FACTS ABOUT INDIA 3

- 74% of young Indians prefer an arranged marriage over a free-choice one, a 2013 survey found.

- Only about 1 in 100 marriages in India end in divorce, one of the lowest rates in the world.

- India has more people using the internet than the entire population of the U.S.

- During WW2, India produced the largest volunteer Army in world history: over 2.5 million men. At least 38 Indians received the Victoria Cross or the George Cross.

- There are 2.5 million of Zero Rupee bank notes in India. They are "paid" in protest by angry citizens to government functionaries who solicit bribes.

- The Bengal Tiger is the national animal of India.

- For more than 3,000 years, Carpenter ants have been used to close wounds in India, Asia and South America.

- The largest employer in the world is the Indian railway system in India, employing over 1.6 million people.

- The highest bridge in the world is located in the Himalyan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army, in 1982, and is about 5,600 metres above sea level.

- India has the most post offices in the world.

- Diamonds were first discovered in the riverbeds of the Golconda region of India over 4,000 years ago.

- India has a Bill of Rights for cows.

- India used to be the richest country in the world until the British invasion in the early 17th Century.

- Between 1902 and 1907, the same tiger killed 434 people in India.

- The number of births that occur in India each year is higher than the entire population of Australia.

- The largest school in the world is City Montessori School in India and has over 25,000 students in grade levels ranging from kindergarten to college.

- Karate actually originated in India, but was developed further in China.

- In India, pickled ginger, minced mutton and a cottage cheese like substance are popular pizza toppings.

- In India, a 9-year-old girl was "married" to a stray dog, which tribal custom requires in order to protect a child whose first tooth appears on the upper gum.

- The largest elections of any country were those beginning on 24 December 1984 for the Indian Lok Sabha with 542 elective seats. The government of Rajiu Gandhi was returned in polls where 379,000,000 electors were eligible to vote. There were 480,000 polling stations for 5,301 candidates manned by 2.5 million staff.

- Centuries ago in India, a person could get their nose chopped off for breaking the law.

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