India

federal parliamentary republic

name: New Delhi geographic coordinates: 28 36 N, 77 12 E time difference: UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) etymology: the name is of unknown origin; one theory says it may come from the Hindi word dehli (threshold), because of the city's location between the Indus and the Ganges Rivers

chief of state: President Droupadi MURMU (since 25 July 2022) head of government: Prime Minister Narendra MODI (since 26 May 2014) cabinet: Union Council of Ministers recommended by the prime minister, appointed by the president election/appointment process: president indirectly elected for a 5-year term (no term limits) by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament most recent election date: 18 July 2022 election results: 2022: Droupadi MURMU elected president; percent of electoral college vote - Droupadi MURMU (BJP) 64%, Yashwant SINHA (AITC) 35.9%; Jagdeep DHANKHAR elected vice president; percent of electoral college vote - Jagdeep DHANKHAR (BJP) 74.4%, Margaret ALVA (INC) 25.6% expected date of next election: July 2027

legislature name: Parliament (Sansad) legislative structure: bicameral note: in September 2023, both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha passed a bill that reserves one third of the House seats for women; implementation could begin for the House election in 2029

highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of 28 judges, including the chief justice) judge selection and term of office: justices appointed by the president to serve until age 65 subordinate courts: High Courts; District Courts; Labour Court

history: previous 1935 (pre-independence); latest draft completed 4 November 1949, adopted 26 November 1949, effective 26 January 1950 amendment process: proposed by either the Council of States or the House of the People; passage requires majority participation of the total membership in each house and at least two-thirds majority of voting members of each house, followed by assent of the president of India; proposed amendments to the constitutional amendment procedures also must be ratified by at least one half of the India state legislatures before presidential assent

ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIMSTEC, BIS, BRICS, C, CD, CERN (observer), CICA, CP, EAS, FAO, FATF, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-5, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAS (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, Pacific Alliance (observer), PCA, PIF (partner), Quad, SAARC, SACEP, SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNITAR, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNOOSA, UNSOM, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

2% of GDP (2024 est.) 2.3% of GDP (2023 est.) 2.1% of GDP (2022 est.) 2.2% of GDP (2021 est.) 2.5% of GDP (2020 est.)

Indian Armed Forces (IAF): Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard Ministry of Home Affairs: Central Police Organization, Central Armed Police Forces (includes Assam Rifles, Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Security Guards, Sashastra Seema Bal) (2025) note 1: the Border Security Force (BSF) is responsible for the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh borders; the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB or Armed Border Force) guards the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders note 2: the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) includes a Rapid Reaction Force (RAF) for riot control and the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) for counter-insurgency operations note 3: the Assam Rifles are under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs, while operational control falls under the Ministry of Defense (specifically the Indian Army)

ages vary by branch of service and positions, but generally 17-27 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; no conscription (2025) note 1: in 2022, the Indian Government began recruiting men aged 17.5-21 annually to serve on 4-year contracts; at the end of their tenure, 25% would be retained for longer terms of service, while the remainder would be forced to leave the military, although some of those leaving would be eligible to serve in the Coast Guard, the Merchant Navy, civilian positions in the Ministry of Defense, and in the paramilitary forces of the Ministry of Home Affairs note 2: the Indian military accepts citizens of Nepal and Bhutan; descendants of refugees from Tibet who arrived before 1962 and have resided permanently in India; peoples of Indian origin from nations such as Burma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India; eligible candidates from friendly foreign nations may apply to the Armed Forces Medical Services note 3: the British began to recruit Nepalese citizens (Gurkhas) into the East India Company Army during the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814-1816), and the Gurkhas subsequently were brought into the British Indian Army; following the partition of India in 1947, an agreement between Nepal, India, and Great Britain allowed for the transfer of the 10 regiments from the British Indian Army to the separate British and Indian armies; six regiments of Gurkhas (aka Gorkhas in India) regiments went to the new Indian Army; a seventh regiment was later added

