About India

India is the seventh largest country in the world and the second most populated country in the world. Many see India as a sub-continent rather than a country. There exist in different parts of India, different cultures, languages, manners as well as different historical backgrounds and influences of the same historical events. The official name for the country is Republic of India. The Indians call their country India. There are also two other names for India less known outside India; Bharat and Hindustan.

Full country name: Republic of India
Area: 3,287,590 sq km (1,229,737 sq mi)
Population: 1,014,003,817
Capital city: New Delhi
People: 72% Indo-Aryan, 25% Dravidian, 3% other
Language: Hindi
Religion: 80% Hindu, 14% Muslim, 2.4% Christian, 2% Sikh, 0.7% Buddhist, 0.5% Jains, 0.4% other. Government: Federal Republic
Major industries: Textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry, fish
Currency: The Currency of India is the Rupee, which has 100 paise to it, The Rupee comes in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 100, and 500.
Indian Standard Time (IST): IST is 5 ½ hours ahead of GMT.