All the major religions of the world are represented in India. The largest number of believers in India are adherents of Hinduism (82%) – the oldest national religion in India. In second place are the followers of Islam. It is practiced by 11% of the population (by the way, India is the second country in the world in terms of the Muslim population). In addition, followers of Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism live in India. In the state, about a third of the population professes Catholicism, which easily coexists with other religions.
Transport in India
You can move around the country for long distances by plane and train, for short distances – by bus, taxi, motorcycle and cycle rickshaws.
The Indian international rail network is the largest in Asia and the second largest in the world. The categories of travel are different, starting from the most expensive I class, with air conditioning (the ticket price is comparable to the cost of travel in other countries of this class), and ending with the cheapest option – a shared carriage, with a ticket without a seat, but this is quite inconvenient. There are also air-conditioned sleeping cars and double compartments, as well as air-conditioned seating cars (both second class); there are second-class carriages with fans.
Inside India there is an extensive network of bus routes connecting all parts of the country. This is especially true for those areas in which there is no railway connection, in particular for high mountainous areas. Older buses run on most rural roads, but air-conditioned express buses are increasingly appearing on main routes. Each state has its own transport companies and a large number of private bus companies. All types of public buses are quite suitable for travel, the difference is only in comfort and cost. They always have a conductor. You can buy a ticket from him at intermediate stops, get advice on the trip.
Taxis are easy to distinguish by a special yellow and black color. The price should be agreed in advance with the driver.
Motorcycle and cycle rickshaws are common. They can be hired in the same way as taxis. This is an exotic, convenient, cheap and fast way to travel. But they are only suitable for short trips. Their speed is low, convenience is minimal, and if the road also leads uphill, then the traveler will have to walk alongside. However, before the end of this year, rickshaws may disappear from the streets of Kolkata, as warned by the chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal. He explained that this decision was taken for humanitarian reasons.
You can rent a car, and more often it will be a car with a driver. The price takes into account the route or approximate daily mileage, as well as money for food and overnight for the driver. If the car is without a driver, what is in India not very common, you need to have a driver’s license, and you will have to pay a large deposit. We must remember that in India the left-hand traffic.
Plant and Animal World in India
The territory of India is spread over more than 3000 km from north to south and covers an altitude range of approx. 9100 m, in addition, within its limits, the average annual precipitation in different areas varies from less than 100 to more than 10,000 mm. Therefore, it is not surprising that the vegetation of the country is very diverse. The flora of India has more than 20 thousand species, many endemics. The forests of India are divided into two groups – tropical forests within Hindustan and temperate forests covering the slopes of the Himalayas at altitudes of more than 1500 m.
The modern wild fauna of India has about 350 species of mammals, more than 1200 species and subspecies of birds and over 20 thousand species of insects.
Of the large predators, the Asian lion has survived only in the Gir Forest National Park on the Kathiyawar Peninsula (Gujarat), tigers and leopards are found in the Terai jungle, in the Assam-Burman border zone and in the north of Hindustan. Hyenas, cheetahs and jackals are numerous in the northern part of the country. The Indian elephant is still found in the wild in the jungle. As a working animal, it is used for logging and other heavy work. Among domesticated animals, camels are used as a vehicle in the arid conditions of North-West India, oxen are the main draft force in agriculture, and buffaloes are used to cultivate flooded rice fields. There are many breeds of the typical Indian zebu that are valued for their hardiness and resistance to heat and tropical parasites. Wild herbivores include the Indian one-horned rhinoceros, Asia’s largest rhinoceros, which is found in several national parks and reserves in Assam and West Bengal, and even in these remote areas, its numbers continue to decline. Among smaller mammals, monkeys stand out. In the forests of Assam, there is the only representative of great apes in India – the hulok gibbon, or the white-browed gibbon. The most widespread monkey is the langur, or thin-bodied. There are mongooses that control the population of snakes, which are very numerous in India. Gazelles, four-horned antelopes, hares, small rodents, Bengal cats, common foxes, mongooses, hyenas, wolves, jackals, leopards live in the savannas of the Deccan Plateau.
India has a diverse fauna of reptiles. There are cobras, including the largest poisonous snake in India – the king cobra, pythons and many other snakes. In the waters of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, there are freshwater, or Gangetic, dolphins from 1.8 m to 2.5 m long and a crocodile up to 6.6 m long.
Of the insects, centipedes and scorpions are numerous, but small insects, primarily termites, bring the main harm.
Political State in in India
According to politicsezine, India is a federal republic. It consists of 25 states and 7 union territories. The head of India is the president, who is elected by an electoral college for a term of five years. Executive power is vested in the Prime Minister. The legislative body is the Parliament, which consists of two chambers. In addition, each state has its own legislature and government headed by a minister.
Population in India
India ranks second in the world in terms of population, with 1.08 billion people (1/6 of the world’s total population!).
India is the most multiethnic country in the world. The basis of the population – 72% – are Indo-Aryan peoples, 25% are Dravilds and 3% are representatives of the Mongolian subrace. As for individual nationalities, the most numerous are Hindustanis, Telugu, Marathas, Bengalis, Biharis, Tamils, Gujaratis, Kannaras, Malayalis, and Punjabis.
Language:
The official languages in India are English and Hindi, as well as 17 regional languages in different states. Among other languages, the most common are Bengali, Telugu, Tamil and some others.
