The World's Largest Democracy Up Close

Today, we ventured out on an all day tour of Delhi (New and Old). Caren called it chaos. I suppose we have visited so many Asian countries that I just accepted the tumult, dirt, crowds, traffic, and confusion.

The big thing to realize about Delhi is that it is the capital city for the world's largest democracy. Like the U.S., democracy means a lot of good things, but also has its shortcomings. Getting a consensus on things like city planning and managing population growth is very difficult when everyone has a vote and every group wants to demonstrate in the streets to voice their opinion. Three times the population of the U.S. in an area about 1/3 the U.S..

Considering its huge population of approximately 15 million people, Delhi is relatively compact. The population density is nearly 10,000 people per sq km.



We were able to see a lot in one day. The differences between New Delhi and Old Delhi are very apparent. New Delhi, planned and constructed by the British in the early 20th century has wide, tree lined boulevards and enormous colonial style government buildings. Old Delhi is a mass of humanity, narrow streets, zillions of small shops, and sidewalk businesses. It's like no other city we have ever visited.



Many of the historic sites are from the Mughal dynasties of the 13th-17th centuries that brought Islam to the subcontinent, and the British colonial times of the 18th through mid-20th centuries. India has the second largest population of Muslims in the world - an estimated 150 million people.

We will fill in the details in future postings. For now, enjoy a few of our pictures.

Oh, and neither one of us has yet come down with Delhi Belly.