ndia

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This article is about the Republic of India. For other uses, see India (disambig
uation).
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Republic of India
Bhrat Ganarjya
Horizontal tricolor flag bearing, from top to bottom, deep saffron, white, and g
reen horizontal bands. In the center 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
Emblem
Motto: "Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit)
"Truth Alone Triumphs"[1]
Anthem: Jana Gana Mana
"Thou art the rulers of the minds of all people"[2][3]
Menu
0:00
National song:
Vande Mataram
"I Bow to Thee, Mother"[a][1][3]
Menu
0:00
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
Official languages
Hindi
English
[show]
Recognised regional languages
8th Schedule[show]
National language
None
Demonym
Indian
Government
Federal parliamentary
constitutional republic[1]
President
Pranab Mukherjee
Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (BJP)
Chief Justice H. L. Dattu[6]
Speaker of the House
Sumitra Mahajan (BJP)
Legislature
Parliament of India
Upper house
Rajya Sabha
Lower house
Lok Sabha
Independence from the United Kingdom
Dominion
15 August 1947
Republic
26 January 1950
Area
Total 3,287,590[7] km2[b] (7th)
1,269,346 sq mi
Water (%)
9.6
Population
2011 census
1,210,193,422[8] (2nd)

Density
380/km2 (31st)
984.2/sq mi
GDP (PPP)
2014 estimate
Total $7.277 trillion[9] (3rd)
Per capita
$5,777[9] (133rd)
GDP (nominal) 2014 estimate
Total $2.047 trillion [9] (10th)
Per capita
$1,625[9] (143rd)
Gini (2010)
33.9[10]
medium 79th
HDI (2013)
Steady 0.586[11]
medium 135th
Currency
Indian rupee (INR) (INR)
Time zone
IST (UTC+05:30)
Summer (DST)
not observed (UTC+05:30)
Date format
dd-mm-yyyy (CE)
Drives on the left
Calling code
+91
ISO 3166 code IN
Internet TLD
.in
other TLDs[show]
India (Listeni/ndi/), officially the Republic of India (Bhrat Ganarjya),[12][c] is a
country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-mos
t populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy
in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the
south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with
Pakistan to the west;[d] China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma
and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri
Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share
a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade rou
tes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial
and cultural wealth for much of its long history.[13] Four world religionsHindui
sm, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhismoriginated here, whereas Judaism, Zoroastrianis
m, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shap
e the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the admin
istration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and admi
nistered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became
an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked
by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.
The Indian economy is the world's tenth-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest
by purchasing power parity (PPP).[14] Following market-based economic reforms i
n 1991, India became one of the fastest-growing major economies; it is considere
d a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges o
f poverty, corruption, malnutrition, inadequate public healthcare, and terrorism
. A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the third-largest standin
g army in the world and ranks ninth in military expenditure among nations. India
is a federal constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system cons
isting of 29 states and 7 union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingua
l, and a multi-ethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a v
ariety of protected habitats.
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Ancient India

2.2 Medieval India

2.3 Early modern India
2.4 Modern India
3 Geography
4 Biodiversity
5 Politics
5.1 Government
5.2 Subdivisions
6 Foreign relations and military
7 Economy
8 Demographics
9 Culture
9.1 Art and architecture
9.2 Literature
9.3 Performing arts
9.4 Motion pictures
9.5 Society
9.6 Clothing
9.7 Sport
10 See also
11 Notes
12 References
13 Bibliography
14 External links
Etymology
Main article: Names of India
The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word
Hindu. The latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the histor
ical local appellation for the Indus River.[15] The ancient Greeks referred to t
he Indians as Indoi (), which tra slates as "the pe
ple
f the  us".[16] The ge
gra
phical term Bharat (pr

