About India
Where should one begin in talking about India? It is an ancient and complex land with a rich historical heritage. Not only is India fascinating in its scope and color, India’s people are warm, inviting and hospitable. It is the most ethnically diverse country in the world and embraces more than 1.2 billion people. 31% of the population is under the age of 15.
The face of India's future.
Delhi is the capital with 22,000,000 people. Mumbai (Bombay), the city that is home to mega-movie-producing Bollywood, is second with 20,000,000. 45 Indian cities number 1,000,000 or more. Although these urban numbers are large, 70% continue to live in villages.
Although a huge percentage of people live in villages and pursue simple agrarian lifestyles, the global market has affected India in profound ways. It is one of the world’s economic tigers. Since English is a prominent language, Indians have been able to compete ably in this global business language. Financially and economically India is rapidly growing.
India is the largest democracy in the world. The official language is Hindi; the subsidiary official language is English. However, at least 18 other major languages are spoken in India and thousands of dialects.
Sadly, however, 400,000,000 people live beneath the India poverty line. So, with all of the boom in the country’s economy, it is virtually meaningless to these desperate millions. The problems that the entrenched caste system strongly continues to influence, although constitutionally illegal, add further complications to the amelioration of poverty and hopelessness.
So much more could be said. Indeed the surface barely has been scratched. India is a fascinating, unique country filled with complexities and challenges but bursting with potential.
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