In India, there are about 1.4 billion people - more than one-sixth of all the world's population - of different cultures and religions. Despite being the home to 94% of the world's Hindus, India also consists of significant populations of Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, and adherents of folk India religions.
Overview:
India is a country surrounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Bay of Bengal on the east, and the Arabian Sea on the west. There are huge mountains in the north of it in the form of the Himalayas. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of travelling to India. An Overview of India Religion
An Estimated Population
It is estimated that India has a population of 1.21 billion people, making it the seventh largest country in the world.As the world’s second most populous nation, it is likely to overtake China within the next 25 years to become the world’s most populated nation in terms of population.
It has more than 2,000 ethnic groups and more than 2,000 different languages. In India, there are more than 2,000 ethnic groups.
Union Territories and States
Since independence in 1947, India has been divided up into 29 states and seven Union Territories, with New Delhi as the capital. A number of cities in India have changed their names since then as well. In the last twenty years, Madras has become Chennai, Bombay has become Mumbai, Calcutta has become Kolkata, and Bangalore has become Bengaluru.
Multilingualism
There are 21 languages that are commonly spoken in India, of which Hindi is the official language and is widely spoken in a number of major cities, as well as in urban areas. English is also widely spoken in urban areas to India Religion
Cultures and Religions
There are eight major religion in India that includes
- Hinduism with 80.5 percent of population
- Islam with 13.4 percent of population
- Christianity with 2.3 percent of population and
- Sikhism with1.9 percent of population.
Muslims, Hindus diverge over legacy of Partition
The partition of India in 1947 into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan remains one of the largest movements of people across borders in recorded history. The carving of new borders was accompanied by violence, rioting, and looting. The divergence between Hindus and Muslims became an ongoing problem in India, as still highlighted in current affairs. The extent of the fragmentation within the state was exacerbated by the partition and intensified over the years.
According to scholar Francis Robinson’s research, India’s colonial structure instigated the hostility between Hindus and Muslims. For example, the British imperial policy of “divide et impera” (divide and rule) directly led to the establishment of a Muslim political identity. Thus, British rule introduced religious and political divides, and the accompanying animosity, into communities leading up to the partition of India in 1947.
Religious conversion in India
According to a survey conducted by Pew Research Center, religious conversions in India have a minimal impact on the overall size of India’s religious groups. The survey found that 82% of Indians say they were raised Hindu, and a nearly identical share say they are currently Hindu, showing no net losses for the group through conversion to other religions. However, there have been instances where Hindus and Sikhs converted to Christianity to escape partition violence in Lahore
Sikhs are proud to be Punjabi and Indian
Sikhs, whose homeland of Punjab was sliced in half during the partition, are proud to be Punjabi and Indian.
Key findings about the religious composition of India
India is a religiously diverse and pluralistic society. According to a 2021 Pew Research Center report, Hindus make up the majority of India’s population (79.8%) followed by Muslims (14.2%), Christians, Sikhs and other religious groups, including Buddhists, Jains, and Jews, make up less than 6% of the population each
Literacy and Life Expectancy
A majority of people in the country are literate and the average life expectancy in the country is 67.14 years.
Economy
In India, the official currency is the Rupee. We have the fourth largest Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) in the world, and the 11th largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2011, our country achieved a GDP of $1.843 trillion. India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, as a member of the G20.
The major trade partners of India include the United States, China, the United Arab Emirates, the European Union, Japan and Russia, among others. There are a number of natural resources available in India, including bauxite, barite, coal, crude oil ,chromite, diamonds, iron ore, limestone, mica, manganese, thorium, and titanium ore. The outsourcing industry and information technology industry in India are experiencing rapid growth.
Learn more about Religious Diversity In India
Geographical Features
India is spread over a vast area of some 3,287,263 square kilometres, which gives it an extremely diverse and extensive geography. The four main geographical regions of the country are the Himalayan range, the Ganges and Indus plains, the desert region, and the southern peninsula.
A mountain range occupying the highest place in the world is known as the Himalayas. Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world at 8,586m (28,169 feet), is located on the border between India and Nepal.
Tourism
The tourism industry in India is flourishing with 5.78 million foreign tourists visiting the country in 2010. There are many places to visit in the country that attract tourists.
Politics and Government
The Indian constitution came into being on 26 January 1950. To date the Indian constitution has been composed of 29 states and seven union territories. The Indian constitution has been designed to provide our citizens with some basic rights and freedoms.
As a socialist, sovereign and secular democratic republic, India has a parliamentary system of government in place. In this country, the president is head of the union of states and the prime minister is head of government. A cabinet ministry assists the prime minister in running the office.
As a matter of fact, every state in the country has its own elected government that includes a governor as its head. Moreover, the Union Territories are ruled directly by the president through an administrator appointed by the president. Most importantly, several political parties fight together in order to achieve their goals. There are three major national parties in India: the Indian National Congress (INC), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Communist Party of India-Marxist.
As the Indian judicial system was established under British rule, there are still many similarities between the Indian judicial system and the judicial system in the United Kingdom.
Climate
India has a variety of climatic zones owing to its geographic diversity and immensity.
- Both the south and west of the country experience tropical monsoons
- A tropical savannah in both the central and southern parts of the country
- In the northwest, the climate is arid
- The north and south of the country are semi-arid
- Northern and northern-eastern regions are humid subtropical
- The Himalayas’ far north and far north-east have montane terrain
There are four seasons in a year in the country, the most common of which is the tropical monsoon climate.
- A winter period (December – early April) is considered to be the winter season
- The summer season (April to June)
- The monsoon season (June to September)
- The post-monsoon season (October-December)
Security
As a country, India has experienced only a few terrorist attacks in the recent past. The terrorist groups suspected to be responsible are still active. Jammu and Kashmir, the two most disturbed states, restrict travel in certain parts of the country.
India and rank tenth globally in terms of reported crime rates. There are situations reported elsewhere in the world in which theft has been committed, robberies are carried out and murders have taken place. Sexual offences have also taken place against women.
Conclusion
We have tried our best to bring the overall picture of India in one frame. To know more about India Religion, Please go through our other blog posts . We always love to hear suggestions and feedback, so don’t forget to leave your comment below.
