Malnutrition affects almost half of all children under five years, and low immunisation rates mean thousands of children die each year from preventable illnesses, such as measles. Anaemia is one of the leading causes of maternal death and low birth weight, and also contributes to the stunting of children's growth.Unsafe drinking water means many children are exposed to waterborne illnesses, such as diarrhoea, which is the second leading cause of death among children. Less than half of all households use toilets, with only one in five rural families having access to proper latrines.
India also has rapidly growing rates of HIV and AIDS infections, with an estimated five million people now infected.
Country facts
Independence from Britain was achieved in 1947 through non-violent resistance led by Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. The subcontinent was then divided into the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim state of Pakistan. A third war between the two countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. The dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir is ongoing.The Republic of India is the second most populous country in the world with a population of over one billion, and is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east. India has made rapid economic progress in the last decade, but a huge proportion of the population still live in abject poverty. The Indian government is now upping its expenditure on health services and education.
- Population: 1.13 billion
- Capital: New Delhi
- Major languages: Hindu, English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Santali and Sanskrit
- Major religions: Hindu, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism
- Life expectancy: 63.7 years
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