My India-Sulfi's Hoe Page

The Indus valley civilization , one of the oldest in the world , goes back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest invaded about 1500 BC ; their emerger with the earlier inhabitants created classical Indian culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkish in the 12th were followed by European traders begining in the late 15th century. By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Non violence resistance to British colonialism under MOHANDAS GANDHI and JAWAHARLAL NEHRU led to independence in 1947. The subcontinent was divided into the secular state of India and the Muslim state of Pakisthan. A third war between the two countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakisthan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh

Country (long form)	Republic of India
Capital	New Delhi
Population	1,029,991,145 (July 2001 est.)
Languages	English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri , Sindhi, Sanskrit, Hindustani note: 24 languages each spoken by a million or more persons; numerous other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually unintelligible

Life Expectancy

62.22 male, 63.53 female (2001 est.)

Government Type

federal republic

Religions	Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups ncluding Buddhist,Jain, Parsi 2.5%(2000)
Currency	1 Indian rupee (Re) = 100 paise
Industry	textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software
Agriculture	rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish
Natural Resources	coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arableland