Facts about India.

The two major strains that are predominant are Aryans in the North and the Dravidian in the South. As India is a vast country stretching 3214 kms from the southern tip to its north most point and 2933 kms from east to west this country has enormous number of different languages. Hindi is mainly spoken in the North. In India there are 1,500 different kinds of dialects. The Indian constitution recognizes 15 regional languages. English is mainly used for politics and commerce.

Economy:

The economy of India is the third largest in the world as measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). It is the twelfth largest in the world; with a GDP of US $1.0 trillion (2007).India is the second fastest growing major economy in the world, with a GDP growth rate of 9.4% for the fiscal year 2006–2007. Although two-thirds of the Indian workforce still earns their livelihood directly or indirectly through agriculture, rice, wheat, pulses, and oilseeds dominate production, but millet, corn (maize), and sorghum important; commercial crops--sugar (India world's largest producer), cotton, and jute also important. Green Revolution technological advances and improved high-yielding variety seeds, and increased fertilizer production and irrigation. Agricultural products around 18 percent of total exports, services are a growing sector and are playing an increasingly important role of India's economy. The advent of the digital age, and the large number of young and educated populace fluent in English, is gradually transforming India as an important 'back office' destination for global companies for the outsourcing of their customer services and technical support. India is a major exporter of highly-skilled workers in software and financial services, and software engineering. Other sectors like manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, nanotechnology, telecommunication, shipbuilding, aviation and tourism are showing strong potentials with higher growth rates.

Governing System: India is a federal republic with a very strong centre. The world’s largest democracy, it has universal adult suffrage above 18 years. General elections are scheduled every 5 years when the entire country participates in electing members to the Lower House of Parliament called the Lo Sabha. Members to the upper house are elected indirectly. The head of state is the President. The head of government is the Prime Minister. In 2004 elections, NDA, the coalition lead by the Bhartiya Janta Party was defeated by the Congress. The Congress is currently the governing party and the Prime Minister is Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Society and People: One of the most marked things about Indian society is the great diversity. This applies to religion, ethnicity and language as much as to the economic situation. The yawning gap between the rich and the poor is bridged by a large middle class of small businessmen, professionals, bureaucrats et Most Indians actively practice their religion, and despite the creeping westernization, most of India is socially orthodox. That means that caste distinctions have not been forgotten, man-woman interaction may be frowned upon, and the public display of affection is strictly no-no. The cow is sacred and ‘all ye who forget that-be doomed’. The left hand, which is an indispensable tool for Indian ablutions, is considered impure and isn’t used in passing things around.