Population under 18 years: 398 million

Sex ratio: 933 women to 1000 men

Climate: Tropical in South to temperate in North

Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Mongoloid and others.

Major Religions: Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jains and others.

Major Languages: Hindi, English, Bengali, Marathi, Telegu, Gujarati, Urdu, Punjabi and nine other official languages. Numerous more languages and dialects.

Literacy: 65 percent (76 percent male and 54 percent female)

GDP (at current prices): US$ 409 billion

GDP per capita: US$ 400

Percent below poverty line: 35 percent (1994 est.)

Human Development Index (HDI) Rank: 115 (HDI is a system formulated by the United Nations Development Programme and measures Human Development through criteria other than financial)