India Government

The political system of India takes place in a constitutional federal representative democracy. India declared independence from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947 and this led to the adoption of a new constitution. This document was adopted by the Constituent Assembly in November of 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950. The Constitution of India is amendable through the two houses of parliament and the majority of state legislatures and over 100 amendments have been made since 1950.

Elections in India take place every five years for the national government and the first of these general elections took place in 1951. The last election in 2014 involved over 860,000,000 voters and was held in nine stages. The President of India is also elected every five years but this election takes place within an electoral college composing of the parliament and legislative assemblies of each state and territory. All of the individuals who vote in this presidential electoral college are directly elected. Elections for the Rajya Sabha take place every six years.

The national parliament of India is located in the capital city of New Delhi and consists of the Office of the President and two legislative houses, the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. This building was designed in 1912 with construction beginning in 1921 and ending in 1927. The building was inspired by the Chausath Yogini Temple at Morena. Currently, the Rajya Sabha consists of 245 seats and the Lok Sabha consists of 545.

Political parties in India include the All India Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party among others.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

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Published on 2019-11-06


Capital	New Delhi
Languages	Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9%
Ethnic Groups	Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
Religion	Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, other and unspecified 2% (2011 est.)
Government	Federal parliamentary republic
Independance	15 August 1947 (from the UK)
Area	3,287,263.00 km²
Water Area	314,070.00 km²
Land Area	2,973,193.00 km²
Population	1,266,883,598.00 With the notable exception of the deserts in the northwest, including the Thar Desert, and the mountain fringe in the north, a very high population density exists throughout most of the country; the core of the population is in the north along the banks of the Ganges, with other river valleys and southern coastal areas also having large population concentrations
Location	Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
No. Bordering Countries	6
Bordering Countries	Bangladesh 4,142 km, Bhutan 659 km, Burma 1,468 km, China 2,659 km, Nepal 1,770 km, Pakistan 3,190 km
GDP(PPP)	$8,720,000,000,000.00 (USD)
GDP (Per Capita)	$6,700.00 (USD)
Export Partners	Its major export partners are the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong.
Export Commodities	Its main exports are petroleum products, precious stones, and vehicles.
Import Partners	Its major import partners are China, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland.
Import Commodities	Its major imports include crude oil, precious stones, machinery, and chemicals.
Climate	Varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
Terrain	Upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
Learn More	India

India Government

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