The population of India: a brief overview of the current state

The population of India is a bright kaleidoscope of peoples, races, ethnic groups, tribes, which differ sharply from one another in language, customs, religion, appearance and history. In terms of cultural, linguistic and genetic diversity, India ranks second in the world after Africa.

The population of India is about 1.2 billion people, and the country is only slightly behind the population of China. This is about a sixth of the world's population. The population of India has almost tripled in the last half-century. 30% of the country's population lives in cities. The density of the population of India is one of the largest in the world (270 people / sq km, in Delhi - 6400 people / sq km). India is the leader in terms of the number of people living in the country.

The population of India is extremely diverse. Thousands of castes, social groups, ethnic and religious communities, nationalities, tribes and clans coexist in the country.

In the formation of the Indian ethnos, there were such peoples as Mongols, Arabs, Greeks (in the times of Alexander the Great), Afghans, Persians, Tibetans, Chinese and English. And the latter had the slightest influence on the culture of India, despite many years of its colonial dependence.

The majority (70%) of the inhabitants of the country are Indo-Aryans. They are swarthy, in appearance they are close to the European type. They are mostly Muslims or Hindus.

Dravidians (25%) - the oldest, primordial population of the country, who lived before the arrival of the Aryans in India. Today, Dravidians predominantly occur in the southern regions of India, almost all are adherents of Hinduism.

Representatives of the Tibeto-Burmese, Mongoloid race (3%) are found in the northeast of the country, their culture has been greatly influenced by neighboring states - Tibet, Burma, China, Bhutan. Mostly Buddhism.

The remains of the Austro-Asiatic race - negroid - today survived mainly among the inhabitants of the Andaman Islands and in the south of the country. Many of them are carriers of a unique and rare culture.

According to the religious composition, the population of India is divided into Hindus (over 80% of the population), Buddhists - 0.7%, Christians - 2.4%, Sikh - 2%, Muslims - 14%.

Officially, the population is not divided into caste and nationality. The Constitution of India proclaims the equality of rights of all residents of the country, who are equally its citizens, Indians by nationality. But in reality, Indian society is very differentiated on class, national, caste and religious grounds. On the basis of this division conflicts constantly erupt.

Speaking of Indians, one can not make a mistake by calling all ethnic groups and nationalities, even if they had different numbers. India, most of its inhabitants, have some common national features. Of course, between a highly cultured, educated Brahmin, who is difficult to distinguish from a European in appearance, and a native of the Aboriginal tribe from the Andaman Islands or from the jungles of the state of Orissa, which is still far from a caveman in development, there is a huge abyss, although they are both from the same nation. Therefore, it is very difficult to make an integral portrait of the nation or give the population of India some comprehensive characteristic.