India: What challenges lie ahead for the world’s most populous nation? | AFP

Married off by her parents at 14, Indian mother-of-seven Jaimala Devi kept having children because her husband insisted she could only stop once she had given birth to two sons. Devi's story is common across Bihar, the poorest state in India and also its fastest-growing: with around 127 million people, it already has roughly as many people as Mexico. In April 2023, India overtook China to become the world’s most populous nation and the challenges of managing its growing population are mountainous.

N.B.: AFP’s services and content are for professional use only