Asia and Oceania

India
Last reviewed: 14 October 2009

Country information

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INDIA TODAY

Country Facts

Area: 3,287,623m sq km (1,269,219 sq miles)
Population: 1,136,000,000 (Sept 2007 est, 2nd in the world)
Capital City: New Delhi
Languages:The official language of India is Hindi, written in the Devanagariscript and spoken by some 30% of the population as a first language.Since 1965 English has been recognised as an 'associated language'. Inaddition there are 18 main and regional languages recognised foradoption as official state languages.
Religions:India is a secular state and freedom of religion is protected under theConstitution. The main religious groups are Hindus (81.3%), Muslims(12%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%).
Currency: Rupee
Government: United Progressive Alliance, a Congress-led coalition.
Head of State: President Pratibha Patil
Prime Minister: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Foreign Minister: S.M. Krishna
Membership of international groupings/organisations:Commonwealth; United Nations and the United Nations Human RightsCouncil; World Trade Organisation; South Asian Association for RegionalCo-operation (SAARC); ASEAN (dialogue partner); G4.