u ce [b art] ( listen)), which is recognised by the Constitu
tion of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian langua
ges in its variations.[17] The eponym of Bharat is Bharata, a theological figure
that Hindu scriptures describe as a legendary emperor of ancient India. Hindust
an ([nd stan] ( listen)) was originally a Persian word that meant "Land of the Hindus";
prior to 1947, it referred to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakis
tan. It is occasionally used to solely denote India in its entirety.[18][19]
History
Main articles: History of India and History of the Republic of India
Ancient India
The earliest authenticated human remains in South Asia date to about 30,000 year
s ago.[20] Nearly contemporaneous Mesolithic rock art sites have been found in m
any parts of the Indian subcontinent, including at the Bhimbetka rock shelters i
n Madhya Pradesh.[21] Around 7000 BCE, the first known Neolithic settlements app
eared on the subcontinent in Mehrgarh and other sites in western Pakistan.[22] T
hese gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation,[23] the first urban
culture in South Asia;[24] It flourished during 26001900 BCE in Pakistan and wes
tern India.[25] Centred on cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, and
Kalibangan, and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilisation engaged
robustly in crafts production and wide-ranging trade.[24]
During the period 2000500 BCE, in terms of culture, many regions of the subcontin
ent transitioned from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age.[26] The Vedas, the oldes
t scriptures of Hinduism,[27] were composed during this period,[28] and historia
ns have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upp
er Gangetic Plain.[26] Most historians also consider this period to have encompa
ssed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent from the north-

west.[29][27][30] The caste system, which created a hierarchy of priests, warrio

rs, and free peasants, but which excluded indigenous peoples by labelling their
occupations impure, arose during this period, and small tribal units gradually c
oalesced into monarchical, state-level polities.[31][32] On the Deccan Plateau,
archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom st
age of political organisation.[26] In southern India, a progression to sedentary
life is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this
period,[33] as well as by nearby traces of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and cr
aft traditions.[33]
Damaged brown painting of a reclining man and woman.
Paintings at the Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, 6th century
In the late Vedic period, around the 6th century BCE, the small states and chief
doms of the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16
major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas.[34][35] T
he emerging urbanisation and the orthodoxies of this age also created heterodox
religious movements, two of which became independent religions. Buddhism, based
on the teachings of Gautama Buddha attracted followers from all social classes e
xcepting the middle class; chronicling the life of the Buddha was central to the
beginnings of recorded history in India.[36][37][38] Jainism came into prominen
ce during the life of its exemplar, Mahavira.[39] In an age of increasing urban
wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal,[40] and both establishe
d long-lasting monastic traditions. Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, the kin
gdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Emp
ire.[41] The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent
excepting the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been sepa
rated by large autonomous areas.[42][43] The Mauryan kings are known as much for
their empire-building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka's
renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of the Buddhist dhamma.[44][45
]
The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200 BCE and 20
0 CE, the southern peninsula was being ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas, and the
Pandyas, dynasties that traded extensively with the Roman Empire and with West a
nd South-East Asia.[46][47] In North India, Hinduism asserted patriarchal contro
l within the family, leading to increased subordination of women.[48][41] By the
4th and 5th centuries, the Gupta Empire had created in the greater Ganges Plain
a complex system of administration and taxation that became a model for later I
ndian kingdoms.[49][50] Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion r
ather than the management of ritual began to assert itself.[51] The renewal was
reflected in a flowering of sculpture and architecture, which found patrons amon
g an urban elite.[50] Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian
science, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics made significant advances.[50]
Medieval India
The granite tower of Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur was completed in 1010 CE
by Raja Raja Chola I.
The Indian early medieval age, 600 CE to 1200 CE, is defined by regional kingdom
s and cultural diversity.[52] When Harsha of Kannauj, who ruled much of the Indo
-Gangetic Plain from 606 to 647 CE, attempted to expand southwards, he was defea
ted by the Chalukya ruler of the Deccan.[53] When his successor attempted to exp
and eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal.[53] When the Chalukya
s attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farthe
r south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farth
er south.[53] No ruler of this period was able to create an empire and consisten
tly control lands much beyond his core region.[52] During this time, pastoral pe
oples whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agricultural econo
my were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling cl
asses.[54] The caste system consequently began to show regional differences.[54]

