India

World Book Index

Introduction

Background
The Indus Valley civilization, one of the world's oldest, flourished during the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C. and extended into northwestern India. By the 19th century, Great Britain had become the dominant political power on the subcontinent, and India was seen as the "Jewel in the Crown" of the British Empire. Years of nonviolent resistance to British rule eventually resulted in Indian independence in 1947.

Geography

Area
total : 3,287,263 sq km
land: 2,973,193 sq km
water: 314,070 sq km

Climate
varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north

Natural resources
coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), antimony, iron ore, lead, manganese, mica, bauxite, rare earth elements, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land

People and Society

Population
total: 1,409,128,296 (2024 est.)

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

Languages
Hindi 43.6%, Bengali 8%, Marathi 6.9%, Telugu 6.7%, Tamil 5.7%, Gujarati 4.6%, Urdu 4.2%, Kannada 3.6%, Odia 3.1%, Malayalam 2.9%, Punjabi 2.7%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.1%, other 5.6%; English is the subsidiary official language but is the most important one for national, political, and commercial communication (2011 est.)

Religions
Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, other and unspecified 2% (2011 est.)

Population growth rate
0.72% (2024 est.)

Government

Government type
federal parliamentary republic

Capital
name: New Delhi

Executive branch
chief of state: President Droupadi MURMU (since 25 July 2022)
head of government: Prime Minister Narendra MODI (since 26 May 2014)

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Vinay Mohan KWATRA (since 18 September 2024)

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d’Affaires Jorgan K. ANDREWS (since January 2025)

Economy

Economic overview
largest South Asian economy; strong, sustained GDP growth led by technology and service sectors, foreign investment, and improved regulatory framework; high poverty rate and income inequality; initiatives on infrastructure development, digitization, manufacturing, and financial access

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)
$14.244 trillion (2024 est.)
$13.377 trillion (2023 est.)
$12.251 trillion (2022 est.)

Real GDP per capita
$9,800 (2024 est.)
$9,300 (2023 est.)
$8,600 (2022 est.)

Exports
$822.046 billion (2024 est.)
$773.177 billion (2023 est.)
$767.643 billion (2022 est.)

Exports - partners
USA 19%, UAE 7%, China 4%, Germany 3%, UK 3% (2023)

Exports - commodities
refined petroleum, packaged medicine, diamonds, broadcasting equipment, garments (2023)

Imports
$923.081 billion (2024 est.)
$859.507 billion (2023 est.)
$902.304 billion (2022 est.)

Imports - partners
China 19%, Russia 10%, USA 6%, UAE 6%, Saudi Arabia 5% (2023)

Imports - commodities
crude petroleum, gold, coal, natural gas, integrated circuits (2023)

Human Development Index

The country's Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.685, ranking it 130th out of 193 countries tested. (more information)

World Happiness Report

The World Happiness Report ranked the country 137th out of 158 countries tested with a score of 3.898. (more information)