Religions
India is one of the most
religiously diverse nations in the world, with religion playing a central role
in the lives of most Indians. The faith of 80.5% of the people is Hinduism,
considered one of the oldest religious and philosophical systems in the world.
Islam is practiced by 13.8% of all Indians, Christianity by 2.3%, and Sikhism by
1.87%. Buddhism and Jainism both arose on the Indian subcontinent and have a
world-wide presence; in addition, Zoroastrianism and Judaism have a long history
in India, but their present-day numbers are small.
Population
The second largest populous country, India is home to around 16
per cent of world’s population. The country, however, accounts for 2.4 per cent
of the total world area. The 10 heavily populated districts of the country are
Calcutta, Chennai, Greater Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chandigarh, Mahe, Howrah,
Kanpur City and Bangalore. All of them have density of above 2,000 persons per
square kilometer and 5.01 per cent of the country’s population lives in these
districts.
Literacy
India is one of the countries (along with the Arab states
and sub-Saharan Africa) where the literacy levels are still below the threshold
level of 75% but gigantic efforts are on to achieve that level. More than three
fourths of the country’s male population and above half of the female population
is literate. The thrust forward for achieving at least the threshold level of
literacy represents the largest ever civil and military mobilization in the
country.
Sex Ratio
Sex ratio is defined as the number of females per thousand males.
In India, it has generally been adverse to women. The ratio has also declined
over the years except in 1981 when it slightly improved to 934 from 927 females
per thousand men. In 1991, there has been a fall by seven points to 927 per
thousand males. But the state of Kerala represent a different spectrum. The
state has a higher number of females than males, 1,036 females against thousand
males.
Languages
India
has a diverse list of spoken languages among different groups of people. At
least 800 different languages and around 2000 dialects have been identified. The
Constitution of India has stipulated the usage of Hindi and English to be the
two languages of communication for the Central (Federal) government. The state
governments use their own language along with English for communication with the
Central government. India has a list of 23 official languages (including Hindi
and English). These languages are entitled to representation on the Official
Language Commission, and a candidate in an examination conducted for national
government service may opt to take the exam in any of these languages. But in
most of the states Hindi is popular for uneducated labor as this still is a
source or means of communication in all of India.
Geography
The
geography of India is extremely diverse, with landscape ranging from snow-capped
mountain ranges to deserts, plains, rainforests, hills and plateaus. India
comprises most of the Indian subcontinent situated on the Indian Plate, the
northerly portion of the Indo-Australian Plate. Having a coastline of over
7,000 km (4,300 miles), most of India lies on a peninsula in southern Asia that
protrudes into the Indian Ocean. India is bounded in the southwest by the
Arabian Sea and in the southeast by the Bay of Bengal.
Poverty
Although recent positive
economic developments have helped the Indian middle-class a great deal, India
still suffers from substantial poverty. The National sample survey organization
(NSSO) estimated that 22.15% of the population was living below the poverty line
in 2004–2005, down from 51.3% in 1977–1978, and 26% in 2000. The criterion used
was monthly consumption of goods below $4.70 (Rs. 211.30) for rural areas and
$10.09 (Rs. 454.11) for urban areas. 75% of the poor are in rural areas with
most of them comprising daily wagers, self-employed households and landless
laborers.
