Apr 5, 2010

India

India is the seventh largest country in the world. The country's official name, India is derived from the Old Persian version of Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the river Indus. The Constitution of India and general usage also recognises Bharat, which is derived from the Sanskrit name of an ancient Hindu king, whose story is to be found in the Mahabharata, as an official name of equal status. A third name, Hindustan, or land of the Hindus in Persian, was used from Mughal times onwards, though its contemporary use is unevenly applied due to domestic disputes over how representative it is as a national signifier.



India is a republic consisting of 28 states and seven union territories with a parliamentary system of democracy. It has the world's twelfth largest economy at market exchange rates and the fourth largest in purchasing power. Economic reforms since 1991 have transformed it into one of the fastest growing economies in the world; however, it still suffers from poverty, illiteracy, disease, and malnutrition. A pluralistic, multilingual and multiethnic society, India is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

Statics for India

  • Capital New Delhi
  • 28°36.8′N 77°12.5′E / 28.6133°N 77.2083°E / 28.6133; 77.2083
  • Largest city Mumbai
  • Official language(s)
    Hindi, English
    Hindi in the Devanagari script is the official language of the Union and English the "subsidiary official language".
    Recognised regional languages
    8th Schedule:
    Assamese
    Bengali
    Bodo
    Dogri
    Gujarati
    Hindi
    Kannada
    Kashmiri
    Konkani
    Maithili
    Malayalam
    Manipuri
    Marathi
    Nepali
    Oriya
    Punjabi
    Sanskrit
    Santali
    Sindhi
    Tamil
    Telugu
    Urdu
  • National languages None defined by the
    constitution.
  • Demonym Indian
  • Government Federal republic,
    Parliamentary democracy
    - President Pratibha Patil
    - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
    - Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan
  • Legislature Sansad
    - Upper House Rajya Sabha
    - Lower House Lok Sabha
  • Independence from the United Kingdom
    - Declared 15 August 1947
    - Republic 26 January 1950
  • Area
    - Total 3,287,240 km2 ‡(7th)
    1,269,210 sq mi
    - Water (%) 9.56
  • Population
    - 2010 estimate 1,179,196,000[10] (2nd)
    - 2001 census 1,028,610,328[11]
    - Density 358.7/km2 (32nd)
    929.1/sq mi
  • GDP (PPP) 2009 estimate
    - Total $3.298 trillion[12] (4th)
    - Per capita $2,930[12] (130th)
  • GDP (nominal) 2009 estimate
    - Total $1.242 trillion[12] (12th)
    - Per capita $1,017[12] (143rd)
  • Gini (2004) 36.8
  • HDI (2007) 0.612 (medium) (134th)
  • Currency Indian rupee (₨) (INR)
  • Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
    - Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+5:30)
  • Drives on the left
  • Internet TLD .in
  • Calling code 91


Indian Holidays


View All Indian holidays.
at