India: The world's seventh largest country in area, India occupies more than 3 million sq km (1 million sq miles)

Total Area
3,287,590 sq km
Land: 2,973,190 sq km
Water: 314,400 sq km
( comparatively slightly more than one-third the size of the US )

International Boundaries
India consists geographically of the entire Indian Peninsula and portions of the Asian mainland. The length of India from north to south is 3,050 km (1,900 mi); from east to west it is 2,950 km (1,830 mi). India also has two island chains, each forming its own union territory. The Andaman and Nicobar island chain lies east of the mainland between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. Its southernmost island is only 200 km (120 mi) from the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Lakshadweep island group is located off India's southwest coast.

Land boundaries:
Total: 14,103 km
Border Countries: Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km
Coastline: 7,000 km

Elevation extremes
Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
Highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m

Population
With more than 1 billion inhabitants, India ranks second only to China among the world's most populous countries. Its people are culturally diverse, and religion plays an important role in the life of the country. About 83 percent of the people practice Hinduism, a religion that originated in India. Another 12 percent are Muslims, and millions of others are Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains. Eighteen major languages and more than 1,000 minor languages and dialects are spoken in India.

Total Population 1,065,070,607 (2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 32.2% (male 173,973,350; female 163,979,116)
15-64 years: 63% (male 342,620,712; female 319,259,867)
65 years and over: 4.8% (male 25,281,756; female 24,585,317) (2003 est.)

Median age:
total: 24.1 years
male: 24.1 years
female: 24.2 years (2002)

Population growth rate:
1.47% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
23.28 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
8.49 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)