Anthropologists often associate regional affinities with racial differences. South Indian or "Dravidian" states usually have people with darker skin. People in the states of Eastern Kashmir, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and other Northeastern Indians states tend to look more East Asian. North India shows a stronger Aryan influence. In the last thousand years or so, North India was subjected to various invasions from neighbouring kingdoms than any other region of India. Indeed, such invasions has left a major scar on the cultural and linguistic traditions of North India. Physically, after repeated invasions by Arab, Turk, Afghan and other kingdoms, North India is now a mixture of Arab, Turk, Afghan, Indo-Aryan and Huns in their composition. Genetically, North Indians are more closer to South/East/West Indians than other neighbouring nations or Europeans. In spite of repeated invasions North India was quite resilient and re-built itself rather quickly. Repeated invasions also made it difficult for North India to concentrate on art and cultural development and that is the reason there is no contemporary North Indian dance form when compared to South or East Indian culture. Indeed, the languages of northern India are preponderantly Indo-Aryan, and it is in this region that Sanskrit and the various Prakrits are thought to have first found a home in India. Also, although skin colour in all parts of India varies by caste rather than region, it is generally speaking the case that inhabitants of the north Indian states have lighter skin (but not as light as Europeans) than those of their caste counterparts in western/eastern/southern India. These phenotypic variations are indubitably due to the ingress, across many millennia and in every era, of Central Asian invaders (and migrators)(including "Indo-Greeks", "Indo-Parthians", Sakas, Kushanas, Hunas or Huns, and Turks) into the Indo-Gangetic

North India shows a fuller range of Caste (varna, literally:"colour") variation than does South India – there are proportionately more kshatriya and vaishya castes than is generally the case in most areas of South India.

In terms of religion, North India is generally speaking a stronghold of Vaishnava sects of Hinduism; Shaktism and Shaivism. North Indians generally believe in unity of God and that Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma constitute the trimurti, or trinity. Having been ruled for nearly eight centuries by Muslim invaders from Central Asia, North India is the main centre of Islam in India.

North India also forms the heartland of the so-called "Cow Belt" of India, which stretches from Indo-Gangetic Plain towards other conservative states like Gujarat, where BJP is particularly efficient in politics and has its traditional support base.

To an outsider, who is not aware of the difference of North and South India, people from both parts appear to be alike. One can see extremely light skinned people in South and extremely dark skinned people in the North as well. Over the centuries, India has become a true melting pot, despite issues like caste, tribe, colour, religion, wealth, and language.