Saturday, August 15, marks the 62nd anniversary of India’s independence from Great Britain. Here are some interesting facts about this increasingly influential country and culture:
* India is home to 1.1 billion people. The country occupies just 2.4% of the world’s landmass but supports 15% of its population.
* India has won five Miss World titles and two Miss Universe titles.
* India is the world’s largest democracy. It’s also the only nation in the region to have never invaded a neighboring country.
* In 1900, India was one of the world’s poorest countries, with most people earning less than $1 per day. Today, its rate of economic growth is second only to China. Its emerging “middle class,” already some 300 million strong, is virtually as large as the entire U.S. population.
* The Indian film industry, commonly known as “Bollywood,” makes more feature films each year than the United States, France, Italy and China combined
* Chess was invented in India sometime before 600 A.D. In the 13th century, Indians also invented a child’s game designed to teach morality called “Snakes & Ladders.” The concept was simple: Do something good, you advance. Do something bad, you fall back. In the mid-20th century this ancient game of right-and-wrong was adapted for the American market by Milton Bradley who renamed it, “Chutes and Ladders.”
* The “Arabic” system of enumeration was actually invented in India. Indian mathematicians also came up with the concept of “Zero,” were the first to determine the value of “pi,” and invented algebra, trigonometry and calculus.
* Of all ethnic groups in the United States, Indians are the wealthiest. In fact:
- 38% of all American doctors are Indian
- 12% of all American scientists are Indian
- 36% of all NASA scientists and engineers are Indian
- 34% of all Microsoft employees are Indian
And while we’re on the subject:
- The Pentium chip was invented by an Indian (Vinod Dahm)
- Hotmail was invented by an Indian (Sabeer Bhatia)
- The General Manager of Hewlett Packard is Indian (Rajiv Gupta)
