Skip to main content

Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

wilby-india2

All about India

I seem to be stuck in the “is.” Reason at the end of this post. Still, it is totally coincidental, I assure you.

I thought next it might be interesting to take a look at India as I continue on my journey to investigate the countries on this list of countries in Asia. BTW, how many countries are there in Asia?

What do we know about India?

1. India is the 7th largest country by area and 2nd largest by population. The country is about 1/3rd the physical size of the lower 48 states. India is twice the size of Alaska.

2. India has 1.15 billion people, (one in six people of the world and almost 4 times that of the States). India also has more people under 14 years old (360 million) than all of the U.S. (300 million).

3. India has an average age of 25.1 years. The U.S. is 37 years.

4. India’s neighbors are Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km. (1.61 km = 1 mile)

5. India’s lowest point is the Indian Ocean, the highest point is Kanchenjunga 8,598 m(#3 in the world and 866′ shorter than Everest.)

6. India faces droughts; flash floods, flooding from monsoonal rains (June-Oct); severe thunderstorms; earthquakes

7. India suffers from deforestation, erosion, overgrazing, pollution, not potable tap water.

8.  About 1% of India’s population has AIDS -5.1 million. That is equal to the population of Rhode Island + Montana + Delaware + South Dakota + North Dakota + Alaska.

ALSO READ  What's Lincoln's Bixby Letter? 5 Things I Know and One I Hope For

9. 80.5% of Indians are Hindu, 13.4% are Muslim (150 million) and 2.4% are Christians. Somebody, please write and ask me about my visit to a Hindu temple devoted to sex for pleasing God. The caste system still exists in India. India is the birthplace of many religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism. The Dalai Lama runs his government from Northern India.

10. Hindi is spoken by about 41% of the people. Yet, there are 14 other official languages in India.

“Okay, let’s have this business meeting in the official language.”

“Uh, which one?”

11. Two in five people in India over 15 in cannot read and write. More than half of all women over 15 cannot read or write (53%).

12. New Delhi is the capital of India. And there are still elephants roaming the streets. January 26th is the day India became a republic. India became independent of U.K. governance on August 15th.

13. India’s economy is still growing at better than 7%. 17% of business is in agriculture, 29% is industry, 54% is services, including that Sprint dude who answers the phone.

14. India has a labor force of 523 million = the entire population of the U.S. + Japan + Korea + Taiwan. China’s labor force is 800 million.

15. India has an unemployment rate of 7%ish. Inflation is about the same figure.

16. India’s best export partners are the US 15%, China 8.7%, UAE 8.7%, UK 4.4%. Her import partners are China 10.6%, US 7.8%, Germany 4.4%, Singapore 4.4%. India exports software to 90 countries and growing.

ALSO READ  Spending summer time with your foster child- Part 1

17. There is one mobile phone for every 4-5 Indians. There is only one land line for every 30 people.

18. One in 15 people is online in India.

19. India has 346 airports and 36,000 miles of railways, enough to go back and forth across the U.S. 6 times. The country has about 65,000Km (40,000 miles) of highways.

20. Mumbai (Bombay) is the economic capital of the country with RBI (Reserve Bank of India) and the Stock Exchange located here. Bollywood (the world’s most prolific film industry) is there, too. Kind of like NYC and LA mixed together. Hyderabad is the country’s modern hub of Information technology, ITES, and biotechnology.  Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bangalore are India’s A-1 cities.

21. Chess was invented in India, as were algebra, trigonometry, and calculus. (now you know who to hate for those classes.)

22. India’s official national sport is NOT cricket…It’s field hockey.

You can read about India at:

So, what did I miss? What do you think should be on the list? What doesn’t belong here?

Let me know.

Please Sign My India Guestbook

You might also be interested in:

21 Must-Know Facts about Iraq + Map,

20 Must Know Facts about Iran + Map,

21 Must-Know Facts about Israel,

source, source, source, source, source, and source

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.

Bill Belew

Daddy and Christian.

9 Comments

  • Vipin singh says:

    Yes great article .

    I’m gonna bookmark this page . but i’ll post some more Fact about India like this when i have time Then .

    Keep rocking

    Thanks
    Vipin Singh (Manager)
    Hotel Clark Heights

  • licnyc says:

    I’ve been to india a few times- everyone I ask tells me the caste system is no longer in use. They even have an equivalent of affirmative action for the lowest caste.

  • Raghav says:

    Highways In India is about 65000 KM not 120 miles.

  • Nehaal says:

    Hi, Nice compilation but as Raghav said you have wrong stats on the length of the highways.
    Also the map you have shown is not the one we officially agree.

  • Arohan says:

    In addition to the highway lengths error pointed out earlier, the following needs to be corrected as well:

    India became independent from England on Aug 15 and not Jan 26 as is mentioned here. India became a republic on Jan 26.

    You can’t visit a Hindi temple. You have to make do with a Hindu temple. Hindi is a language, Hindu is a religion

  • Peepli Live says:

    nice phone user 🙂

    and excellent article thanks for share

  • Vatsal says:

    Dear Writer,

    There are as afrementioned issues with the article although there is one more fact that you must know that the khajuraho temple is built on the philosophy that ..all the devotees must fulfill their earthy desires and then enter the temple with a satisfied mind so that finally one ll be concerned about devoted and not any other unfulfilled desires

  • Charu says:

    I pity Indians who couldnt understand the sarcasm behind many points.
    There are so many laurels of India that have not been added here. India was the richest country in the world before the western invasion. India was the only source of diamonds before the 19th century. India has not invaded any country in 10000 years of history. and lots more…………more and more that would tease the ego of any other foreigner……………….India is our pride……….

  • Karan Singh says:

    Thank you Charu for the facts, wish the world knew more hidden realities of India (Bharat). Infact wish more Indians knew about there own country. This idiot who tried to put this web page together cut and pasted stuff without knowing the real fact, not only that, this page contains Virus.
    I am very proud of you Charu, my brothers, sisters and all, peaceful, loving, tolerant, beautiful Indians.

    Peace to the world

Close Menu

Categories

Growing Up Aimi Series