Population: India's population, as on 1 March 2001 stood at 1,028 million (532.1 million males and 496.4 million females). Population Growth Rate: The average annual exponential growth rate stands at 1.93 per cent during 1991-2001. Birth Rate: The Crude Birth rate according to the 2001 census is 24.8 Death Rate: The Crude Death rate according to the 2001 census is 8.9 Life Expectancy Rate: 63.9 years (Males); 66.9 years (Females) (As of Sep 2005) Sex Ratio: 933 according to the 2001 census Nationality: Indian Ethnic Groups: All the five major racial types - Australoid, Mongoloid, Europoid, Caucasian, and Negroid find representation among the people of India. Religions: According to the 2001 census, out of the total population of 1.028 million in the Country, Hindus constituted the majority with 80.5 %, Muslims came second at 13.4%, followed by Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and others. Languages: There are 22 National Languages have been recognized by the Constitution of India, of which Hindi is the Official Union Language. Besides these, there are 844 different dialects that are practiced in various parts of the Country. Literacy: According to the provisional results of the 2001 census, the literacy rate in the Country stands at 64.84 per cent, 75.26% for males and 53.67% for females.