Capital – New Delhi
Language – Hindi, English
Official Currency – Indian Rupee
Climate – The nation has four seasons: winter (January and February), summer (March to May), a monsoon (rainy) season (June to September), and a post-monsoon period (October to December)
A pluralistic, multilingual and multiethnic society, India is also home to a diversity of Wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The India economy is the world’s eleventh largest economy by nominal GDP and the fourth largest by purchasing power parity. Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at the Bhimbetka Rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human life in India. The first known permanent settlements appeared over 9,000 years ago and gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilization. The Constitution of India, the longest and the most exhaustive among constitutions of independent nations in the world, came into force on 26 January 1950. India, which lies within the Indomalaya ecozone, displays significant biodiversity. One of eighteen megadiverse countries, it is home to 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of all avian, 6.2% of all reptilian, 4.4% of all amphibian, 11.7% of all fish, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species. Many ecoregions,, such as the Shola forests, exhibit extremely high rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indian plant species are endemic.India’s official national sport is Field Hockey, administered by Hockey India. The Indian feild hockey team won the 1975 Hockey World cup and 8 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals at the Olympic games, the highest from any national team. However, cricket is the most popular sport. The Indian Film industry is the largest in the world. Bollywood, based in Mumbai, makes commercial Hindi films and is the most prolific film industry in the world. Established traditions also exist in Assamese, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu language cinemas. Many Indian festivals are religious in origin, although several are celebrated irrespective of caste and creed. Some popular festivals are Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Ugadi, Thai Pongal, Holi, Onam, Vijayadashami, Durga puja, Eid ul-Fitr, Bakr-Id, Christmas, and Vaisakhi. Religious practices are an integral part of everyday life and are a very public affair.
Indian architecture is one area that represents the diversity of Indian culture. Much of it, including notable monuments such as the Taj Mahal and other examples of Mughal architecture and south Indian architecture, comprises a blend of ancient and varied local traditions from several parts of the country and abroad. Vernacular architecture also displays notable regional variation. Indian music covers a wide range of traditions and regional styles. Classical music largely encompasses the two genres – North Indian hindustani, South Indian carnatic traditions and their various offshoots in the form of regional folk music. Regionalised forms of popular music include filmi and folk music; the syncretic tradition of the bauls is a well-known form of the latter.