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UPSC » UPSC CSE Study Materials » General Awareness » India

India

India is the country with the seventh-largest land area, the second-most people, and the most people living under democratic rule of any nation on the planet.

Table of Content
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India is a nation that may be found in South Asia. Its official name is the Republic of India (Hindi: Bharat Gaarjya).It is bordered on land by Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north, and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. 

The Indian Ocean is located to the south, the Arabian Sea is located to the southwest,

 and the Bay of Bengal is located to the southeast. India is located in the region of Sri Lanka and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are part of India, have a maritime boundary with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia.Since 1950, India has been organised as a democratic and parliamentary federal republic, and its government is democratic. 

It is a society that is not only bilingual but also multiethnic and pluralistic. The population of India increased from 361 million in the year 1951 to 1.211 billion in the year 2011.During this same time period, the country’s literacy rate rose from 16.6 percent to 74 percent, and its nominal per capita income rose from $64 to $1,498. Movies, music, and spiritual teachings from India are playing an increasingly important part in the culture of other countries. India has been able to significantly reduce its poverty rate, but this has come at the expense of an increase in economic inequality. India is a nation that possesses nuclear weapons and ranks high in terms of its spending on the military. 

The country of India is extremely megadiverse and contains four areas of particularly high biodiversity. It has a forest cover that accounts for 21.7% of the total land area. The wildlife of India, which has always been regarded with tolerance in India’s culture], is protected not only in these forests but also in other habitats across the country. 

India’s popularity in the world

India’s vastness, history, and ideologies, as well as its influence on the development of civilisation, have always been sources of fascination for westerners. The Hindu influence in the United States was fully responsible for the flower power movement of the 1970s. Her popularity among non-native speakers of English has long been widespread. However, Neo-Nehruvian socialism, the non-aligned movement, as well as poverty and corruption, have turned the globe against themselves.Everything changed when the information technology industry in India became successful. Now that they see Modi attempting to reform India, countries are beginning to see economic opportunities for their enterprises through initiatives such as Digital India and Smart Cities. They believe that Modi is serious about business.

 It is not surprising that India is so well-liked given that it is both one of the largest marketplaces in the world and a growth story in an era when even China is experiencing difficulty.

Some facts about India

  • The following list contains some interesting facts about India:
  • In its history spanning more than 100,000 years, India has never invaded any other country.
  • Harappan culture was formed in Sindhu Valley by Indians about 5,000 years ago, 
  • during a time when most cultures consisted only of nomadic forest dwellers (Indus Valley Civilization)
  • The term “India” comes from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the original homes of the people who settled the area that is now known as India
  • The Aryan worshippers called the river Indus the Sindhu, which is a Sanskrit word
  • Following their conquest, the Persians introduced Hinduism
  • The word “Hindustan” comes from the combination of the words “Sindhu” and “Hindu,” and it means “the land of the Hindus”
  • India is the birthplace of the board game chess
  • Studies such as algebra, trigonometry, and calculus can trace their roots all the way back to India
  • In the year 100 B.C., India was the birthplace of both the “Place Value System” and the “Decimal System”
  • India is currently the world’s third largest exporter of software
  • The four major world religions that originated in India are Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism
  • Together, these four faiths are practised by approximately one quarter of the world’s population
  • It was in India that the first martial arts were developed, and it was Buddhist monks who brought them to other parts of Asia
  • The practise of yoga has been around for more than 5000 years and may be traced back to India
  • When Lord Buddha travelled there in 500 B.C., the locals referred to it as “the Ancient City”
  •  Varanasi, which is also referred to by the name Benaras, is the oldest city in the world that is still continually inhabited
  • More than 300,000 refugees who fled religious and political persecution in their home countries of
  •  Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh have found sanctuary in India,India offers them with a safe haven.

Uniqueness Regarding India

  • In its history spanning more than 100,000 years, India has never invaded any other country.
  • There are more mosques in India (300,000) than there are in any other country in the world combined.
  • In addition to Hindi, the following languages are each spoken by more than 25 million people in India: 
  • Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, and Punjabi. 
  • The speakers of these languages are listed in descending order based on the number of people who speak them.
  • The City Montessori School in Lucknow, India, is now the institution that holds the record for the most kids enrolled in a single school in the entire globe.
  •  It boasts a student body of almost 45,000 individuals!
  • During the festival of Diwali, individuals in India spend an average of Rs. 3,000 crore on fireworks and crackers.
  • There are around 90,000 kinds of creatures in India, including over 350 species of mammals, 
  • 1,200 species of birds, and 50,000 species of plants.

Conclusion

The current population of India is spread out throughout 29 states and 7 union territories.

There is a linguistic, cultural, culinary, and sartorial distinction between each state and the territories.Numerous developments, including mathematics, the number zero, shampoo, chess, the value of pi, and diamond mining, are credited to India as their place of origin.

 There are around 90,000 kinds of creatures in India, including over 350 species of mammals, 1,200 species of birds, and 50,000 species of plants. India is a truly one-of-a-kind nation because of all of these distinguishing characteristics.

It is common knowledge that India is known as a country that successfully combines unity and diversity.Each of India’s 10 states has a population of 25 million people, and these people speak a variety of languages.There are around 90,000 kinds of creatures in India, including over 350 species of mammals, 1,200 species of birds, and 50,000 species of plants. It is my opinion that with the assistance of these important facts, we are now in a position to answer the question of why India is the greatest country in the world.

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Frequently asked questions

Get answers to the most common queries related to the UPSC Examination Preparation.

What makes India so unique?

Ans. India is incomparable to any other country because of it...Read full

What makes India proud?

Ans. We have the highest number of languages spoken in any one nation, with 29 languages having mor...Read full

In what aspect of the world does India excel the most?

Ans. Toy trains, luxury trains, Shatabdi speed trains, and commuter trains make up the network that...Read full

How long has India been around?

Ans. India: 2500 BC. The Age of Vietnam: 4,000 Years.

Why is India known by its current name?

Ans. The word “India” comes from the name of the Sindhu River, which is also known as t...Read full

Ans. India is incomparable to any other country because of its one-of-a-kind combination of vivid colours, magnificent scenery, and extensive history.

 This fascinating nation provides a rich and varied experience for the senses, from the chaotic streets of Mumbai to the peaceful coastlines of the Andaman Islands and everything in between.

 

Ans. We have the highest number of languages spoken in any one nation, with 29 languages having more than one million speakers in each tongue. No other nation has this many languages spoken. 

We have more than 1,650 different spoken languages. 

Additionally, India is home to the world’s most numerous racial and ethnic groups. 

Despite seeming to the rest of the world as a unified film industry, India makes films in around 21 different languages.

Ans. Toy trains, luxury trains, Shatabdi speed trains, and commuter trains make up the network that is affectionately referred to as “the lifeline of a nation.”

 This network travels through cities at high speeds, creeps through villages at a snail’s pace, snakes along coasts, and climbs mountains.

Ans. India: 2500 BC. The Age of Vietnam: 4,000 Years.

Ans. The word “India” comes from the name of the Sindhu River, which is also known as the Indus River. 

The name “India” has been in use in Greek since before Herodotus (5th century BCE). 

The term first existed in written form in Old English during the 9th century and did not reappear in Modern English until the 17th century.

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