Population: 833,421,982 (July 1989), growth rate 2.0% (1989)

Birth rate: 31 births/1,000 population (1989)

Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1989)

Infant mortality rate: 91 deaths/1,000 live births (1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 57 years male, 58 years female (1989)

Total fertility rate: 3.9 children born/woman (1989)

Nationality: noun--Indian(s); adjective--Indian

Ethnic divisions: 72% Indo-Aryan, 25% Dravidian, 3% Mongoloid and other

Religion: 82.6% Hindu, 11.4% Muslim, 2.4% Christian, 2.0% Sikh, 0.7% Buddhist, 0.5% Jains, 0.4% other

Language: Hindi, English, and 14 other official languages; 24 languages spoken by a million or more persons each; numerous other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually unintelligible; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people; English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindustani, a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu, is spoken widely throughout northern India

Literacy: 36%

Labor force: 284,400,000; 67% agriculture (FY85)

Organized labor: less than 5% of the labor force

NOTE: The information regarding India on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of India People 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about India People 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.