One of the world’s most diverse countries
India, is one of the world’s most diverse country, home to a variety of different cultures, languages and ethnicity, with a mixed geography and climate. Not to forget that India is also a country with vast inequalities between rich and poor.
Some of the most interesting facts about India include:
- India is the worlds’ largest democracy
- India has a population of 1 Billion people, making it the second most populous country in the world, right after China.
- India’s state capital is New Delhi where live over 13 million people
- India’s largest cities include Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore
- India is the seventh largest country in the world, with a total geographic area of 3,287,590 sq km divide by 2,973,190 sq km of land and 314,400 sq km of water.
- India is located within the Indian Subcontinent in South Asia
- India is bordered by Pakistan to the West, China and Nepal to the north, Bangladesh and Burma to the East
- India is bordered by the Himalayas, the world’s highest mountain chain, to the North East, the Arabian Sea to the West and the Bay of Bengal to the East
- India has a 28 states and 7 union territories
- India has more than 200 languages
- India’s official language is English and Hindi spoken by 45 per cent of the population
- India’s Bollywood produce more films than Hollywood
- India is mainly an agricultural country producing a large quantity of Rice and wheat
- India has a large iron and steel industry
- India produces every type of manufactured goods
- India’s main religion is Hinduism (80%) followed by the 10% of Muslim and a minority of Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Parsees and Jains
- India has a diversified climate from temperate in north to tropical monsoon in the south
- India is a Federal republic, with the Head of State being President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and the Head of Government the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
- India’s flag has three equal proportioned horizontal colour including orange on the top representing stands for courage and sacrifice, white in the middle representing peace, unity and truth and dark green at the bottom representing faith and fertility
- India’s flag was adopted on July 22, 1947, after India became independent from Great Britain
- India’s flag has the Dharma Chakra at its heart, blue wheel with 24 spokes, known as the Wheel of Law and representing the nation continuing progress and the importance of justice in life
- India’s National Emblem of India is a replica of the Sarnath Lion capital of Ashoka, with four lions standing back to back and representing power, courage and confidence
- India’s National Animal is the Tiger or more precisely the Royal Bengal Tiger representing incredible power, strength and grace
- India’s National Bird is the Peacock representing beauty, grace and pride
- India’s National Flower is the Lotus representing good fortune, honour, purity, triumph and long life
- India’s National Tree is the Banyan Tree
- India’s National Fruit is the Mango with over 100 varieties all over the country
- India’s food of India is extremely diverse depending on the region but tends to be spicy all over the country.
- India’s customary greeting is “namaste” usually said nodding with the head and with the hands together
- India’s history goes back to 3,200 BC when Hinduism was first founded.
- India has plenty of festivals and fairs including the Hindu festivals of Diwali, Holi and Dussehra
- India’s has a diversified geography including tropical jungles, vast plains, deserts and mountains
- India has very colourful clothing with each state has its own special costumes