2,538,473 (3,760,636); Surat 2,433,835 (2,811,614); Jaipur 2,322,575 (2,322,575); New Delhi 302,363.

Topography: The Himalaya Mts., highest in the world, stretch across India’s northern borders. Below, the Ganges Plain is wide, fertile, and among the most densely populated regions of the world. Area below includes Deccan Peninsula. Close to one quarter of area is forested. The climate varies from tropical heat in S to near-Arctic cold in N. Rajasthan Desert is NW; NE Assam Hills get 400 in. of rain a year.

Economy: (2007 est.) $2.965 trillion

G.D.P. per Capita: (2007 est.) $2,700
 
Vital Statistics: Birth rate per 1,000 population (2005): 22.3. Death rate per 1,000 population (2005): 8.3. Total fertility rate (avg. births per childbearing woman: 2005) 2.78. Life expectancy at birth (2005): male 63.6 years; female 65.2 years.

Government Website: www.india.gov.in
Reference Sources: The World Almanac 2009, The New York Times Almanac   2009, Time Almanac 2009, World Climate website.