• India:
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India - Society

Population: 1,169,016,000 (2007); world’s second-largest, after China; 28% lives in urban areas and 11% in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million people; some 60% of all Commonwealth people, and 16% of all people, lives in India; growth 2.1% p.a. 1970–90 and 1.8% p.a. 1990–2004; birth rate (2005) 22 per 1,000 people (40 in 1970); life expectancy 64 years (29 in 1947 and 49 in 1970). By 1996, 41% of married women were using contraceptive methods.

Religion: Hindus 81%, Muslims 12%, Christians 2%, Sikhs 2%, Buddhists, Jains.

Language: The main official languages are Hindi (spoken by 30% of the population), and English (as laid down in the Constitution and Official Languages Act of 1963), but there are also 17 official regional languages, and many other languages. Language has been a major constitutional issue; the states have now been demarcated according to the main language of their populations. Other widely used languages include Urdu (spoken by most Muslims) and (in the north) Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Oriya; (in the south) Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam.

Media: The growing middle class has resulted in a rise in newspaper circulation over the past few years. News channels are also the most popular on radio and TV. The BBC World Service is available on an FM relay.

The leading English-language dailies are Deccan Herald (Bengaluru), The Hindu (Chennai), The Hindustan Times (New Delhi), The Indian Express (New Delhi), The Pioneer (New Delhi), The Statesman (Kolkata) and The Times of India (Mumbai), and India Today and Outlook are weekly news magazines. There are more than 4,000 daily newspapers published in some 90 languages. Private TV channels have been allowed since 1992 and private radio stations since 2000, though publicly owned All India Radio is the only radio network permitted to broadcast news.

There are 12 personal computers (2004) and 54 internet users (2006) per 1,000 people.

Education: Public spending on education was 3.8% of GDP in 2004. There are nine years of compulsory education starting at age six. The primary net enrolment ratio is 89% (2005). The pupil–teacher ratio for primary is 41:1 and for secondary, 33:1 (2002/03). The school year starts in April.

About 11% of the relevant age group is enrolled in tertiary education (2005). There are more than 200 universities, 9,000 colleges and 1,000 polytechnics, including some 150 medical colleges. There are schemes to reserve places for scheduled (lowest) castes and scheduled tribes in certain colleges and universities, and special boarding schools for talented children with priority given to those from rural areas. Illiteracy among people age 15–24 is 23.6% (2006).

Health: Primary health care is provided in rural areas by more than 20,000 centres, backed by sub-centres, community health centres and dispensaries. Western medicine predominates, although Ayurvedic medicine is also practised. The Ayurvedic tradition also gave rise to homeopathy (some 365,000 practitioners). 86% of the population uses an improved drinking water source and 59% in urban areas have adequate sanitation facilities (2004/2005). Infant mortality was 56 per 1,000 live births in 2005 (146 in 1960). National health programmes have been established to combat malaria, filaria, sexually transmitted diseases (including AIDS), leprosy and tuberculosis. Family welfare centres give advice and education on family planning. At the end of 2005, 0.7% of people age 15 and over were HIV positive.

Communications: Country code 91. Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone companies and coverage is good in all the major towns and cities. Public phone booths are found everywhere and are the main source of communication for locals.

Larger hotels and internet cafes provide connections countrywide and many now have Wi-Fi facilities. Post office hours vary.

There are 36 main telephone lines and 148 mobile phones per 1,000 people (2006).

Public holidays: The following are universally observed: Republic Day (26 January), Independence Day (15 August) and Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday (2 October).

Religious and other festivals, of which the observance varies between regions and religions, are: New Year’s Day (1 January), Muharram (Islamic New Year), Holi (March), Sri Ram Navami (March/April), Mahavir Jayanti (March/April), Prophet’s Birthday, Good Friday, Buddha Purnima (April/May), Janmashtami (August/September), Durga Puja (October), Dussehra (October/November), Diwali (October/November), Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan), Guru Nanak’s Birthday (November), Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) and Christmas Day (25 December). Those without specific dates vary from year to year.