Government type:
Federal republic

Administrative divisions:
28 states and 7 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*, Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Puducherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal

Independence:
15 August 1947 (from UK)

National holiday:
Republic Day, 26 January (1950)

Constitution:
26 January 1950; amended many times

Legal system:
based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
Chief of state: President Pratibha PATIL (since 25 July 2007); Vice President Hamid ANSARI (since 11 August 2007)

Head of government: Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH (since 22 May 2004)

Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister

Elections: president elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of the states for a five-year term (no term limits)

Vice president elected by both houses of Parliament for a five-year term
Prime minister chosen by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections

Legislative branch:
Bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of the Council of States or Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of not more than 250 members up to 12 of whom are appointed by the president, the remainder are chosen by the elected members of the state and territorial assemblies; members serve six-year terms) and the People's Assembly or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 elected by popular vote, 2 appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms)
Elections: People's Assembly - last held 20 April through 10 May 2004 (next must be held before May 2009)

Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (one chief justice and 25 associate justices are appointed by the president and remain in office until they reach the age of 65 or are removed for "proved misbehavior")

Flag description:
Three equal horizontal bands of saffron (subdued orange) (top), white, and green with a blue chakra (24-spoked wheel) centered in the white band; similar to the flag of Niger, which has a small orange disk centered in the white band

Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan

Geographic coordinates: 20 00 N, 77 00 E

Area:
total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km
water: 314,400 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly more than one-third the size of the US

Land boundaries:
total: 14,103 km
border countries: Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km

Coastline: 7, 000 km

Climate:
Varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north

Ethnic groups:
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)

Languages:
English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication
Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people
There are 21 other official languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanscrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu
Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language

Literacy:
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 61%
male: 73.4%
female: 47.8% (2001 census)

Economy - overview:
India's diverse economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of services.

Services are the major source of economic growth, accounting for more than half of India's output with less than one third of its labor force. About three-fifths of the work force is in agriculture.

The government has reduced controls on foreign trade and investment. Higher limits on foreign direct investment were permitted in a few key sectors, such as telecommunications.

The economy has posted an average growth rate of more than 7% in the decade since 1997, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. India achieved 8.5% GDP growth in 2006, and again in 2007, significantly expanding production of manufactures.

India is capitalizing on its large numbers of well-educated people skilled in the English language to become a major exporter of software services and software workers. Economic expansion has helped New Delhi continue to make progress in reducing its federal fiscal deficit.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$2.965 trillion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$1.09 trillion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
8.5% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$2,700 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
Agriculture: 16.6%
Industry: 28.4%
Services: 55% (2007 est.)

Airports:
346 (2007)

Paved Runways:
total: 250
over 3,047 m: 18
2,438 to 3,047 m: 52

Population:
1,129,866,154 (July 2007 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 31.8% (male 188,208,196/female 171,356,024)
15-64 years: 63.1% (male 366,977,821/female 346,034,565)
65 years and over: 5.1% (male 27,258,259/female 30,031,289) (2007 est.)

Median age:
total: 24.8 years
male: 24.5 years
female: 25.2 years (2007 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.606% (2007 est.)

Birth rate:
22.69 births/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 (2007 est.)