India 101

Consider this a follow up to our geography lesson:

Population: 1,103,596,000

Capital: New Delhi

Area: 1,269,221 square miles

Language:Hindi, English and 14 others

Religion: Hindu (80.4%), Muslim (13.4%), Christian (2.3%), Sikh (1.9%), Buddhist (1.1%), Other (.9%)

Currency: Indian rupee
Life Expectancy: 63

GDP per Capita: US $2,600

Literacy Rate: 60%

Source: National Geographic Travel

And, finally, some other items of note:

• India occupies 2.4% of the world's land area but it disproportionately supports over 17.5% of the world's population.


• India's national sport is field hockey, but Cricket is the most popular.


• National Fruit is the Mango. I'll be testing this one out.


• Popular women's dress is the salwar kameez. This is of particular interest to me, since all the ladies in our group will be sporting this traditional Indian fashion for much of our trip. I'm hoping that I'll look just like the lady in blue.
  

Source: Wikipedia.

I think Michael Scott said it best, " Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information. " Consider yourself warned.