India ( i /ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Hindi: भारत गणराजय Bhārat

Gaṇarājya; see also official names of India), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-
largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2
billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world.[16] Mainland India is
bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of
Bengal on the east; and it is bordered by Pakistan to the west;[note] Bhutan, the People's
Republic of China and Nepal to the north; and Bangladesh and Burma to the east. In the
Indian Ocean, mainland India and the Lakshadweep Islands are in the vicinity of Sri
Lanka and the Maldives, while India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share maritime
border with Thailand and the Indonesian island of Sumatra in the Andaman Sea.[17] India
has a coastline of 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi).[18]

Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and
vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural
wealth for much of its long history.[19] Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism—originated here, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism,
Christianity and Islam arrived in the first millennium CE and shaped the region's diverse
culture. Gradually annexed by the British East India Company from the early 18th
century and colonised by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became
an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence which was marked by a
non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.

India is a federal constitutional republic with a parliamentary democracy consisting of 28

states and seven union territories. A pluralistic, multilingual and multiethnic society
where more than 300[20] languages are spoken, India is also home to a diversity of wildlife
in a variety of protected habitats. The Indian economy is the world's eleventh largest
economy by nominal GDP and the fourth largest by purchasing power parity. Since the
introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1991, India has become one of the
fastest growing major economies in the world;[21] however, the country continues to face
several poverty, illiteracy, corruption and public health related challenges. India is
classified as a newly industrialised country and is one of the four BRIC nations.[22][23] It is
the world's sixth de facto recognized nuclear weapons state and has the third-largest
standing armed force in the world, while its military expenditure ranks tenth in the world.
[24]
India is a regional power in South Asia.[25]

It is a founding member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the World
Trade Organization, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the East Asia
Summit, the G20 and the G8+5; a member of the Commonwealth of Nations; and an
observer state in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Etymology
• 2 History
 • 3 Geography
o 3.1 Climate
o 3.2 Biodiversity
• 4 Politics
o 4.1 Government
o 4.2 Judiciary
o 4.3 Administrative divisions
o 4.4 Foreign relations
o 4.5 Military
• 5 Economy
• 6 Demographics
o 6.1 Languages
o 6.2 Religion
• 7 Culture
o 7.1 Society and traditions
o 7.2 Music, dance, theatre and cinema
o 7.3 Cuisine
o 7.4 Sport
• 8 See also
• 9 Notes
• 10 References

• 11 External links

Etymology
Main article: Names of India

The name India is derived from Indus, which is derived from the Old Persian word
Hindu, from Sanskrit िसनधु Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River.[26]
The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi (Ινδοί), the people of the Indus.[27] The
Constitution of India and common usage in various Indian languages also recognise
Bharat (pronounced [ˈbʱaːrət̪] ( listen)) as an official name of equal status.[28] The
name Bharat is derived from the name of the legendary king Bharata in Hindu scriptures.
Hindustan ([ɦɪnd̪ʊˈst̪aːn] ( listen)), originally a Persian word for “Land of the
Hindus” referring to northern India, is also occasionally used as a synonym for all of
India.[29]

History
Main articles: History of India and History of the Republic of India

Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh
are the earliest known traces of human life in India. The first known permanent
settlements appeared about 8,500 years ago and gradually developed into the Indus
Valley Civilisation,[30] dating back to 3400 BCE in western India. It was followed by the
Vedic period, which laid the foundations of Hinduism and other cultural aspects of early
Indian society, and ended in the 500s BCE. From around 550 BCE, many independent
kingdoms and republics known as the Mahajanapadas were established across the
country.[31]

Paintings at the Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, 6th century

In the 3rd century BCE, most of South Asia was united into the Maurya Empire by
Chandragupta Maurya and flourished under Ashoka the Great.[32] From the 3rd century
CE, the Gupta dynasty oversaw the period referred to as ancient "India's Golden Age".[33]
[34]
Empires in southern India included those of the Chalukyas, the Cholas and the
Vijayanagara Empire. Science, technology, engineering, art, logic, language, literature,
mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy flourished under the patronage of these
kings.

