India became Independent at midnight on the 14th – 15th of August 1947 and declared a sovereign Republic on 26th January 1950. The first general election was completed in 1952 and ever since India is accepted as the largest democracy in the world.

India is a sub-continent:
India measures 3214 km for north to south and 2933 km from east to west. To the north there is the highest mountain system in the world, the Himalayas, which has ten peaks rising above 7,500 meters.

Population:
India began the century with a population of 269 million. The census of 1991 placed the population at 847 million; according to a 1996 UN estimate, India's population was 953 million. India is the home of 16% of the world's population; the country however accounts for 2.4% of world's land area. Uttar Pradesh state in north India in 1991 registered a population of 139.1 million making it the most populous state in India; and the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) with a population of 12.6 million remains the most populous city in India. The census will be completed in 2001.

Sex Ratio: (the number of females per 1000 males)
This is one of the most worrying and tragic aspects of life in India. In 1901 the census recorded a ratio of 972; by 1951 the ratio was 946 and by 2001 the ratio had declined to 915. These statistics reflect the continually declining status of women and the female child in Indian society... and are the reasons why an increasing number of programmes, both of the government and the voluntary sector, pay special attention to women and the girl child.

Literacy and education:
Literacy levels are rising. In 1951 the literacy rate was 18.3%. The 1991 census give a level of 52.21% for the whole country (64.13% for males, 39.29% for females). There is considerable variation at state level. Kerala recorded the highest at 89.81% and Bihar the lowest at 38.48%; Female literacy was the lowest in Rajasthan at 20.44%. School enrolment is also rising, increasing from about 24 million in 1950-51 to about 167 million in 1992-93. Student enrolment in universities has increased from about 0.2 million at the time of independence to about 5 million in 1992-93. CAF India is currently working in Lucknow to improve primary education facilities.

Rural and Urban Populations:
In 1901 the urban population was 10.8% of the overall population. By 1991 the urban population of 218 million had become 25.7% of the total population. (Urban population defined as people living in towns and cities with a population greater than 100,000.)

Religious Communities:
Hindus (in 1991) were 82.8% of the population; Muslims 11.7%; Christians 2.3%; Sikhs 2.0%; Buddists, Jains and others form the rest.

Principal Languages:
India now has 18 official languages. Most of the languages fall into two groups, Indo-Aryan and Dravidian. Indo-Aryan languages account for about 74% of the total population and Dravidian about 25%. Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Bengali are some of the major Indo-Aryan languages and Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam are major Dravidian languages. Hindi is the official language; English is recognised as the authoritative legislative and judicial language.

Income variation between states: there is a considerable variation of income between states: at 2002 prices, the all India average was Rupees 6,929

eg: Delhi Rs 14,714; Punjab Rs 12,319; Maharashtra Rs 10,984
Karnataka Rs 7,026; Himachal Pradesh Rs 6,519; Andhra Pradesh Rs 6,489;Orissa Rs 4726; Jammu & Kashmir Rs 4,244; Bihar Rs 3,650

National Bird: Peacock
National Animal: Tiger
National Flower: Lotus