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India Fast acts
GDP (PPP)	US$2.965 trillion
GDP per capita (PPP)	US$2,700
GDP real growth rate	8.5%
Inflation	5.9%
Local currency	Indian Rupee (INR)
Exchange rate	41.487 INR : 1US$
Capital city	New Delhi
Population	1,147,995,898 (July 2008 est.)
Ethnic groups	Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
Languages	English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language.
Religions	Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
Land size	3.29 million sq. kilometres
Top import sources	China 8.7%, US 6%, Germany 4.7%, Singapore 4.6% (2006)
Top export markets	US 17%, UAE 8.3%, China 7.7%, UK 4.3% (2006)
Unemployment rate	8.9%

Figures as of 2007 unless stated.

Indian economy
India's diverse economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of services. Services are the major source of economic growth, accounting for more than half of India's output with less than one third of its labor force. About three-fifths of the work force is in agriculture, leading the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to articulate an economic reform program that includes developing basic infrastructure to improve the lives of the rural poor and boost economic performance. The government has reduced controls on foreign trade and investment. Higher limits on foreign direct investment were permitted in a few key sectors, such as telecommunications. However, tariff spikes in sensitive categories, including agriculture, and incremental progress on economic reforms still hinder foreign access to India's vast and growing market. Privatization of government-owned industries remains stalled and continues to generate political debate; populist pressure from within the UPA government and from its Left Front allies continues to restrain needed initiatives. The economy has posted an average growth rate of more than 7% in the decade since 1997, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. India achieved 8.5% GDP growth in 2006, and again in 2007, significantly expanding production of manufactures. India is capitalizing on its large numbers of well-educated people skilled in the English language to become a major exporter of software services and software workers. Economic expansion has helped New Delhi continue to make progress in reducing its federal fiscal deficit. However, strong growth combined with easy consumer credit and a real estate boom fueled inflation concerns in 2006 and 2007, leading to a series of central bank interest rate hikes that have slowed credit growth and eased inflation concerns. The huge and growing population is the fundamental social, economic, and environmental problem.

Legal and judicial system
India has a well-established and independent judicial system. The Supreme Court of India is the highest court of appeal at New Delhi and the High Courts in states, along with subsidiary district courts, enforce the rule of law and ensures the fundamental rights of citizens which are guaranteed by the constitution.

Government
India is the largest democracy in the world and has adopted a parliamentary system of government with two legislative houses. The country is a union of 25 states and union territories and one national capital territory at Delhi. The central government in Delhi has exclusive jurisdiction over all the matters of national interest such as defence, communication, banking and currency, international trade and foreign affairs. State governments have primary responsibility for matters such as law and order, education, health and agriculture.

Information obtained from The CIA World Fact Book and the Economist, May 2008