the Indian military's primary mission is external/territorial defense while secondary missions include regional power projection, UN peacekeeping deployments, humanitarian operations, and support to internal security forces; it participates in multinational exercises and is one of the world's largest contributors to UN peacekeeping operations the military's chief external focuses are China and Pakistan; the short 1962 Sino-India War left in place one of the World s longest disputed international borders--known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC)--resulting in occasional standoffs between Indian and Chinese security forces, including lethal clashes in 1975 and 2020; naval competition and influence in the Indian Ocean is also an area of interest India has fought four wars and several skirmishes with Pakistan; three of the wars have been over the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir, the status of which has been unsettled since the UK's 1947 withdrawal and the partition and independence of India and Pakistan; a fragile cease-fire in Kashmir was reached in 2003, revised in 2018, and reaffirmed in 2021, although the militarized Line of Control which serves as the border remains contested, and India has accused Pakistan of backing armed separatists and terrorist organizations in Jammu and Kashmir where Indian military and security forces have conducted counterinsurgency operations since the 1980s; in the Spring of 2025, India held Pakistan responsible for a terrorist attack in India-controlled Kashmir and retaliated, sparking a brief cross-border conflict involving aircraft, artillery, drone, and missile strikes the Kashmir dispute also includes the Siachen Glacier, located in the Karakoram Mountain Range, which was seized by India in 1984 with Pakistan attempting to retake the area several times between 1985 and 1995; despite the 2003 cease-fire, both sides continue to maintain a permanent military presence there with outposts at altitudes above 20,000 feet (over 6,000 meters) where most casualties are due to extreme weather and the hazards of operating in the high mountain terrain of the world s highest conflict, including avalanches, exposure, and altitude sickness (2025)

1,100 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 200 Golan Heights (UNDOF); 900 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 2,400 South Sudan (UNMISS); 600 Sudan (UNISFA) (2025) note: India has over 6,000 total military and police personnel deployed on UN missions

$14.244 trillion (2024 est.) $13.377 trillion (2023 est.) $12.251 trillion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

$9,800 (2024 est.) $9,300 (2023 est.) $8,600 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

6.5% (2024 est.) 9.2% (2023 est.) 7.6% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

5% (2024 est.) 5.6% (2023 est.) 6.7% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices

46.5% of GDP (2018 est.) note: central government debt as a % of GDP

$822.046 billion (2024 est.) $773.177 billion (2023 est.) $767.643 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

$923.081 billion (2024 est.) $859.507 billion (2023 est.) $902.304 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

4.3% (2024 est.) 4.2% (2023 est.) 4.9% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment

revenues: $311.824 billion (2022 est.) expenditures: $486.598 billion (2022 est.) note: central government revenues and expenses (excluding grants/extrabudgetary units/social security funds) converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated

textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software, pharmaceuticals

sugarcane, rice, milk, wheat, bison milk, potatoes, vegetables, maize, bananas, onions (2023) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage

total: 1,419,316,933 (2025 est.) male: 730,902,574 female: 688,414,359

0.72% (2025 est.)

0-14 years: 24.5% (male 181,115,052/female 163,647,028) 15-64 years: 68.7% (male 500,568,593/female 467,593,781) 65 years and over: 6.8% (2024 est.) (male 44,101,180/female 52,102,662)

15.91 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

8.7 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

total population: 68.2 years (2024 est.) male: 66.5 years female: 70.1 years

urban population: 36.4% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 2.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, and other 3% (2000)

Hindi 43.6%, Bengali 8%, Marathi 6.9%, Telugu 6.7%, Tamil 5.7%, Gujarati 4.6%, Urdu 4.2%, Kannada 3.6%, Odia 3.1%, Malayalam 2.9%, Punjabi 2.7%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.1%, other 5.6%; English is the subsidiary official language but is the most important one for national, political, and commercial communication (2011 est.) major-language sample(s): विश्व फ़ैक्टबुक, आधारभूत जानकारी का एक अनिवार्य स्रोत (Hindi) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information. note 1: there are 22 other recognized languages -- Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu note 2: Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language

Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, other and unspecified 2% (2011 est.)

total population: 81.7% (2023 est.) male: 88.3% (2023 est.) female: 74.9% (2023 est.)

coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), antimony, iron ore, lead, manganese, mica, bauxite, rare earth elements, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land

al-Qa ida; al-Qa ida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS); Harakat ul-Mujahidin; Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI); Hizbul Mujahideen; Indian Mujahedeen; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) India (ISI); Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM); Lashkar-e Tayyiba (LeT); Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)/Qods Force; The Resistance Front (TRF) note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in the Terrorism reference guide

USG identification: major illicit drug-producing and/or drug-transit country major precursor-chemical producer (2025)

refugees: 250,006 (2024 est.) IDPs: 642,610 (2024 est.) stateless persons: 23,262 (2024 est.)

315 (2025)

total: 65,554 km (2014) narrow gauge: 1,604 km (2014) 1.000-m gauge broad gauge: 63,950 km (2014) (39, 329 km electrified)

total: 1,859 (2023) by type: bulk carrier 66, container ship 22, general cargo 607, oil tanker 144, other 1020

total subscriptions: 1.15 billion (2024 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 79 (2024 est.)

percent of population: 56% (2022 est.)