ndia’s history begins not with independence in 1947, but more than 4,500 years earlier, when the name India referred to the entire subcontinent, including present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. The earliest of India’s known civilizations, the Indus Valley civilization (about 2500 to 1700 bc), was known for its highly specialized artifacts and stretched throughout northern India. Another early culture—the Vedic culture—dates from approximately 1500 bc and is considered one of the sources for India’s predominantly Hindu culture and for the foundation of several important philosophical traditions. India has been subject to influxes of peoples throughout its history, some coming under arms to loot and conquer, others moving in to trade and settle. India was able to absorb the impact of these intrusions because it was able to assimilate or tolerate foreign ideas and people. Outsiders who came to India during the course of its history include the Greeks under Alexander the Great, the Kush?nas from Central Asia, the Mongols under Genghis Khan, Muslim traders and invaders from the Middle East and Central Asia, and finally the British and other Europeans. India also disseminated its civilization outward to Sri Lanka and much of Southeast Asia. Buddhism, which originated in India, spread even farther.
Central to Indian history are the people of India who established complex political systems, whether local kingdoms or mighty empires, in which learning and religion flourished. Until the modern industrial era, India was a land famed for its economic as well as cultural wealth. Europeans visited the country to trade for the finest cotton textiles as well as spices. Eventually, the British colonized the region. Their exploitation of India’s economic wealth and the subsequent destruction of its indigenous industry provoked and then fueled a nationalist movement, eventually forcing the British to grant India (partitioned into India and Pakistan) its independence in 1947. Since that time India has developed into a vibrant democracy, making slow but steady progress in development.
Official name: Republic of India Capital: New Delhi Area 3,165,596 sq km;
People Population : 1,129,866,200 (2007 estimate)
Largest cities, with population Kolkata (Calcutta) 13,216,546 (2001) Delhi 12,791,458 (2001) Mumbai (Bombay) 11,914,398 (2001) Chennai (Madras) 6,424,624 (2001) Hydera-ba-d 5,533,640 (2001)
Ethnic groups Indo-Aryan 72 percent Dravidian 25 percent Other 3 percent
Languages There are 24 languages spoken in India by at least 1 million people each. Numerous other languages and dialects are also spoken. Hindi is the official national language and is the primary language for 40 percent of the population. Other official languages include Assamese, Bangla, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithali, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu and is spoken widely throughout northern India. English has associate status as the official working language and is important for national, political, and commercial matters.
Hindi 40 percent Bengali 8 percent Telugu 8 percent Marathi 7 percent Tamil 6 percent Urdu 5 percent Gujarati 5 percent Kannada 4 percent Malayalam 4 percent Oriya 3 percent Punjabi 3 percent Assamese 2 percent Other 5 percent
Religions Hindu 80.5 percent Muslim 13.4 percent Christian 2.3 percent Sikh 1.9 percent Buddhist 0.8 percent Nonreligious 0.7 percent Other 0.4 percent
Literacy rate Total 56.6 percent (2005 estimate) Female 43 percent (2005 estimate) Male 69.5 percent (2005 estimate)
Government Form of government Federal republic Head of state President Head of government Prime minister Legislature Bicameral legislature Lok Sabha (House of the People): 545 members Rajya Sabha (Council of States): 245 members
Economy Gross domestic product (GDP, in U.S.$) $805.7 billion (2005) GDP per capita (U.S.$) $736.10 (2005)
GDP by economic sector Agriculture, forestry, fishing 18.3 percent (2005) Industry 27.3 percent (2005) Services 54.4 percent (2005)
Employment Number of workers 435,035,740 (2005)
Workforce share of economic sector Agriculture, forestry, fishing 67 percent (1995) Industry 13 percent (1995) Services 20 percent (1995)
Unemployment rate 4.3 percent (2000)
Monetary unit 1 Indian rupee (Re), consisting of 100 paise
Read: Missionary Magazine
The Word Was Made Flesh is a monthly missionary review of MISSiOMARIAE.NET. It publishes articles on the missions and related topics such as the Directives of the Magisterium on the missions, Apostolic spirituality, Mariology, homilies and sermons and more...
Learn more of this wonderful magazine and you can even subscribe online for free.
MISSIO MARIAE.NET is created primarily for the missionaries of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, but everyone is invited to participate in any of its parts:
Read mission articles
Watch archived videos
Share your thoughts in the forum
We expect appropriate conduct and behavior in all our site from our users and we are entitle to delete, remove or ban anyone who are not using properly this site without any warning from the site administrator. We thank you for your visit and we look forward to your return. Ave Maria!
The Word Was Made Flesh is a monthly missionary review of MISSiOMARIAE.NET. It publishes articles on the missions and related topics such as the Directives of the Magisterium on the missions, Apostolic spirituality, Mariology, homilies and sermons and more...
