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Namaste from India! We left off last week after just touching down in Delhi. It's my first time visiting India and there's so much to explore so let's not waste any time! Let's dive right in and see what's out there!





INDIA: FAST FACTS
It would be impossible to tell you everything there is to know about India in this newsletter but I've gathered some fast facts that I thought were interesting to share:

India is in South Asia and borders Bangladesh, Bhutan China, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.

India is the world's largest democracy.

India is the second most populous country in the world (an estimated 1.14 billion).

India is the seventh-largest country by geographical area (1.27 million sq. miles).

India has 28 states and seven territories.

In 1947 India gained its independence from Britain, which is also when the Muslim-majority areas were partitioned to form a separate country of Pakistan.

India is home to 7.6% of the world's mammals, 12.6% birds, 6.2% reptiles, 4.4% amphibians, 11.7% fish, and 6% of all flowering plant species.

India's largest cities are Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Bengaluru (Bangalore) – the anglicized names were changed back to their original ones in 1996.

India's main religions are: Hindu (81.4%), Muslim (12.4%), Christian (2.3%) and Sikh (1.9%).

India's official languages are Hindi, English and 16 others you've probably never heard of.

Oh, and I can't forget about the currency: It's the Indian Rupee (INR) which was trading at press time at 1.00 INR = 0.02 USD or $1 USD = 48 INR. For the current conversion rates, log on to XE.com.

For more background information on India, click here.

IS INDIA SAFE?
I am asked this question all the time since I was in India during the November terror attacks. To be honest, I don't know quite how to answer it. The American, Canadian and British governments are not advising travelers to avoid going there. However, Australia's government is. One security expert recently told USA Today that, "India is no more risky than it was before." No one really knows if India is safe ... or any country for that matter ... but if I had the chance, I would go back tonight.

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