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India

Culture Overview

It has been said that India is less a country than a continent, and it holds as many variations in religion, language, customs, art and cuisine as it does in topography. For the traveller, this cultural feast is India's great strength.

Indian art is basically religious in its themes and developments, and its appreciation requires at least some background knowledge of the country's faiths. The highlights include classical Indian dance, Hindu temple architecture and sculpture (where one begins and the other ends is often hard to define), the military and urban architecture of the Mughals, miniature painting, and mesmeric Indian music. Of course, India's creativity continues to thrive, its most lively contemporary expression being filmi culture.

Regions

All regions

General information

Official name:
Republic of India

Capital city:
New Delhi

Area:
3 287 590 sq km

Population:
1 000 000 000

Time Zone:
GMT/UTC + 5,5 ()

Currency:
Indian Rupee (Rs)

Official language:
english, hindu

Neighbouring countries:
Pakistan, Nepal, China, Barma / Myanmar

Highest mountain:
Kangchendoza - 8.598 m n. m

Ebb tide:
Indian ocean - 0 m n. m

Longest river:
Ganga (in the country 2 510 km)

Biggest city:
Bombai (13 500 000 people)

Landing place:
Chennai (Madras), Cochin, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), Vishakhapatnam

People:
72% Indo-Aryan, 25% Dravidian, 3% other

Religion:
80% Hindu, 14% Muslim, 2.4% Christian, 2% Sikh, 0.7% Buddhist, 0.5% Jains, 0.4% other