India

Abstract

As the largest democracy in the world, India is home to 1.35 billion people, making it the second most populated country in the world after China. The country's population growth rate stands at 1.19 percent. Being an agrarian economy, 50 percent of the country's population works in agriculture-related jobs however, 65 percent of the country's export is heavily reliant on information technology- related jobs and services. The country's area is approximately 3.1 million square kilometers. The country's nominal GDP stands at $2.4 trillion, making it the sev- enth-largest economy in the world. India's average literacy rate is 74.04 percent, wherein men have 82.14 percent literacy and women have 65.46 percent literacy.

India is home to six major world religions: Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikh- ism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The Constitution of India names 22 official languages, but unofficially there are approximately 720 dialects. India has Asia's largest railway network, which covers 115,000 kilometers of the country. Despite India's emergence as a potential global power, the country faces several challenges such as unemployment, poor quality of education, malnutrition, illiteracy, corruption, lack of hygiene, inadequate health care, and poverty. The country's growing rate of crime against women has also positioned it low on the scale of women's safety among all countries.