Geographically and politically India dominates south Asia and the Indian Ocean. With a population of 1.1 billion people and 18 official languages, there are 29 Union States and 6 Union Territories covering an area of 3.16 million square kilometers.
The capital of India is Delhi, but there are 31 cities with over 1 million people. 40% of Indians live in an urban centre. There are 4,635 distinct people groups which are broken down by caste and culture rather than language groups. The national religion is Hinduism which pervades all religious and social structures in India. Although Caste Discrimination is forbidden by the Constitution, the caste system remains socially important for over 80% of the population. There are an estimated 6,400 castes, each functions as a separate group because of the social barriers that exist between them. Official literacy is 62% (functionally less).
India's workforce is predominantly agricultural with 64% of the labour force, but rapid industrialisation and urbanisation is taking place. 600 million people live in deep poverty, 300 million live below the bread-line.