India gained independence on August 15, 1947 with Jawaharlal Nehru as the first Prime Minister. It adopted its national flag on July 22, 1947 featuring saffron, white and green colors. India has a population of over 1.3 billion people and its capital is New Delhi. It has cultural and linguistic diversity with 18 official languages and Hindi as the national language. India has a rich cultural heritage evident in its art, customs, traditions, festivals and famous places like the Taj Mahal.

1. INDIA

2. HISTORY BECAME INDEPENDENT ON 15 TH AUGUST 1947 PAKISTAN FIRST PRIME MINISTER - PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER - SARDAR VALLABHBHAI PATEL BECAME REPUBLIC ON 26 TH JANUARY 1950

3. NATIONAL FLAG DESIGN ADOPTED ON 22 ND JULY 1947 HAS THREE COLOURS SAFFRON ON TOP WHITE IN MIDDLE GREEN AT BOTTOM BLUE COLOURED DHARMA CHAKRA IN MIDDLE OF WHITE COLOUR

4. GENERAL INFORMATION CAPITAL – DELHI POPULATION – 2.4% OF WORLD’S LAND AREA AREA 3.3MILLION SQUARE KILOMETERS COASTLINE LENGTH 7600KM LITERACY 65.38% NATIONAL ANTHEM JAN GANA MANA NATIONAL SONG VANDE MATARAM NATIONAL EMBLEM REPLICA OF THE LION CAPITAL OF SARNATH

5. GENERAL INFORMATION NATIONAL ANIMAL TIGER NATIONAL BIRD PEACOCK NATIONAL FLOWER LOTUS NATIONAL TREE BANYAN NATIONAL FRUIT MANGO NATIONAL CURRENCY RUPEE NATIONAL SPORT HOCKEY

6. GENERAL INFORMATION PRIME MINISTER DR. MANMOPHAN SINGH CONSTITUTION - LONGEST IN THE WORLD NATIONAL MOTTO - SATYAMEV JAYATE NATIONAL LANGUAGE - 18 OFFICIALLY SPOKEN HINDI IS NATIONAL LANGUAGE AND ENGLISH IS COMMUNICATION LANGUAGE

7. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION FLANKED BY THE BORDERS OF PAKISTAN, MYANMAR, CHINA, BANGLADESH, BHUTAN, NEPAL HIMALAYAS AT NORTH INDIAN OCEAN AT SOUTH ARABIAN SEA AT WEST BAY OF BENGAL AT EAST

8. CLIMATE THREE MAJOR SEASONS TROPICAL WEATHER EIGHT CLIMATIC ZONES SUMMER TEMPERATURE RISES TO 47C

9. RELIGIONS LAND OF SPIRITUALITY AND PHILOSOPHY BIRTHPLACE OF FEW RELIGION HINDUISM, BUDDHISM AND JAINISM ANCIENT RELIGION LARGEST NON-INDIAN RELIGION IS ISLAM OTHERS ARE CHRISTIANITY, SIKHISM MAINLY

10. ECONOMY ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING EMERGING MARKETS HAS NO POLITICAL CONFLICT SKILLED AND TECHNICAL MANPOWER

11. ART AND CULTURE COMPLEXITY AND VARIETY IS THE HALLMARK OF INDIA MURAL PAINTINGS, CALLIGRAPHIC SIGNS, TRADITIONAL ART, MONUMETS, VEDIC EPICS, MUSIC, CLASSICAL DANCE, AYURVEDA

12. CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS NAMASKAR - GENERAL SALUTATION TILAK - SIGN OF BLESSING, GREETING AARTI - ACT OF VENERATION AND LOVE GARLANDING - MARK OF RESPECT AND HONOUR BINDI - SIGNIFIES FEMALE ENERGY ESSENTIAL ORNAMENTS - NOSE PIN, MANGALSUTRA

13. DRESSING WOMEN NORTHERN INDIA - SALWAR KAMEEZ ACCOMPANIED BY DUPATTA WESTERN INDIA - LEHENGA CHOLI AND ODHNI SARI - LENDS TO UNCOMMON GRACE AND ELEGANCE TO THE WOMEN URBAN WOMEN WEAR JEANS, SHIRTS, SKIRTS AND TROUSERS

14. DRESSING MEN NORTHERN INDIA DHOTI KURTA SOUTHERN INDIA SHIRT AND LUNGI THESE DAYS WEARS TROUSERS, JEANS, SHIRTS

15. FOOD NORTHERN INDIA - WHEAT FORMS BASE SOUTHERN INDIA- RICE FORMS THE BASE FOOD VARIES STATEWISE

16. FOOD

17. FESTIVALS MAIN - DIWALI, NAVRATRI, HOLI OTHERS PONGAL, ONAM, BAISAKHI, DURGA POOJA, IDD, CHRISTMAS NATIONAL FESTIVALS-15 TH AUGUST AND 26 TH JANUARY

18. FAMOUS PLACES TAJMAHAL RED FORT OF AGRA TIRUPATI TEMPLE BEACHES- GOA, LAKSHDWEEP JAIPUR, PUSKAR HILL STATIONS - KODAI KANAL, MUNNAR, DARGELING, SHIMLA BODHGAYA WILD LIFE SANTUTRIES, NATIONAL PARKS MYSORE PALCE LOTUS TEMPLE