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India is in the south of Asia. It is a peninsula and it´s surroundedby the Indian ocean.
The capital of the country is New Delhi.
The largest cities are Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.
5 million inhabitants live in the capital, the whole population is about 900 million people.
Many different people have many different kinds of religious and languages. The most important religion is Hindu, over 83%, and also religions like Muslim, Christian and Buddhist.
In India there are about 15 main languages, including Hindi and English.
The subcontinent has a big problem with illiterates. Today there are about 56% who cannot read or write.
Indian culture is full of interesting folk stories, which were handed down from generation to generation. The stories are not only entertaining, but teach moral lessons. This is probably the reason why storytelling is still popular in India and is an important part of the country´s tradition.
Britain was very important for the country. By the middle of the 19th century Britain was controlled the whole of India - so called the East India Company. It was only legal British trading company until 1813.
India was a colony serving British interests. It gave Britain raw material and a big market for industrial goods. The railway and administration that the British built up, were two of the advantages of British rule.
But India wanted to be free and so they fought for freedom lasted about a century. Mahatma Ghandi was an important leader in the fight for independence. In his peaceful campaigns of civil disobedience he told the Indians not to obey the British government.
Independence came- they won the fight, but they had to pay the price: the country was divided into two seperate states, India with a Hindu majority and Pakistan with a Muslim majority.
At the time of independence India was not a very well developed country.
The revolution didn´t change much for the Indian population but it´s still
one of the poorest countries.
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