FAST FACTS
Area: 3,287,580 sq km
1997 population: 966,095,600
Capital (population): New Delhi (294,000)
Government: Multiparty democracy
Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Other (mainly
Mongoloid) 3%
Languages: Hindi and English (both official) 30%, Telugu 8%, Urdu 5%, Bengali 8% and many others
Religions: Hindu 83%, Moslem 11%, Christianity 2%, Buddhist
1% and Sikhism 2%
Currency: Rupee = 100 paise
1997 GDP per capita: US$ 396

India is one of the world's largest countries, and is the second most populace after China. Its large size covers a diverse range of regional variation, both in terms of climate and topography, which have created not only a wide variety of natural habitat, but also diverse human cultures, which is reflected in the wide number of languages spoken, and religious beliefs held.

Indian civilisation is one of the world's oldest, and has been influenced by outside cultures much more than that of China, being more easily reached from central Asia. The British were the last invaders to affect the history of India, and from the very diverse set of kingdoms within the Indian subcontinent, created the unified country of today.

After attaining independence, India remained a predominantly poor country, with a large peasant population, living subsistence lifestyles. That said, India also has a highly educated middle class population, and has recently started to show great promise as a consumer market, with many international companies beginning to see investment there as a worthwhile venture. Certainly the potential is there, but real consumers only make up a small part of India's huge, and fast growing population, which is expected to overtake China's early in the next century.

INDIA LINKS

Http://www.timesofindia.com
http://www.expressindia.com