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India is one of the
most populated countries in the world, next only to China. Although
India occupies only 2.4% of the total area of the world it supports over
15% of the world population, as revealed by statistics.
India is land of diversity, spread across its cultures, landscape,
languages and religion. India has been invaded from the Iranian plateau,
Central Asia, Arabia, Afghanistan, and the West. The Indian people have
absorbed these influences producing a remarkable racial and cultural
synthesis. Religion, caste, and language are major determinants of
social and political organization in India today. The government has
recognized 16 languages as official; Hindi is the most widely spoken.
Although Hinduism is the popular religion, comprising 83% of the
population, India is also home to one of the largest population of
Muslims in the world--- more than 120 million. The population also
includes Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, and Parsis. The caste
system reflects Indian historical occupation and religiously defined
hierarchies. Traditionally, there are four castes identified, plus a
category of outcastes, earlier called "untouchables" but now
commonly referred to as "dalits," the oppressed. In reality,
however, there are thousands of sub-castes and it is with these
sub-castes that the majority of Hindus identify. Despite economic
modernization and laws countering discrimination against the lower end
of the class structure, the caste system remains an important factor in
Indian society.
Poverty is one of the major problems facing India. An estimated 30-40
percent of the population lives in poverty. Four out of five of India's
poor live in rural areas. About 70% of the people live in more than
550,000 villages, and the remainder in more than 200 towns and cities.
Statistics
Population: 966,783,171 (July 1997 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 35% (male 173,420,822; female 163,433,648)
15-64 years: 61% (male 304,048,569; female 281,625,342)
65 years and over: 4% (male 22,536,104; female 21,718,686) (July
1997est.)
Population growth rate: 1.72% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 26.19 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 8.87 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.04 male(s)/female
total population : 1.07 male(s)/female (1997 est.)
Infant mortality 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.)
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