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 ‘Unity in Diversity’ is a catchy phrase used in India to indicate how Indians, despite having different cultures and ways of living, are able to retain their Indian identity. In India, each state has its own independent and unique language, with the barest of resemblances to the others. In fact, India’s states were created based on the regions that have the same language and culture. India is a federal republic comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories.
The states and territories are themselves further subdivided. Each state has its own unique features. The way children are brought up and groomed, the marriage receptions, the daily habits and even career paths – there is a huge difference in the outlook and the way people from different states in India live and work.
 India is probably the only country with the largest and most diverse mixture of races. All the five major racial types - Australoid, Mongoloid, Europoid, Caucasian and Negroid - find representation among the people of India. Its ethnic composition is complex, but two major strains predominate: the Aryan, in the north, and the Dravidian, in the south. North Indians and South Indians seem to be particularly different. Perhaps the difference comes from the origins of each group. It is believed that a few thousand years ago a group of people called the Aryans took over an uncultured and untamed North India and brought with them their culture and way of life and established it there. Meanwhile, the original dwellers in the South, the Dravidians, had established their long-standing culture and way of life. Even though at some points in India’s long history strong Aryan dynasties were able to unite India and bring it together, most dynasties of Southern kingdoms were typically free from influence of the Northern kingdoms and they lived their own way of life.
 There are schools of thought that believe that the Aryans were European Caucasians who came and settled in India. There are indications of that – Northern Indians are typically lighter in color, taller, broader and well built. South Indians, on the other hand, are usually darker and smaller. There are cultural differences also – Northern Indians live lives very similar to the way Caucasian people live, with independence and willingness to accept new fads and culture, whereas the South has always been the bastion of convention, tightly integrated families and dependent on tradition.
Indians, on the other hand, are a heterogeneous mix. Depending on the place they grew up, their outlook to life, the way they live and the languages they speak can be remarkably different from each other. Yet, there is no other country in the world where the people can be so different from each other and yet so united and proud.
 Cultural diversity is what makes up India, which is evident with the many different states. In spite of the cultural and ethnic diversity, the physical characteristics of the Indian people are essentially the same. India is the world's second most populous nation (after China). India is a land of great cultural diversity, as is evidenced by the enormous number of different languages spoken throughout the country. Although Hindi (spoken in the north) and English (the language of politics and commerce) are used officially, more than 1,500 languages and dialects are spoken.
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