India, the country with second largest population, is known in the world for its rich culture and heritage. India has 29 states and 7 Union Territories. People of various religion and culture speaking different languages live together in harmony. (Interesting Facts about India)
The National Flag of India is a horizontal tricolour with deep saffron at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion. The saffron indicates the strength and courage of the country; the white indicates peace and truth; and the green shows the fertility, growth, and auspiciousness of the land. The flag has the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its center. The flag was designed by Pingali Venkayya. It was adopted on 22 July 1947.
There are several amazing facts about India, let’s have a look on some of them-
1. India is the world’s oldest, largest and continuous civilisation – Indus Valley Civilization.
2. India is one of the largest democracies in the world.
3. India has the world’s largest Hindu population i.e. nearly 81% of it’s population identifies itself as Hindu. India is one of the three countries other than Nepal and Mauritius in the world where Hinduism is a majority.
4. India has more than 30,000 active mosques. This out numbers any other country in the world, even the Muslim countries.
5. Over 4700 daily newspaper in more than 300 languages are produced in India.
6. India is also the country in which the highest number of votes were cast for a national general election. In 2009, the country saw its 417 million people cast their votes in five phases to elect the 543 members of the 15th Lok Sabha.
7. Indian railway employs more than a million people, making it the largest employers in the world.
8. Zero’ in the number system was invented by a mathematician from India. His name was Aryabhatta.
9. India has the biggest population of vegetarians in the world.
10. 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. (Interesting Facts about India)