Flag: The colors of the Indian flag were taken from the flag of the Indian National Congress. Dark orange represents courage and sacrifice. Green represents faith, fertility, and chivalry. White represents truth and peace. The emblem in the center was added upon independence in 1947. It is a Buddhist dharma chakra, or wheel of life, used in India thousands of years ago.

Anthem: "Jana-Gana-Mana-Adhinayaka, Jaya H" ("Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People, Dispenser of Indias Destiny")

Population: 1,013,729,481

Land Area: 1,222,243 sq mi (3,165,596 sq km)
India if compared to the U.S land wise is 3 times smaller and population wise is 3 times larger.

Highest Point: Kanchenjunga, 28,209 ft (8598 m) above sea level

Lowest Point: Sea level along coast

Precipitation: Delhi 640 mm (25 in) Mumbai 1810 mm (71 in)

Climate: Average temperatures Summer is severe of 116 C.

Population Density: 791 persons/sq mi (305 persons/sq km) ['97 estimate]

Population Breakdown: 27% Urban 73% Rural ['96 estimate]

Languages: Hindi, English = official languages
17 languages recognized for official purposes: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu; many other languages and dialects

Religions:
82% Hinduism
12% Islam
2.4% Christianity , .6% are Bible believing evangelical
2% Sikhism
0.7% Buddhist
0.5% Jains
0.4% other

Employment:
67% Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
20% Services
13% Industry
A land of more than a billion people
India is the largest democracy in the world. With over a billion people, India is second only to China in population. It is estimated that by 2015 India will become the largest nation in the world.
A land of 333 million gods and Goddesses
A land of 1,652 languages
India is virtually Babel" when it comes to languages. There are 1,652 languages in use in this land. Of these 222 are considered "major" languages spoken by a minimum of 100,000
people.

A land of 4,635 'people groups'

India is made up of thousands of different people groups or ethnic groups. (The Indian word is "jathi"). Jesus commanded us to make disciples from every "people group" or "nation".
Mtt 28:19 Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Christians: A tiny minority in two pockets
The Christian population in India, according to the government figures is only 2.3% of the population. Even if we follow the optimistic figures given by Christian leaders, it is only 4%.
Doors for foreign missionaries closed no foreign missionary can come to India and work as a missionary.
The country has a wide variety of local languages and in many cases the State boundaries have been drawn on linguistic lines. Besides Hindi and English, the other popular languages are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Oriya, Telugu and Urdu.
Few countries in the world have such an ancient and diverse culture as India's. Stretching back over 5000 years, India's culture has been enriched by successive waves of migration, which were absorbed into the Indian way of life. Folk culture varies among regional and ethnic groups. Street magic shows and episodes from religious texts are dramatically staged in urban and rural areas. India is known for artistry in jewelry, textiles, paintings on the walls of mud houses, and images cast in metal through the lost-wax method (a process using wax to form a mold). Music and dance are performed in temples, at festivals, and at ceremonial functions at home.

Detailed Map of India