About India
After centuries, India continues to mesmerize travellers with its wealth of landforms, peoples, and cultures. It is a land of vibrant colour, sounds, and scents to which the visitor can never be indifferent. It embraces an enormous variety of topography, from the snowy peaks of the Himalaya, to the world's highest rainfalls in Assam, the burning plains of the Ganges River, and the southern Dravidian hills and seacoasts. It is a country touched by every religion and every culture, each of whom have left their marks in a host of brilliant architecture as varied as the people who created them.
Indian cities reflect the blend of Mogul Muslim and Hindu civilizations and the grand vision of the emperors who built them, while its vast rural areas are as eternal as time itself. So much does it hold that India never bores the traveller, presenting a new face, a new sensation at each turning.
Fast Facts
Size
3,287,590 sq. km.
Population
935.7 million
Capital City
New Delhi
Weather
India's climate is divided into the following seasons:
- Hot
March-May in the north; temperatures to 40° C. In the south, hot and humid, temperatures 25- 30° C. - Monsoon
June-October; lower temperatures but higher humidity. - Cool
February, temperatures 15-20° C. In the Himalaya, freezing temperatures in the winter.
Clothing
Light cottons and other breathable fabrics. Umbrellas rather than cloying raingear for the monsoon. Sweaters for winter nights. Himalaya: Warm clothing. Quilted clothes in winter.
Visas and health regulations
Transit: 15 days. Tourist: 90 days and issued in multiples of three. No vaccinations required but African and some South American visitors need yellow fever certificates. Immunization against typhoid, hepatitis A and B, rabies, polio, and tetanus is recommended.
Getting from the Airport to Town
Calcutta and New Delhi: Taxis or EATS buses to major hotels.
Language
A wealth of Aryan and Dravidian languages. English is the universal medium.
Time Difference
+5:30 hours GMT
Voltage
220 volts, 50 Hz (cycles)
Currency
The "rupee", divided into 100 paisa.
Credit Cards
Accepted at large hotels, restaurants and shops.
Business Hours
Government offices: 9 a.m.-6 p.m., M-F. Banks: 10 a.m.-2 p.m., M-F; 10 a.m.-noon, Sat. Shops: 10 a.m.-7 p.m
