POPULATION
Population: 952,107,694(1996 estimate) | Population Density: 301 persons/sq km(779 persons/sq mi)(1996 estimate)
Urban/Rural Breakdown: 27% Urban / 73% Rural(1995 estimate) | Largest Cities: Mumbai 9,925,891 Delhi 7,206,704 Calcutta 4,399,819(1991 census)
Largest Metropolitan Areas: Mumbai 12,596,243 Calcutta 10,916,272 Delhi 8,375,188(1991 census)
Ethnic Linguistic Groups: 72% Indo-Aryans 25% Dravidians 3% Other
Languages: Official Languages
Hindi, English
Other Languages
17 languages recognized for official purposes: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu; many other languages and dialects
Religions
83% Hinduism ,11% Islam ,2% Christianity ,2% Sikhism ,2% Other
including Buddhism and Jainism
Sources:
Background Notes
Commonwealth Yearbook 1993-94
| Europa World Year Book 1994 | 1992 Demographic Yearbook | Statesman’s Year-Book 1994-95 | World Factbook 1997 |World Population Prospects:
The 1992 Revision