Intersting Facts about India

15 Facts About India That Will Blow Your Mind

Gus Lubin and Mamta Badkar Jan. 3, 2011, 12:53 PM 1,083,102 31

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A fire-breather in Mysore

Happy New Year. India hopes this will be the year it returns to a pre-crisis growth rate of 9% -- on its way to becoming the world's fastest growing country by 2014.

But to reach this goal, the world's largest democracy will have to stave off threats of price inflation, asset bubbles and civil unrest.

It will almost certainly be a bumpy ride.

In the next three years, up to 25% of the world's new workers will be Indian

42% of the world's poor live in India

That's over 450 million people living below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day, according to the World Bank.

India's GDP per capita will quadruple from 2007 to 2020, according to Goldman Sachs

Property prices in Mumbai and Delhi have more than doubled in the past 18 months

Source: Reuters

India's tech capital, Bangalore, has increased its office supply by six times since 2006, and now has more Grade-A offices than Singapore

Half the world’s outsourced IT services come from India, amounting to a $47 billion dollar industry

Walmart alone outsources $1 billion in IT contracts to India

India is the world's second largest importer of arms and has spent $50 billion on defense purchases in the last decade

India grows 12 million tons of mangoes in a year, the weight equivalent to 80,000 blue whales

India's Cherrapnuji is the wettest places on earth, receiving 425 inches of rain every year

A bigger movie market than America and Canada combined, India sold 3.2 billion tickets last year

The average Indian is nearly 20 years younger than the average Japanese (26 vs 45)

Indians are also around ten years younger than rival China, which was limited in growth by its one-child policy.

In recent decades, 500,000 female births have gone missing each year due to (illegal) sex selection and abortion

India has 568 million more registered voters than the US -- and a better turnout rate too

India used to account for 33% of the world's GDP; then fell to 3%; now may rise to 25%

India led the world in GDP before the industrial revolution, when population meant productivity, and India had the largest population. Following the industrial revolution, India entered a long period of economic stagnation.

The future outlook comes from Goldman Sachs, which sees India passing the U.S. economy in 2050, trailing only China.

Now learn about the other economy in the race of the century...