About India

States and union territories
Main article: States and territories of India
India is divided into twenty-eight states (which are further subdivided into districts) and seven union territories. All states and the union territories of Delhi and Pondicherry have elected governments. The remaining five union territories have centrally-appointed administrators.

States of India
States:
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Orissa
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Tripura
Uttaranchal
Uttar Pradesh
West Bengal
Union Territories:
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Chandigarh
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Daman and Diu
Lakshadweep
Pondicherry
National Capital Territory of Delhi
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Culture
Main article: Culture of India

The Taj Mahal in Agra is India's most popular tourist destination.

The Gumpa dance is a mystic dance celebrated by the Tibetan Buddhist community in Sikkim during the Buddhist New Year — Losar

Food in south India is occasionally eaten on a plantain leaf.
India has a rich and unique cultural heritage, and has managed to preserve its established traditions throughout history whilst absorbing customs, traditions and ideas from both invaders and immigrants. Many cultural practices, languages, customs and monuments are examples of this co-mingling over centuries. Famous monuments, such as the Taj Mahal and other examples of Islamic-inspired architecture have been inherited from the Mughal dynasty. These are the result of a syncretic tradition that combined elements from all parts of the country. Indian society is largely pluralist, multilingual and multicultural.
Indian music is represented in a wide variety of forms. The two main forms of classical music are Carnatic from South India, and Hindustani from North India. Popular forms of music also prevail, the most notable being Filmi music. In addition to this are the diverse traditions of folk music from different parts of the country. Many classical dance forms exist, including the Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Kathak and Manipuri. They often have a narrative form and are usually infused with devotional and spiritual elements. The earliest literary traditions in India were mostly oral, and were later transcribed. Most of these are represented by sacred works like the Vedas and the epics of the Mahabharatha and Ramayana. Sangam literature from Tamil Nadu represents some of India's oldest traditions. There have been many notable modern Indian writers, both in Indian languages and in English. India's only Nobel laureate in literature was the Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore. India produces the world's largest number of films every year. The most recognisable face is that of cinema production based in Mumbai, which produces mainly commercial Hindi films, often referred to as "Bollywood". There are also strong cinema industries based on the Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu languages.
Religious practices of various faiths are an integral part of everyday life in society. Education is highly regarded by members of every socio-economic stratum. Traditional Indian family values are highly respected, and considered sacred, although urban families have grown to prefer a nuclear family system, owing to the socio-economic constraints imposed by the traditional joint family system. Religion in India is a very public affair, with many practices imbued with pomp and vitality accompanying their underlying spiritual qualities. A melting pot of many religions, India has a rich diversity of festivals, many of which are celebrated irrespective of caste and creed. The most widely known and popular celebrations include the Hindu festivals of Diwali, Holi, and Dussehra, and the Muslim celebration of Eid.
The cuisine of India is extremely diverse, as ingredients, spices and cooking methods vary from region to region. Rice and wheat are the staple foods in the country. The country is notable for its wide variety of vegetarian and non vegetarian cuisine. Spicy food and sweets are popular in India. Traditional dress in India greatly varies across the regions in its colours and styles, and depend on various factors, including climate. Popular styles of dress include the traditional sari for women and the traditional dhoti for men.
India is the land of multiple faces with languages and traditions governed by culture.
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Languages in USA

Language

Main article: Languages in the United States

The United States has no official language, but English is the most widely spoken language, spoken by nearly all of American citizens. 97% of Americans speak English well or very well. There have been moves in the past for English to be named as the official language of the United States, but this has been a major political issue for a good part of the country's existence. Some states, such as Alabama, California, Florida, New Hampshire and Oregon have made English the official language at the state level, but there still is strong resistance at the national level.

Spanish is the second most widely spoken language of the U.S., spoken mainly by immigrants or descendants of recent immigrants from Latin America and Spain, but also by generations-old descendants of the original settlers of the traditionally Spanish-held Southwestern United States. Hispanics now make up the largest ethnic minority in the country. There are also large populations of non-Hispanic Americans who speak fluent Spanish. Spanish is widely taught as a second language, especially in areas with large Hispanic populations such as Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Florida and New York. Younger generations of non-Hispanics seem to be learning Spanish in larger numbers, thanks to the growing Hispanic population and increasing popularity of Latin American movies and music performed in the Spanish language. Over 30 million Americans, roughly 12% of the population, speak Spanish, making the U.S. the fifth largest Spanish speaking population in the world after Mexico, Colombia, Spain, and Argentina.

