Population

India is one of the most populous countries in the world (second populous  after China). According to the population census of 2001, the population size has exceeded one billion people. Almost half of the country’s citizens live in four major states:  Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Maharashtra. The population of the largest state of India – Uttar Pradesh – accounts for one forth of the whole population of the country. The majority of the Indian population live in rural areas. India belongs to one of the most densely populated countries of the world. The peoples of India and other countries of South Asia are characterized by an unusual ethnic, racial, religious and cultural diversity.

The input of these peoples in the global culture is comprehensive and diverse: religion, philosophy, arts, architecture, voluminous literature, the medical system of Ayurveda, astronomy and mathematics. Almost all of the South-East Asia has absorbed the most significant part of its culture from India. The cultural influence of India was spreading through the Central Asia to China. South-East Asia and the whole Far East are indebted to India for Buddhism, under the influence of which the civilizations of Indonesia, Indochina, China and Korea, Japan and Tibet has been shaping up. It was from India that the whole world received a gift of decimal numbering system; chess playing; rice, sugar, cotton, some spices, and poultry. Goethe, Schopenhauer, Emerson, Thoreau and other western philosophers and thinkers, as well as religious and spiritual leaders experienced quite a strong influence of Indian thinking.      

The portrait of a young woman. Sri Lanka(Ceylon). The Tamils. Beginning of the 20th century.		A group of men. Women and children. India. The Indians. Beginning of the 20th century.		A Group of young women. Nepal. The Nepalese. Beginning of the 20th century.
Officer-Sikh. India. The Indians. 20th century. Snatenkov V.		Prosperous independent woman-officer (secretary, clerk or medical attendant). India. The Indians. 20th century. Snatenkov V.		Educated married woman from the South. India. The Indians. 20th century. Snatenkov V.
Indian military man – Sikh. India. The Indians. 20th century. Snatenkov V.		Children. India. The Indians. 20th century. Snatenkov V.		Well-to do fisher-woman in full attire (or array). India. Bombay (Mumbai). Bombay (Mumbai). Early 20th c.
Girl of the Konda-Reddi tribe. Andhra Pradesh state. India. The Indians. 2005.		Nepal gorsl with baggage. By 1903		Khozagiri, a dance of the Reang people. Tripura State. India. The Indians. 2005
Nepal woman. Nepal. Snatenkov V.		The Onge woman. The Anadamans. India.		Warriors of the Bomdila tribe. Andra Pradesh State. India. The Indians. 2005.