Country profile - India

Capital: New Delhi since 1912

Area: 3,287,263 sq Kms

Latitude: Between 8’ 4’ and 37’ 6’ North
Longitude: Between 68’ 7’ and 97’ 25’ East

Coastline: 7516.5 Kms ( including lakshwadeep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands)

Land Frontier: 15,200 Kms

Languages and dialects: 22 languages specified in the Eight schedule of the constitution, overall more than 1600 languages and dialects.

National days: 15 August - Independence Day, 26 January - Republic Day.

National flag: Horizontal tricolour of deep saffron at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal proportions. In the center of the white band is a navy blue wheel as Ashok Chakra with 24 spokes.

National Emblem: Adaptation of the Sarnath lion capital of Ashoka

National Anthem: Jana gana mana

[ Indian Anthem - Download ]
Duration of Anthem - collective vocal version: 01:53 min.
Format: MP3 - 128 Kbits/s - 44.1 kHz - Stereo
File size: 1.7 Mb


[ View Musical Score in new window]

The ‘Jana Gana Mana’ written and composed by Nobel-Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted by the constituent Assembly as the National anthem of India on 24th January 1950. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. The complete song consists of five stanzas. The first stanza alone constitutes the full version of the national anthem, reading as:

Jana gana mana adhinayaka jaya he
Bharata bhagya vidhata
Punjab Sindhu Gujarat Maaratha
Dravida Utkal Banga
Vindhya Himachal Yamuna Ganga
Uchchala Jaladhi Taranga
Tava shubha name jage
Tava shubha ashish maange
Gahe tava jaya gatha
Jana gana mangala dayak jaya he
Bharata bhagya vidhata
Jaya he, Jaya he, Jaya he
Jaya jaya jaya jaya he.

The playing time of the National Anthem is approximately 52 seconds
The following is Tagore’s own English rendering of the stanza:

Thou art the rulers of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India’s destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Panjab, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal:
It echoes in the hills of the vindhyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of Yammuna and Ganga
And is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India’s destiny,
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

Highest mountain range: Himalayas altitude more than 7500 mts

Highest Peak: K2
Godwin Austin: 8611mts above sea level

Largest River basin: Ganga - Brahmaputra Basin

Longest River: Brahmaputra 2900 Kms
National calendar: This is based on Saka Era with Chaitra as its first month and a normal year of 365 days. Dates of the national calendar have a permanent correspondence with dates of Gregorian calendar. Chaitra 1 generally falls on 22 March and in a leap year on 21 March.


National Bird: Indian Peacock
National animal: The Royal Bengal Tiger
National flower: Lotus
National fruit: Mango
National tree: Banyan

Currency: Rupee (in English) Rupaiya (in Hindi) – One rupee = 100 paise

Major religions: Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism and Zoarastrianism.


Political Structure
Proclaimed Republic on 26th January 1950

President: Mr. Abdul Kalam Azad

Form of Government: Parliamentary Democracy

Prime Minister: Mr. Manmohan Singh

Indian Union: Consists of 28 states and 7 centrally administered Union territories.

Policital party system: Multiparty system , but trend towards coalition politics

Legislature: Parliament consists of President and the two houses-Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and Lok Sabha (House of the People)

Executive: Consists of President, Vice Presidents and Council of Ministers led by the Prime Minister.

Judiciary: Independent. Consists of the Supreme Court, High Courts and lower courts.


Demographic Indicators
Population: 1027 million

Males: 531 million

Females: 496

Life expectancy at birth: 63 years (1998)

Sex Ratio: 933

Literacy: 65.38%

Infant mortality: 70

Population growth rate: 1.93


Economic Indicators
GDP at current prices in US $ Billion: 414.99 (2002)

Per Capita Income
Per Capita Income
(based on purchasing power)
Annual growth rate

For more visit:
www.nic.in/finmin