India’s people inherited a civilization that began more than 4,500 years ago, one that has proven capable of absorbing and transforming the peoples and cultures that over the centuries have come to the subcontinent. India has long supported a large population of great diversity. The people in India’s intricate network of communities speak literally thousands of languages, practice all of the world’s great religions, and participate in a complex social structure that incorporates the caste system, a rigid system of social hierarchy.

India is one of the world’s most populous countries. In 2007 it had a population of 1,129,866,154, yielding an average population density of 380 persons per sq km (984 per sq mi). An estimated 71 percent of India’s inhabitants live in rural areas. The population grew by 17.2 percent between 1995 and 2005, down from 24 percent growth between 1981 and 1991. It is estimated that the rate of growth will slow even further in the coming decades, but India’s population nevertheless is expected to continue to increase. The annual growth rate in 2007 was 1.6 percent.

A. Principal Cities

Dozens of Indian cities have metropolitan area populations of more than 1 million. The largest are Mumbai (2001 metropolitan area population, 16.4 million), India’s premier port; Kolkata (13.2 million), eastern India’s chief commercial, financial, and manufacturing center; and Delhi (12.8 million), a historical city as well as a major transportation, commercial, and industrial center. Other important cities are Chennai, one of India’s principal ports; Bangalore, a center of high-technology industry; Hyder?b?d, N?gpur, Lucknow, and Jaipur, all centers of government and service industries; and K?npur, Ahmad?b?d, Pune, and Surat, which are known for their industrial economies.