Following Islamic invasions from Central Asia between the 10th and 12th centuries,
much of northern India came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughal
Empire. Under the rule of Akbar the Great, India enjoyed much cultural and economic
progress as well as religious harmony.[35][36] Mughal emperors gradually expanded their
empires to cover large parts of the subcontinent. However, in northeastern India, the
dominant power was the Ahom kingdom of Assam, among the few kingdoms to have
resisted Mughal subjugation. The first major threat to Mughal imperial power came from
a Hindu Rajput king Maha Rana Pratap of Mewar in the 16th century. By early 1700s, the
Sikh Empire and the Marathas had emerged as formidable foes of the Mughals.[37]
Following the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire entered a period of gradual
decline and by mid-18th century, a large portion of the Mughal territory came under the
control of the Hindu Maratha Empire.[38]

From the 16th century, European powers such as Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark,
France, and Great Britain established trading posts and later took advantage of internal
conflicts to establish colonies in the country. By 1856, most of India was under the
control of the British East India Company.[39] A year later, a nationwide insurrection of
rebelling military units and kingdoms, known as India's First War of Independence or the
Sepoy Mutiny, seriously challenged the Company's control but eventually failed. As a
result of the instability, India was brought under the direct rule of the British Crown.
Mahatma Gandhi (right) with Jawaharlal Nehru, 1937. Nehru would go on to become
India's first prime minister in 1947.

In the 20th century, a nationwide struggle for independence was launched by the Indian
National Congress (INC) and other political organisations.[40] Several Indian radical
revolutionaries, such as Subhash Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh, led armed rebellions
against the British Raj.[41] However, the defining aspect of the Indian independence
movement was the nonviolent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi and the INC.[42] Under
the leadership of Gandhi, millions of Indians participated in the Quit India civil
disobedience movement against the British Raj.[43]

In September 1939, India declared war on Germany and at the height of the World War
II, more than 2.5 million Indian soldiers were fighting against the Axis powers.[44] The
Indian Army was one of the largest Allied forces contingents which took part in the
North and East African, Western Desert and the Italian Campaign and played a crucial
role in halting the progress of Imperial Japan in the South-East Asian theatre. [45][46]
However, certain Indian nationalists collaborated with the Axis powers to overthrow the
British Raj. The Indian National Army (INA), led by Bose, forged an alliance with the
Axis powers and fought an unsuccessful military campaign against British India.[47]

In 1943, a perceived shortage of food leading to large-scale hoarding and soaring food
prices coupled with poor food distribution mechanism and inadequate response of the
British officials resulted in a catastrophic famine in the Bengal region which killed about
1.5 to 3 million people.[48][49] After World War II, a number of mutinies broke out in the
Air Force and Navy and the INA trials caused considerable public unrest.[50][51]

On 15 August 1947, the British Indian Empire was dissolved following which the
Muslim-majority areas were partitioned to form a separate state of Pakistan.[52] The
partition led to a population transfer of more than 10 million people between India and
Pakistan and the death of about one million people.[53] On 26 January 1950, India became
a republic and a new constitution came into effect under which India was established as a
secular and a democratic state.[54]

Since independence, India has faced challenges from religious violence, casteism,
naxalism, terrorism and regional separatist insurgencies, especially in Jammu and
Kashmir and northeastern India. Since the 1990s, terrorist attacks have affected many
Indian cities. India has unresolved territorial disputes with the People's Republic of
China, which, in 1962, escalated into the Sino-Indian War, and with Pakistan, which
resulted in wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999.

India is a state armed with nuclear weapons; having conducted its first nuclear test in
1974,[55] followed by another five tests in 1998.[55] From the 1950s to the 1980s, India
followed socialist-inspired policies. The economy was shackled by extensive regulation,
protectionism and public ownership, leading to pervasive corruption and slow economic
growth.[56] Beginning 1991, significant economic reforms[57] have transformed India into
one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, increasing its global clout.[21]