India

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This article is about the Republic of India. For other uses, see India (disambiguation).

Republic of India

Bhrat Gaarjya

Horizontal tricolor flag bearing, from top to bottom, deep saffron, white, and green horizontal bands. In
the centre of the white band is a navy-blue wheel with 24 spokes.

Three lions facing left, right, and toward viewer, atop a frieze containing a galloping horse, a 24-spoke
wheel, and an elephant. Underneath is a motto: " ".

Flag State Emblem

Motto: "Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit)

"Truth Alone Triumphs"[1]

Anthem: "Jana Gana Mana" (Hindi)[2]

"Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People"[3][2]

MENU0:00

National song

"Vande Mataram" (Sanskrit)

"I Bow to Thee, Mother"[a][1][2]

Image of a globe centred on India, with India highlighted.

Area controlled by India shown in dark green;

claimed but uncontrolled regions shown in light green.

Capital New Delhi

2836.8N 7712.5E

Largest city Mumbai

185830N 724933E

Official languages
Hindi English[b][6]

Recognised regional languages

State level and

Eighth Schedule[7][show]

National language None[8][9]

Religion79.8% Hinduism

14.2% Islam

2.3% Christianity

1.7% Sikhism

0.7% Buddhism

0.4% Jainism

0.9% others[c][10]

Demonym Indian

Government Federal parliamentary

constitutional republic[1]

President

Pranab Mukherjee

Vice-President

Mohammad Hamid Ansari

Prime Minister

Narendra Modi

Chief Justice

Jagdish Singh Khehar[11]

Lok Sabha Speaker

Sumitra Mahajan

Legislature Parliament of India

Upper house

Rajya Sabha

Lower house
Lok Sabha

Independence from United Kingdom

Dominion

15 August 1947

Republic

26 January 1950

Area

Total

3,287,263[5] km2 (1,269,219 sq mi)[d] (7th)

Water (%)

9.6

Population

2017 estimate

1,326,572,000[12] (2nd)

2011 census

1,210,854,977[13][14] (2nd)

Density

392.4/km2 (1,016.3/sq mi) (31st)

GDP (PPP) 2017 estimate

Total

$9.489 trillion[15] (3rd)

Per capita

$7,153[15] (122nd)

GDP (nominal) 2017 estimate

Total

$2.454 trillion[15] (6th)

Per capita

$1,850[15] (141st)

Gini (2013) 33.9[16]

medium 79th

HDI (2015) Increase 0.624[17]

medium 131st

Currency Indian rupee () (INR)

Time zone IST (UTC+05:30)

DST is not observed

Date format DD-MM-YYYY

Drives on the left

Calling code +91

ISO 3166 code IN

Internet TLD

.in

other TLDs[show]

India, officially the Republic of India (Bhrat Gaarjya),[e] is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-
largest country by area, the second-most populous country (with over 1.2 billion people), and the most
populous democracy in the world. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on
the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;
[f] China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Myanmar (Burma) and Bangladesh to the east. In the
Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands
share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE. In
the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social
stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, and Buddhism and Jainism arose.
Early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires; the later peninsular
Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism,
Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, and Sikhism emerged, all adding to the region's diverse
culture. Much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate; the south was united under the Vijayanagara
Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal Empire. In the mid-18th century, the
subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule.
A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was
noted for nonviolent resistance and led to India's independence in 1947.
In 2015, the Indian economy was the world's seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by
purchasing power parity.[15] Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of
the fastest-growing major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it
continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, and inadequate public healthcare.
A nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and
ranks fifth in military expenditure among nations. India is a federal republic governed under a
parliamentary system and consists of 29 states and 7 union territories. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and
multi-ethnic society and is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.