India is a vast country and among the top developing nations in the world. It has a lot of diversity in languages, customs, traditions and many other things. There are so many interesting facts about India that we can talk about. Let’s learn more about this beautiful country which has a diverse culture and extensive history.
66 Interesting facts about India
1. The name ‘India’ is derived from the river Indus. It is a valley around which people settled in earlier times.
2. India is the world’s oldest, largest and continuous civilization – the Indus Valley civilization.
3. India is also one of the largest democracies in the world.
4. India has the largest postal system in the world with more than 150,000 post offices, which is thrice the size of that of China.
5. India has more than 300,000 active mosques. This outnumbers any other country in the world, even the Muslim countries.
6. The second largest pool of engineers and scientists is from India.
7. India is the second largest English speaking country in the world – 125,226,449 numbers of English speakers.
8. Indian railway employs more than a million people, making it the largest employers in the world.
7. India is the second largest English speaking country in the world – 125,226,449 numbers of English speakers.
8. Indian railway employs more than a million people, making it the largest employers in the world.
A locomotive from the Indian Railways.
9. India is the 7th largest country in the world and the largest democracy.
10. The City Montessori School, in Lucknow, is the world’s largest school in terms of students with over 45,000 inductees.
11. India is the world’s largest milk producer, with 16 percent of global production, followed by the United States of America, China, Pakistan, and Brazil.
12. India leads the world with the largest number of films.
13. Over 4700 daily newspapers in more than 300 languages are produced in India.
14. The largest wholesale spice market of Asia is in India – Khari Baoli, New Delhi.
15. India’s road network is the world’s second largest with 4,865,000 km of roads constructed. (2014)
16. India is house to the world’s biggest family: 39 wives, 94 children, and 33 grandchildren. The family lives in a 100-room, four-story house set amidst the hills of Baktwang village in the Indian state of Mizoram.
The world’s biggest family from India.
Facts about Indians and their inventions
17. Mahatma Gandhi is known as The Father of the Nation. His full name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He died in 1948 and was responsible for the freedom of India along with other freedom fighters.
18. The highest award in the country is Bharat Ratna.
19. ‘Zero’ in the number system was invented by a mathematician from India. His name was Aryabhatta.
20. The Human Calculator, Shakuntala Devi is a math prodigy from India. She could calculate 7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779 and provided the correct answer in mere 28 seconds.
21. Chess was invented in India.
22. Apart from U.S. and Japan, only India has built a super computer indigenously.
23. Yoga originated from India and is still in existence for over 5000 years.
24. Calculus, Trigonometry, and Algebra originated in India.
Flag of India
Flag of India. Image credit – CIA
25. The decimal system and place value system were developed in India around 100 B.C.
26. Snakes and ladders – the game, was invented in India in the 13th century by a poet saint Gyandev. The ladders represent the virtues while the snakes indicate vices. The game was designed on the basis of the concept that good deeds take you to heaven while bad deeds take you to hell.
27. 90 countries from all over the world buy software from India.
28. Takshila, the first ever university in the world started around 700 BC in India.29.India is the place of origin ofBuddhism and Jainism.
30. In the August of 1982, ‘the highest bridge in the world’ – the Baily Bridge, was built by Indian Army.
31. Switzerland has declared May 26 as ‘The Science Day’ in honor of visiting President APJ Abdul Kalam. Sadly, the former president passed away on 27 July, 2015 in Shillong, Meghalaya, India.
32. More than $6 million is donated in the Vishnu temple in the city of Tirupathi. It was built in the 10th century.
33. Benaras, now known as Varanasi is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Buddha had also visited it.
34. India has the world’s largest attended events. The biggest of which is ‘Kumbha Mela’ of 2001 – attended by 60 million people and was seen from space.
35. India has the world’s highest cricket ground which is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. It is 2444 meters above the sea level and was built in 1983.
36. More than 54 crore people voted in 2014 general elections. This is more than the entire population of the U.S., U.K., Japan, and Australia combined.
37. India’s space program is among the top five space programs in the world despite having budget constraints.
Facts about Indian history, famous places and more…
The map of India
38. There is a lake built in India due to the impact of a meteor. It is the ‘Lonar Lake’ in Maharashtra.
39. The British Raj, or British rule, lasted from 1858 to 1947.
40. The Brihadeswara Temple is situated in Tamil Nadu is the first granite temple of the world. It was built in just five years during the 11th century.
41. Before the 18thcentury, India was one of the richest countries in the world.
42. India has the biggest population of vegetarians in the world.
43. Mawsynram, Meghalaya in India is the wettest place with 11871 mm of average rainfall. This village is 15 km away from Cherrapunji. 44. India is the world’s largest importer of arms but it has never invaded or attacked any country.
45. India has never hosted the Olympic Games.
46. The world’s highest battlefield (Siachin) is controlled by India.
47. Vande Mataram is India’s national song and Jana Gana Mana is its national anthem.
48. Indian Lotus is its national flower.
49. Indira Gandhi was India’s first and the only female Prime Minister till date.
50. White tigers are only found among Indian tigers.
51. The highest road is at Khardungla (Leh-Manali).
52. The largest dam is the Hirakud Dam in Orrisa.
53. NH-44 (NH-7) which turns from Varanasi to Kanyakumari is the longest highway in India.
54. Mango is India’s national fruit and Peacock is its national bird.
55. The first mining of diamonds was done in India.
56. India was the first to detect water on the Moon. India’s first Moon Satellite Chandrayaan-1 took the honor.
7. “Amar Sonar Bangla” the national anthem of Bangladesh is written by Rabindranath Tagore of Indian origin.
58. The Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is in India.
One of the Seven Wonders of the World: The Taj Mahal
60. You would be amazed to know that the concept of shampoo was first invented in India when herbs were used for strengthening hair.
61. India is the largest gold buyer in the world while the United States holds the biggest gold reserves.
62. Adolf Hitler – the dictator – was a big fan of Major Dhyanchand. He even offered him German citizenship when India defeated Germany in 1936 in the Berlin Olympic Finals.
63. Cricket is India’s most popular sport while field hockey is another sport where the countrymen excel. Did you know that the India men’s national field hockey team won six consecutive gold medals in Olympics between 1928 and 1956?
64. There is only one-time zone across all of India.
65. It is illegal to carry Indian currency, Rupee, outside of India.
66. While tea is the most popular beverage in India, the country is also its largest producer in the world.
