The People of India

[Note: This information derives primarily from the 1995 edition of the CIA World Factbook.]

Population

• Population 936,545,814 (July 1995 est.)
• Population growth rate: 1.77% (1995 est.)
• Birth rate: 27.78 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
• Death rate: 10.07 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
• Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Age structure

• 0-14 years: 35% (female 159,921,309; male 168,812,255)
• 15-64 years: 61% (female 274,105,407; male 296,145,798)
• 65 years and over: 4% (female 18,870,762; male 18,690,283) (July 1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

• total population: 59.04 years
• male: 58.5 years
• female: 59.61 years (1995 est.)
• Total fertility rate: 3.4 children born/woman (1995 est.)
• Infant mortality rate: 76.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Nationality

• noun: Indian(s)
• adjective: Indian

Ethnic divisions

• Indo-Aryan 72%
• Dravidian 25%
• Mongoloid and other 3%

Religions

• Hindu 80%
• Muslim 14%
• Christian 2.4%
• Sikh 2%
• Buddhist 0.7%
• Jains 0.5%
• other 0.4%

Languages

English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication. Official languages: Hindi the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit. Hindustani a popular variant of Hindu/Urdu, is spoken widely throughout northern India.

Note: 24 languages each spoken by a million or more persons; numerous other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually unintelligible.

Language in India: Colonial Times and Since Independence

• The Three Phases of the Introduction of Bilingualism in English in India
• Macaulay's Minute and the Beginnings of Bilingualism in English in India
• English becomes the Language of the Elite, Press and Administration --English in Independent India
• The Power of English in India
• Multilingualism in India
• Fifteen National Languages; Hindi, the Official Language
• English in India; Figures - and Who Speaks English to Whom and When? -- The Role of English in Indian Multilingual Setting -- English as the Language of Administration and Press
• Language Planning: English in Education
• Indian English Literature
• Nativization of Indian English

Literacy age 7 and over can read and write (1991)

• total population: 52%
• male: 64%
• female: 39%
• See also India Literacy Project (ILP)

Labor force

• 314.751 million (1990)
• by occupation: agriculture 65% (1993 est.)