India has more than two thousand ethnic groups,[10] and every major religion is represented, as are four major families of languages (Indo-European, Dravidian, Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan languages) as well as two language isolates (the Nihali language[11] spoken in parts of Maharashtra and the Burushaski language spoken in parts of Jammu and Kashmir).
Further complexity is lent by the great variation that occurs across this population on social parameters such as income and education. Only the continent of Africa exceeds the linguistic, genetic and cultural diversity of the nation of India.[12]