In 1800, the population of the region of present-day India was approximately 169 million. The population would grow gradually throughout the 19th century, rising to over 240 million by 1900. Population growth would begin to increase in the 1920s, as a result of falling mortality rates, due to improvements in health, sanitation and infrastructure. However, the population of India would see it’s largest rate of growth in the years following the country’s independence from the British Empire in 1948, where the population would rise from 358 million to over one billion by the turn of the century, making India the second country to pass the billion person milestone. While the rate of growth has slowed somewhat as India begins a demographics shift, the country’s population has continued to grow dramatically throughout the 21st century, and in 2020, India is estimated to have a population of just under 1.4 billion, well over a billion more people than one century previously. Today, approximately 18% of the Earth’s population lives in India, and it is estimated that India will overtake China to become the most populous country in the world within the next five years.

Chart and table of India population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

The median age in India was 27 years old in 2020, meaning half the population was older than that, half younger. This figure was lowest in 1970, at 18.1 years, and was projected to increase to 47.8 years old by 2100. Aging in India India has the second largest population in the world, after China. Because of the significant population growth of the past years, the age distribution remains skewed in favor of the younger age bracket. This tells a story of rapid population growth, but also of a lower life expectancy. Economic effects of a young population Many young people means that the Indian economy must support a large number of students, who demand education from the economy but cannot yet work. Educating the future workforce will be important, because the economy is growing as well and is one of the largest in the world. Failing to do this could lead to high youth unemployment and political consequences. However, a productive and young workforce could provide huge economic returns for India.

According to India's last census in 2011, about 14.2 percent of the total population identified as Muslims. This was an increase from about ten percent in 1951. Overall, India has been a religiously pluralistic and multiethnic democracy with people of several faiths.

In 2022, the majority of Indian adults had a wealth of 10,000 U.S. dollars or less. On the other hand, about 0.1 percent were worth more than one million dollars that year. India The Republic of India is one of the world’s largest and most economically powerful states. India gained independence from Great Britain on August 15, 1947, after having been under their power for 200 years. With a population of about 1.4 billion people, it was the second most populous country in the world. Of that 1.4 billion, about 28.5 million lived in New Delhi, the capital. Wealth inequality India suffers from extreme income inequality. It is estimated that the top 10 percent of the population holds 77 percent of the national wealth. Billionaire fortune has increase sporadically in the last years whereas minimum wages have remain stunted.

In 2011, about 2.34 percent of the population in India identified Christianity as their religion, an increase from two percent in 1951. Overall, India has been a religiously pluralistic and multiethnic democracy with people of several faiths.

With almost all major religions being practiced throughout the country, India is known for its religious diversity. Islam makes up the highest share among minority faiths in the country. According to the Indian census of 2011, the Muslim population in Uttar Pradesh more than 35 million, making it the state with the most Muslims.

Socio-economic conditions of Muslims
Muslims seem to lag behind every other religious community in India in terms of living standards, financial stability, education and other aspects, thereby showing poor performance in most of the fields. According to a national survey, 17 percent of the Muslims were categorized under the lowest wealth index, which indicates poor socio-economic conditions.

Growth of Muslim population in India
Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions worldwide. According to India’s census, the Muslim population has witnessed a negative decadal growth of more than 16 percent from 1951 to 1960, presumably due to the partitions forming Pakistan and Bangladesh. The population showed a positive and steady growth since 1961, making up 14 percent of the total population of India . Even though people following Islam were estimated to grow significantly, they would still remain a minority in India compared to 1.3 billion Hindus by 2050.

In 2011, about 1.87 percent of the population identified with Sikhism as their religion, a slight decrease from about 1.9 percent in 1951. Overall, India has been a religiously pluralistic and multiethnic democracy with people of several faiths.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Mumbai, India metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

In 2011, around 0.4 percent of the population identified with Jainism as their religion, a slight increase from about 0.46 percent in 1951. Overall, India has been a religiously pluralistic and multiethnic democracy with people of several faiths.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Bangalore, India metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

India recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 81.59 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2023. This dataset provides - India Government Debt To GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Chart and table of India life expectancy from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in India was worth 3567.55 billion US dollars in 2023, according to official data from the World Bank. The GDP value of India represents 3.38 percent of the world economy. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - India GDP - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

In 2011, about 0.06 percent of the population identified with Zoroastrian as their religion, a slight decrease from about 0.13 percent in 1951. Overall, India has been a religiously pluralistic and multiethnic democracy with people of several faiths.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Hyderabad, India metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

In 2011, about 0.77 percent of the population identified with Buddhism as their religion, a slight increase from about 0.74 percent in 1951. Overall, India has been a religiously pluralistic and multiethnic democracy with people of several faiths.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Indore, India metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

This article was published on the anniversary of India's Republic day in January 2021 for the well-known online publication The Leaflet's special issue on citizenship, for a non-academic audience. The article traces a history of the Sindhi refugee diaspora in India in the aftermath of the partition of India, the absence of a linguistic and ethnically defined territory to which they could claim belonging, and the implications of this for their resettlement in India. The article looks back at how religion, ethnicity, and caste intersected with a lack of territorial belonging to produce Sindhi citizenship in India and the refugees' own struggles to claim belonging in India.

In 2017 the Sindhi Hindu brothers Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja from the Shikarpur region of Sindh topped The Sunday Times' Rich List of the UK's wealthiest residents. Sindhi Hindus form the world's most widespread if not the most numerous South Asian diaspora. They have a long history of travel for trade and banking, for which evidence is available from the sixteenth century (although historians suggest that they were a highly mobile community even before this). They established more permanent roots outside of Sindh after the 1947 partition of India. When the British divided their Indian empire in 1947, unlike Punjab, Bengal, and Assam, they did not partition Sindh (today a part of the Muslim-majority country of Pakistan), despite the minority campaign for a partition of the region. Sindh's 'partition' in 1947 was thus a deterritorialised and demographic one, producing over a million 'non-Muslim' refugees who resettled in India and abroad, including the United Kingdom. Sindhis have played a significant role in the UK's economic, political, legal and social histories, however the origins of this diaspora remain relatively unknown in the UK and even in India. Often mistaken for Punjabis and Gujaratis in both countries, they tend to keep a low-profile. They do not follow orthodox Hindu religious or caste practice; their faith is a blend of Sikh, Sufi, and Hindu traditions and they are therefore difficult to 'fix' in 'place'. However, Sindhis continually reappear on the fringes of discussions about religion, ethnicity, and territory. Their post-partition history needs to be recovered. The main objective of my fellowship will be to publish my research on the Sindh diaspora in the United Kingdom and India for both an academic audience and the wider public. It will illuminate a history of British partitions from Sindh, a region that witnessed a movement for autonomy within the empire much before the partition of 1947. It will demonstrate the influence Sindhi nationalism had on British administrators as far away as Palestine and partition plans there. It will trace the paths of Sindhi refugees after 1947, particularly to the United Kingdom, where they have made a huge but understated economic and social impact. I will collect data on the dates of arrival of this diaspora in the UK from Sindh and India; the sorts of businesses they established in the UK, and the relative rates of success of these businesses after partition. My research will also address the question of how heterodox South Asian religious traditions survive or have been threatened in the aftermath of partition and how this relates to Sindhi Hindu commercial and organisational support for militant Hindu nationalism in India and the UK.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Visakhapatnam, India metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.