Chinese, mostly of the Cantonese dialect, is the third largest language spoken in the United States, almost completely spoken within Chinese-American populations, especially in California, although many young Americans, not of Chinese descent, have become interested in learning the language, though it is the Mandarin dialect that is mostly taught. Over 2 million Americans speak Chinese dialects.

Other European languages are widely spoken as well. French, the fourth largest foreign language, is spoken mainly by the small native French, Haitian or French-Canadian populations. It is widely spoken in Maine and in Louisiana, a former colony of France, where it is still used with English as the state's de facto official language. German, although not widely spoken, was the second official language of Pennsylvania until 1950. Italian, Polish and Greek are still widely spoken among populations descending from immigrants from those countries in the early 20th century, but the use of these languages is dwindling as older generations die out. Starting in the 1970's and continuing until the mid 1990's, many people from the Soviet Union and later its constituent republics such as Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Uzbekistan have immigrated to the United States, causing Russian to become widely spoken in the United States.

Tagalog and Vietnamese have over one million speakers in the United States, almost entirely within recent immigrant populations.

There are also a small population of Native Americans who still speak their native languages, but these populations are dropping and the languages are almost never widely used outside of reservations. Hawaiian, although having few native speakers, is still used at the state level in Hawaii along with English.

Daylight saving time

Daylight saving time or daylight savings time, abbreviated DST, is a term used for a system intended to "save" daylight. (It is also known as summer time in both Britain and Europe.) The official time is adjusted forward, usually one hour from its official standard time, remaining that way for the duration of the spring and summer months. This is intended to provide a better match between the hours of daylight and the active hours of work and school. DST is also a kind of Energy Conservation measure, as it allows more efficient use of natural sunlight resource in summer time. (People go to bed and wake up earlier, which reduces use of electric lights.) DST is most commonly used in temperate regions, due to the considerable variation in the amount of daylight versus darkness across the seasons in those regions.

Note that the term commonly used in the United States, daylight savings time, has been criticized by some commentators as being incorrect, for both historic (the name as provided by the act which inaugurated it in the United States is daylight saving time) and grammatical reasons. See below for more.

Largest cities-USA

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, New Orleans, Seattle, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The ten largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:


New York City
Population within city limits-8,168,388
Metropolitan Area -18.7 millions
Rank -1
Region:Northeast

Los Angeles, California
Population within city limits-3,845,541
Metropolitan Area-12.9 millions
Rank-2
Region:Pacific-West

Chicago, Illinois
Population within city limits-2,862,244
Metropolitan Area-9.4millions
Rank-3
Region:Great Lakes

Houston, Texas
Population within city limits-2,012,626
Metropolitan area-5.2
Rank-7
Region:South-Central

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Population within city limits-1,470,151
Metropolitan Area-5.8 millions
Rank-4
Region:Northeast



Phoenix, Arizona
Population within city limits-1,418,041
Metropolitan Area-3.7 millions
Rank-14
Region:Southwest


San Diego, California
Population within city limits-1,263,756
Metropolitan Area-2.9
Rank-17
Region:Pacific-West


San Antonio, Texas
Population within city limits-1,236,249
Metropolitan Area-1.8
Rank-29
Region:South-Central


Dallas, Texas
Population within city limits-1,210,393
Metropolitan Area-5.7
Rank-5
Region:South-Central

San Jose, California
Population within city limits-904,522
Metropolitan Area-1.7
Rank-30
Region:Pacific-West

US currency

Unit ($)	Design on front	Design on back	Common Reference
Coins
$0.01	Abraham Lincoln	Lincoln Memorial	Penny
$0.05	Thomas Jefferson	Westward Journey Designs	Nickel
$0.10	Franklin D. Roosevelt	torch, oakolive branch branch,	Dime
$0.25	George Washington	Statehood designs	Quarter
$0.50	John F. Kennedy	Seal of the President of the United States	Half Dollar, 50-Cent piece
$1.00	Sacagawea	Eagle in flight
$1.00	Susan B. Anthony	Apollo 11 Mission Patch
$1.00 (Large Size)	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Apollo 11 Mission Patch
Federal Reserve Notes
1	George Washington	Great Seal of the United States	Dollar bill, Single
2	Thomas Jefferson	Declaration of Independence	Deuce
5	Abraham Lincoln	Lincoln Memorial	Finsky
10	Alexander Hamilton	Treasury building	Ten-Spot
20	Andrew Jackson	White House
50	Ulysses S. Grant	U.S. Capitol
100	Benjamin Franklin	Independence Hall	Benjamin, C-note
Large U.S. denominations (withdrawn)