New figures from the United Nations’ Population Division have estimated India’s number of residents to be 1,425,775,850.

That means the nation now officially holds the record for highest population, country.

busy street in india

India has surpassed China, which had a peak of 1.426 billion inhabitants in 2022, followed by a decline.

China had held the record ever since the UN started keeping track of population sizes around the globe in the 1950s.

Surprisingly, India has overtaken China despite being almost three times smaller.

India has an area of 3.287 million sq km (1.269 m sq mi), while China covers a whopping 9.597 m sq km (4 m sq mi).

China is only slightly smaller than the United States, is the largest country in Asia and the fourth largest country in the world.

In terms of total area, India is the seventh largest country in the world.

Sachin Tendulkar with some of his many GWR certificates.

India also attracts many tourists, with approximately seven million people from around the globe stopping by in 2021. Figures were much higher before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

The country is of course home to many famous tourist attractions, such as the Taj Mahal and the Amber Palace.

And it’s also home to many Guinness World Records title holders.

Jyoti Amge, the shortest woman.

Former international cricketer Sachin Tendulkar holds a number of records, including most matches played in a One-Day International career (male) with 463, the most runs scores by a player in an ICC World Cup tournament (male) with 673, and the most player-of-the-match awards won (international career) with 62.

The world’s shortest woman living Jyoti Amge also hails from India.

She’s also the shortest actress thanks to her role in TV series American Horror Story: Freak Show.

Prabhakar Reddy P crushing the most walnuts by hand in one minute.

Jyoti stands at 62.8 cm (24.7 in) tall.

Serial record breaker Prabhakar Reddy P is also a native of India.

Among the martial arts master’s string of record titles are the most walnuts crushed by the hand in one minute (303), most martial arts throws of the same person in one minute (42) and the most concrete blocks broken on a bed of nails in one minute (63).

Shridhari Chillal before he cut his nails .

He stopped cutting the nails on his left hand in 1952, and when his record was verified in 2014, the aggregate length of his nails was 909.6 cm (358.1 in).

He eventually cut them off in 2018.

Nikhil Shukla at a record attempt in India.

So why do Indian people love record breaking so much?

Guinness World Records’ Country Representative in India, Nikhil Shukla, once told the New York Times: “India is possibly the most competitive country in the world.”