India

Capital: New Delhi

Located in South Asia, India is the seventh largest, and the second most populous country in the world. Home to the Indus Valley civilisation and known for its historic trade routes and vast empires, India is recognised for its commercial and cultural wealth for a large part of its long history. It is the centre of amalgamation of many religions and ethnicities which have shaped the country's diverse culture. Colonised by the United Kingdom from early eighteenth century, India became a modern nation state in 1947, after a struggle for independence that was remarkable for its largely non-violent resistance.

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

Geographic coordinates: 20 00 N, 77 00 E

Climate: Mainly tropical in southern India but temperatures in the north range from sub-zero degrees to 50 degrees Celsius. There are well-defined seasons in the northern region: winter (Dec - Feb), Spring (Mar - Apr), Summer (May - Jun), Monsoons (Jul - Sep) and Autumn (Oct - Nov).

Area: total: 3,287,590 sq km

Land: 2,973,190 sq km

Water: 314,400 sq km

Natural resources: coal (fourth largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromites, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land.

Land use: arable land: 48.83 per cent

Irrigated land: 558,080 sq km (2003)

Population: 1,147,995,898 (July 2008 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.578 per cent (2008 est.)

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

Religions: Hindu 80.5 per cent, Muslim 13.4 per cent, Christian 2.3 per cent, Sikh 1.9 per cent, other 1.8 per cent, unspecified 0.1 per cent (2001 census)

Languages: Hindi is the national language and mother tongue of 30 per cent of the people. There are 21 other official languages. English is the preferred language for national, political, and commercial communication.

Literacy: Total population: 61 per cent

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Political system and Government:

The 1950 Constitution provides for a parliamentary system of Government with a bicameral parliament and three independent branches: the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The country has a federal structure with elected Governments in States. There are 28 states and 7 Union Territories.

Chief of State: President Pratibha Patil (since 25 July 2007)

Head of Government: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (since 22 May 2004)