Facts about India

India, since time immemorial, has been a subject of inquisitiveness for millions across the globe. It is a South Asian country, bordered by the Bay of Bengal on its southeast and by the Arabian Sea on its southwest. Agriculture is the mainstay of India as it employs more than 50% of the Indian population; the rest are employed in industrial and services sectors.

Let's have a look at some of the important, general facts about India:

• India achieved independence on 15 August 1947.


• The Constitution of India was adopted on 26 January 1950.


• The Republic Day is celebrated on 26 January every year.


• India is the largest democracy in the world with a federal government.


• India has a total of 29 states and 7 union territories.


• The capital of India is New Delhi.


• A citizen of India, who is 18 years old or above, is entitled to vote.


• As per census 2011, the provisional population of India is 1,21,05,69,573.


• The ethnic groups in India, as per the 2000 report, include Indo-Aryan (72%), Dravidian (25%), Mongoloid and others (3%).


• The Telephone Country Code of India is +91.

India Facts

Official Name	Bharat (Sanskrit), Republic of India (English)
Capital	New Delhi
Population	1,210,569,573 (2011 Census)
Area	3,287,263 square kilometers
Geographical Location	Between latitudes 8° 4' and 37° 6' North and longitudes 68° 7' and 97° 25' East
Coastline Length	7,516 km
Major Religions	Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism
Population Density	382 persons per square kilometer
Sex Ratio	943 females per 1,000 males
Literacy	73.00%
President	Pranab Mukherjee
Vice President	Mohammad Hamid Ansari
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
National Anthem	Jana Gana Mana, written by Rabindranath Tagore
National Song	Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji
National Emblem	An adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath
National Animal	Royal Bengal Tiger
National Bird	Peacock
National Flower	Lotus
National Tree	Banyan
National Fruit	Mango
National Currency	Indian Rupee
National Sport	Hockey (Unofficial)
Languages	The Republic of India has no national language; however, there are two official languages of the Union Government of India, namely Hindi and English.
National Flag	Horizontal tricolor in equal proportion of deep saffron on the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. In the center of the white band, there is a wheel in navy blue color.

Facts about the History of India

• India is the largest and the oldest civilisation in the world.


• India holds the record of not invading any other country in the last 10,000 years of her history.


• Interestingly, India was one of the richest countries on earth before the British invaded it in the early 17th century, and was also one of the first countries in the world where diamonds were found.


• Sanskrit is one of the earliest known languages in the world, and a member of the Indo-European family of languages, from which most modern European languages have originated.


• The 13th century Indian poet Saint Gyandev is credited for creating the famous game of Snakes and Ladders. The ladders denote virtues, while the snakes symbolise vices in the game. With time the game incorporated several modifications; nevertheless, the original meaning remains unchanged, i.e. good deeds take you to heaven, and evil to a cycle of rebirths. Chess, which was originally called "Chaturanga", was also invented in India. The meaning of "Chaturanga" is four members of an army.


• Brahmagupta, the Indian Mathematician, was the first to develop the concept of Zero (0), while Aryabhata developed the Place Value System. In the sixth century, Budhayana, another Indian Mathematician, was the first person to calculate the value of "pi". He did this much before any mathematician in Europe. Also, Bhaskaracharya very correctly calculated the time (365.258756484 days) taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun, long before Western astronomers.


• In the year 1526, the Mughal Empire was established by Babur in India.


• The construction of the Taj Mahal was completed in AD 1653 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.


• The Indian National Congress was formed in the year 1885.


• The Amritsar Massacre (Jallianwala Bagh Massacre) took place on 13 April 1919.


• Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948.


• Ayurveda, which is the earliest school of medicine in the world, was born in India thousands of years ago.

Facts about the Geography of India

• India is located on the geographical coordinates of 20° 00' North and 77° 00' East.


• It is the seventh largest country in the world. The total area covered by India is 32,87,263 sq km, out of which the land covers 29,73,190 sq km.


• It is four times the size of Pakistan, 13 times the size of UK and nine times the size of Japan.


• The mainland of India stretches from longitudes 68° 7' and 97° 25' East and latitudes 8° 4' and 37° 6' North.


• The highest point is Mount Kanchenjunga and the lowest point is Indian Ocean.


• India has got a long coastline of 7,516.6 km.


• India shares its borders with Pakistan, China, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh.


• India lies entirely in the northern and eastern hemispheres.


• India witnesses tropical monsoon type climatic conditions.


• In case of plant diversity, India holds the tenth position in the world and the fourth in Asia.


• India's variety of fauna crosses almost 91,000 species. Ganga is the longest river in India.


• Wular Lake is the largest fresh water lake in India.

Facts about the Economy of India

• With the GDP worth 1,996 billion US dollars, India is the 10th largest economy in the world.


• The Bombay stock exchange is one of the biggest in the world. It includes more than 5000 companies.
• The pharmaceutical industry in India is the third largest in the world in terms of volume of production.


• India is the largest producer of milk in the world.


• India is among the top five producers of tea, silk, spices, sugar, cotton, rubber, coffee and fish in the world.


• The Agriculture sector in India accounts for 13.7 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).


• Almost 50 per cent of the total population of the country is dependent on agriculture.


• India is the largest producer of banana in the world.


• India happens to be the largest exporter, producer, processor and consumer of cashew nuts in the world.


• India is responsible for 10 per cent of the total fruit production in the world.


• Coal is a major source of energy in India; it caters to almost 67 per cent of the country's commercial requirement.


• RBI is the only authority in India that can issue currency notes.


• Odisha is one of the major producers of graphite in India.


• The first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) was established in Kandla in Gujarat in the year 1965.

Facts about Scientific and Technical Development of India

• India is among the few countries in the world that manufacture supercomputers.


• India happens to be one of the few satellite launching countries in the world.


• India is the first country in the world to enter the Martian orbit in its very first attempt.

Some Other Interesting Facts about India:

• The natural resources of India include coal, manganese, bauxite, limestone, natural gas, iron ore, etc.


• Indian Railways is the world's eighth largest employer, employing over 1.4 million people.


• India is home to the second largest pool of engineers, software developers and scientists in the world.


• India happens to be the second largest English speaking country in the world.


• India is home to 187 minor ports and 12 major ports.


• The most number of post offices in the world are found in India. There are more than 1.5 lakh post offices in the country.


• India is the birthplace of four major religions of the world, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Islam is the second largest religion of both India and the world. Interestingly, there are over 3,00,000 active mosques in India, which is the highest in comparison to any other country.


• The Bailey Bridge, in the Ladakh valley in Jammu & Kashmir, is located at the highest altitude in the world. The 300 m long bridge is located at a height of 5,600 m, between the rivers Suru and Dras, which flow down from the high Himalayas. The Indian Army constructed this bridge in 1982.


• The highest cricket ground in the world is located in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. This ground was laid out in 1893 after a hilltop was levelled. It is located at a height of 2,444 meters above the sea level.


• The ancient city of Varanasi, visited by Lord Buddha in 500 BC, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world today.


• More than 40% of mangoes in the world are grown in India.


• The country's largest news agency is Press Trust of India (PTI).


• There are more than a million Indians who are millionaires, yet a large section of the Indian population live on less than two dollars a day. According to the UN reports, about 30% of people in India lived below the poverty line in 2010.


• Last, but not the least, just to get a better idea about the population situation of India - the number of births that take place in India every year is higher than the total population of Australia.