The capital city of India since August 15, 1947, is New Delhi, which has 22 million inhabitants in the entire metropolitan area. Until that very day, India was subordinate to Britain, and the capital was located in Calcutta. However, the largest Indian city is Mumbai. 1)
According to the 2017 data, the country had a population of 1,326,572,000 people. Such a result ranks the country, following only China. India's population density is 368 people per square kilometer. 2)
The Indian flag called Tiranga consists of three horizontal stripes in the colors saffron, white and green. They are successively meant to symbolize courage and sacrifice, truth and peace, religiosity, fertility, and chivalry. 3)
Many people in India do not use cutlery to consume a meal, they practically eat everything with their hands. Meals are eaten with the right hand, as the left hand is considered unclean. 4)
The writer Mark Twain called India “a country that everyone longs to see, and having seen even a glimpse of would not give up the sight for the sights of the rest of the world.” 5)
In India, feet are considered unclean. So it will be a big gaffe to accidentally step on someone's foot or to walk over a person lying down. Also, when sitting you should be careful with your feet and not pull them out in front of you towards the other person. 6)
Parsis living in India still leave the corpses of deceased loved ones to be devoured by vultures on so-called towers of silence, which are circular hills built of brick or stone. This practice is considered a “last act of mercy.” 7)
The sacred animal is the cow, which can often be seen walking down the street. 8)
Most Indians have to survive on less than two dollars a day. 9)
India has the largest number of postal outlets in the world with over 150,000 branches. 10)
The equivalent of Hollywood in India is Bollywood. Most productions are musicals. 11)
The calendar in India has six seasons - spring, summer, monsoon, autumn, pre-winter, and winter. 12)
Police officers in the state of Madhya Pradesh receive a small increase in their salary for having a mustache. 13)
Children's Day is celebrated in India on the 14th of November - nine months after Valentine's Day. 14)
In West Bengal, cows must have a photo ID card. 15)
Nearly 70% of all the world's spices come from India. 16)
More than half of Indian homes do not have a toilet. 17)
The national animal of India is the Bengal tiger. 18)