Featured Photo courtesy of Muhammad Mahid Karim, www.micro2macro.net
Today we are traveling from Europe to Asia to unpack our suitcases in a country with the 2nd largest population (fyi: number of people) in the world! In fact, 1 out of every 5 people in the world live in this country, the Himalaya Mountains run through it, and its national symbol is the Bengal Tiger. We have arrived in India.
Country Facts
1. Size: 1,269,800,359 Square Miles (about the size of Alaska, Texas & California combined)
2. Population: 1,220,800,359 (Yes, you are reading correctly, that is over 1.2 billion people.)
3. Capital City: New Delhi
4. Religion: Hinduism 74.33%, Christians 5.84%, Evangelicals 2.2%
5. Currency: Indian Rupee (INR)
6. Languages: Constitutionally 22 official languages. The main ones are Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil and Urdu. English is a subsidiary official language. Learn some phrases in Hindi by watching this 2 minute video.
7. Popular Sites To Visit: Taj Mahal, Varanasi, Ajanta Caves, Jaisalmer, Harmandir Sahib, Kanha National Park
8. Largest Mountain Range: The Himalayas
9. National Symbol: Bengal Tiger
Tigress taken in Bandhavgarh National Park by Archith
10. Mahatma Ghandi is famous because of the important role he played in gaining India’s independence.
Love the facts about India! Another fun fact (from having visited India twice) is that beef as a food is really hard to find – MeDonalds serves veggie burgers instead!, but there are cows EVERYWHERE! Even in the middle of busy streets!
Thx for sharing this Sarah. I have to admit, it would be tough for me to order a veggie burger at McDonald’s. But I actually really like to go to McDonald’s in foreign countries to see how it is adapted for that particular culture. When I lived in Costa Rica McGallo Pinto (a yummy rice and beans dish with tortillas) was on the menu!