People & Culture of India

India is a charming country where people of numerous diverse communities and religions subsist together in unity. The Indian population is polygenetic and is an amazing mix of various ethnicities and cultures. It is impracticable to find out the precise origin of the people of India. There are many diverse ethnic groups among the people of India. India is the world's second most populous country and is after China. Almost 70% of Indians reside in rural areas, although in recent decades migration to larger cities has led to a dramatic increase in the country's urban population. India's capital is New Delhi and the largest cities are Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderbad, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru, formerly known as Bangalore.

India is one of the most ethnically, linguistically and hereditarily varied geographical entity after the Africa. Hindi, with the largest number of speakers, is the official language. English, however, is extensively used in business and administration, and is a 'subsidiary official language.' The constitution of India also recognizes other Indian dialects like Bengali, Gujrati, Telugu, Marathi, etc. The majority of Indians are Hindu and other religious groups include Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Jews, etc. Religion is the central pivot of an Indian’s life and rituals and prayers are widely followed by the majority of India, regardless of religion. India's literacy rate is 64.8% with the state of Kerala having the highest literacy rate of 91%.

India's various cultural activities, languages, ways of life, and mores have all co-mingled over the past five millennia. Music, dance and other forms visual arts are all popular in India, with Bollywood being a major film producing industry. The music of India includes many arrays of religious, folk, pop, classical and popular music. Indian dance too has its folk and classical forms. Each state has its own state dance and performances of these dances are delightful to the eyes. Other types of arts include pottery, martial arts, statue and painting.