Country's Full Name: Republic of India/Bharatiya Ganarajya

Brief History: It is believed Aryans settled at the banks of Indus River merging with the Indus valley civilization in 1500 BC - naming the country ‘India’. The remnants of this civilization are still visible which is spread out on the banks of River Indus. Indo-Aryans and Dravids in South India are the major ethnic groups creating the Indian culture. Slowly different tribesmen like Huns, Kanishkas, Mongols, made India their home. Many religions found inroads where major religions Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism originated here and assimilated with Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism in the medieval period. Many Hindu and Muslim dynasties ruled India heightening the cultural, architectural glory. Europeans started trade with Indian princely states especially ‘Mughals’ in the sixteenth century. British sensing the political opportunity annexed all the princely states in the eighteenth century making India their colony. Portuguese (Goa, Daman and Diu) and French (Pondicherry) enclaves co-existed together relatively in smaller geographical pockets. India got independence from British rule in 1947 after carving out the separate Muslim state Pakistan. India today is secular democracy with multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, pluralistic society coexisting together.

What is the country known for:
The country is known for its art, history, culture and the architectural marvels. “Tajmahal” one of the modern 7 wonders of the world was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan in memory of his beloved wife.
Mahatma (the great soul) Gandhi displayed it to the world how to win against the opposition by non-violent methods.
India is marked for its growing economy and making a dent on the world financial outflow.
It is the most populous democracy in the world.
India is the seventh largest country and second most populous country in the world.

Main Industries:
Textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software.

Main Trading Partners:
Exports: $151.3 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities: petroleum products, textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures
Exports - partners: US 15%, China 8.8%, UAE 8.7%, UK 4.4% (2007)
Imports: $230.5 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities: crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals
Imports - partners: China 10.7%, US 7.8%, Germany 4.5%, Singapore 4.4% (2007)

Major Cities: Mumbai (13,662,885), Delhi (capital - 11,954,217), Bengaluru (5,180,533), Kolkata (5,021,458), Chennai (4,562,843).

Location:
Southern Asia, the Indian sub-continent, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
Geographic coordinates: 20 00 N, 77 00 E

Size:
Area:
total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km
water: 314,400 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly more than one-third the size of the US

Time Zone:
UTC/GMT 5.5 hours ahead (10.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Type of Government:
India is a federal republic, a parliamentary democracy following “Westminster type of Parliament”.
It has Bicameral Parliament or ‘Sansad’ which consists of the Council of States or ‘Rajya Sabha’ (a body consisting of not more than 250 members up to 12 of whom are appointed by the president, the remainder are chosen by the elected members of the state and territorial assemblies; members serve six-year terms) and the People's Assembly or ‘Lok Sabha’ (545 seats; 543 elected by popular vote, 2 appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms)

National Holidays:

2010
26 Jan *Republic Day.
12 Feb Mahashivratri.
26 Feb Milad-Un-Nabi (Birth of the Prophet).
28 Mar Mahavir Jayanthi.
2 Apr Good Friday.
5 Apr Easter Monday.
28 Apr Buddha Purnima.
15 Aug *Independence Day.
2 Sep Janmashtami.
10 Sep - 11 Sep Id ul Fitr (End of Ramadan).
2 Oct *Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday.
17 Oct Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami).
2 Nov Guru Nanak's Birthday.
5 Nov Deepavali or Diwali (Festival of Lights).
16 Nov - 17 Nov Idu'l Zuha/Bakrid (Feast of the Sacrifice).
7 Dec Muharram (Islamic New Year).
25 Dec Christmas Day.
26 Dec Boxing Day.

2011
26 Jan *Republic Day.
15 Feb Milad-Un-Nabi (Birth of the Prophet).
3 Mar Mahashivratri.
17 Apr Mahavir Jayanthi.
22 Apr Good Friday.
25 Apr Easter Monday.
17 May Buddha Purnima.
15 Aug *Independence Day.
22 Aug Janmashtami.
30 Aug - 31 Aug Id ul Fitr (End of Ramadan).
28 Sep Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami).
2 Oct *Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday.
26 Oct Deepavali or Diwali (Festival of Lights).
2 Nov Guru Nanak's Birthday.
6 Nov - 7 Nov Idu'l Zuha/Bakrid (Feast of the Sacrifice).
26 Nov Muharram (Islamic New Year).
25 Dec Christmas Day.
26 Dec Boxing Day.

Population (and breakdown):
2008 estimate: 1,132,446,000
2001 census: 1,027,015,248

0-14 years: 31.5% (male 189,238,487/female 172,168,306)
15-64 years: 63.3% (male 374,157,581/female 352,868,003)
65 years and over: 5.2% (male 28,285,796/female 31,277,725) (2008 est.)

Religion:
Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)

Language:
Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9%
note: English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 41% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2001 census)

Local Customs Are there any local customs to be aware of? :
While greeting fold both your hands and say ‘namaste’ (I pray good for you).
Respect for elders and women are expected.
India is agrarian society where 70 percent earn their livelihood through farms. Wastage of food is considered crime.
While entering house/temples remove your shoes and leather products outside.
Respect eating habits - many families are strict vegetarians (not even garlic-onion).
Many Hindu temples only allow Hindus to pray.
Traditional outfit for women is ‘saree’, ‘salwar-kameej’ and ‘ghagra-choli’.
Traditional outfit for men is ‘dhoti-kurta’.

Best Time to go: India has varied climate. The second-lowest temperature was recorded in Drass, Laddakh in Himalayan range and the extreme temperatures recorded in Thar Desert of Rajasthan. The wettest place in the world is in Cherrapunji and Mawsynram with average yearly rainfall recorded to 467 inches.
India is a tropical country; avoid visiting during summer heat and monsoonal rains. October to February remains a favorable period to visit.

Currency: (what is the exchange rate compared to $1.00 (US Dollar), 1 Euro, 1 UK Pound
1 USD = Rs. 48.41
1 Euro = Rs. 65.21
1 GBP = Rs.82.47

Customs Regulations: How much liquor or cigarettes can you bring in with you

200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 grams tobacco
Alcoholic liquors and Wines up to 1 liter each
Note: Excess Alcoholic drinks and Tobacco products are charged at the rates applicable to their commercial imports and not at the usual excess baggage duty rate.

Duty free personal effects:
Personal jewelry, 1 electronic diary, portable radio
1 camera with film rolls <= 20, 1 video camera/camcorder with accessories
1 pair of Binoculars, One portable color television < 15 cms in size
1 music system, 1 portable typewriter, 1 perambulator 1 tent and other camping equipment, 1 One computer (laptop or notebook)
Professional equipment, instruments and apparatus or appliances including professional audio/video equipments
Sports equipments such as one fishing outfit, one sporting fire arm with fifty cartridges, one non-powered bicycle, one canoe or ranges less than 51 meters long, one pair of skids, two tennis rackets, one golf set (14 pcs. with a dozen of golf balls).
A tourist is supposed to take back the items which have not been consumed during the stay in India when he/she returns

Tipping: Tipping in India is termed as “Baksheesh” where tipping is done after the good service. Waiters in restaurants: 10 – 15% of the bill. Bell boy/room attendant: Rs 15-20. Taxi drivers/Auto Rickshaw drivers are self-employed and can be tipped for better service. At Railway Stations porters should be paid after bargaining for the effort. Avoid tipping beggars who can be found in close proximity.