Delhi

Imagine the population of Illinois (including Chicago) squeezed into the city of Los Angeles, California. Add an urban history of 3,000 years, the constant din of honking vehicles, and cows and elephants meandering through traffic. Make Hindi the dominant language and Hinduism the most common religion, and one begins to get a feel for Delhi.

Created as a union territory in 1956, Delhi is located in northern India and includes the national capital city, New Delhi, and the surrounding area. From 1526 to 1857 Delhi was the capital of the Mughal empire. It was during this time that Shah Jahan (creator of the Taj Mahal) built the Red Fort and planned a city around it. Much of the fort still stands in Old Delhi, an ancient city that blurs into modern New Delhi. The British built New Delhi in 1931 as the capital of British India. When independence came in 1947, New Delhi remained the capital of democratic India. Today it is the cultural, commercial and political center of the country.

People from all over the world make their home in Delhi, the fastest growing and most diverse city in India. Drawn by the hope of employment and a better life, 500,000 people move to Delhi every year. As a result, more than half the population lives in slums and many are homeless. The problems of the poor are compounded by the lack of available farmland and the extreme climate.

Eighty-five percent of Delhi's 14 million people are Hindu, with Muslims (14.5%) and Christians (0.9%) in the minority. Christianity first came to the area in the 16th century during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. He gave permission to Jesuit missionaries to preach and baptize in the area.