In the 6th and 7th centuries, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tam
il language.[55] They were imitated all over India and led to both the resurgenc
e of Hinduism and the development of all modern languages of the subcontinent.[5
5] Indian royalty, big and small, and the temples they patronised, drew citizens
in great numbers to the capital cities, which became economic hubs as well.[56]
Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent ano
ther urbanisation.[56] By the 8th and 9th centuries, the effects were felt in So
uth-East Asia, as South Indian culture and political systems were exported to la
nds that became part of modern-day Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, P
hilippines, Malaysia, and Java.[57] Indian merchants, scholars, and sometimes ar
mies were involved in this transmission; South-East Asians took the initiative a
s well, with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and H
indu texts into their languages.[57]
After the 10th century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift-horse ca
valry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overr
an South Asia's north-western plains, leading eventually to the establishment of
the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206.[58] The sultanate was to control much of N
orth India, and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disrupti
ve for the Indian elites, the sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject
population to its own laws and customs.[59][60] By repeatedly repulsing Mongol
raiders in the 13th century, the sultanate saved India from the devastation visi
ted on West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries of migration of fl
eeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that r
egion into the subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture i
n the north.[61][62] The sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingd
oms of South India paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire.[63] Emb
racing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the military technology of
the sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India,[64] and was
to influence South Indian society for long afterwards.[63]
Early modern India
Writing the will and testament of the Mughal king court in Persian, 15901595
In the early 16th century, northern India, being then under mainly Muslim rulers
,[65] fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of C
entral Asian warriors.[66] The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the loc
al societies it came to rule, but rather balanced and pacified them through new
administrative practices[67][68] and diverse and inclusive ruling elites,[69] le
ading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule.[70] Eschewing tribal bo
nds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar, the Mughals united their far-f
lung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to an empe
ror who had near-divine status.[69] The Mughal state's economic policies, derivi
ng most revenues from agriculture[71] and mandating that taxes be paid in the we
ll-regulated silver currency,[72] caused peasants and artisans to enter larger m
arkets.[70] The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th
century was a factor in India's economic expansion,[70] resulting in greater pat
ronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture.[73] Newly cohere
nt social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajput
s, and the Sikhs, gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, wh
ich, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military
experience.[74] Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian c
ommercial and political elites along the coasts of southern and eastern India.[7
4] As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and co
ntrol their own affairs.[75] The "single most important power" that emerged in t
he early modern period was the Maratha confederacy.[76]
By the early 18th century, with the lines between commercial and political domin
ance being increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, includi
ng the English East India Company, had established coastal outposts.[77][78] The
East India Company's control of the seas, greater resources, and more advanced

military training and technology led it to increasingly flex its military muscle
and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; both these
factors were crucial in allowing the Company to gain control over the Bengal re
gion by 1765 and sideline the other European companies.[79][77][80][81] Its furt
her access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and siz
e of its army enabled it to annex or subdue most of India by the 1820s.[82] Indi
a was then no longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instea
d supplying the British empire with raw materials, and many historians consider
this to be the onset of India's colonial period.[77] By this time, with its econ
omic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and itself effectively m
ade an arm of British administration, the Company began to more consciously ente
r non-economic arenas such as education, social reform, and culture.[83]
Modern India
The British Indian Empire, from the 1909 edition of The Imperial Gazetteer of In
dia. Areas directly governed by the British are shaded pink; the princely states
under British suzerainty are in yellow.
Historians consider India's modern age to have begun sometime between 1848 and 1
885. The appointment in 1848 of Lord Dalhousie as Governor General of the East I
ndia Company set the stage for changes essential to a modern state. These includ
ed the consolidation and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the pop
ulation, and the education of citizens. Technological changesamong them, railways
, canals, and the telegraphwere introduced not long after their introduction in E
urope.[84][85][86][87] However, disaffection with the Company also grew during t
his time, and set off the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Fed by diverse resentments a
nd perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxe
s, and summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, the rebellion rock
ed many regions of northern and central India and shook the foundations of Compa
ny rule.[88][89] Although the rebellion was suppressed by 1858, it led to the di
ssolution of the East India Company and to the direct administration of India by
the British government. Proclaiming a unitary state and a gradual but limited B
ritish-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and lan
ded gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest.[90][91] In the decades f
ollowing, public life gradually emerged all over India, leading eventually to th
e founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885.[92][93][94][95]
Two smiling men in robes sitting on the ground with bodies facing the viewer and
with heads turned toward each other. The younger wears a white Nehru cap; the e
lder is bald and wears glasses. A half-dozen other people are in the background.
Jawaharlal Nehru (left) became India's first prime minister in 1947. Mahatma Gan
dhi (right) led the independence movement.
The rush of technology and the commercialisation of agriculture in the second ha
lf of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacksmany small farmers became d
ependent on the whims of far-away markets.[96] There was an increase in the numb
er of large-scale famines,[97] and, despite the risks of infrastructure developm
ent borne by Indian taxpayers, little industrial employment was generated for In
dians.[98] There were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in
the newly canalled Punjab, led to increased food production for internal consump
tion.[99] The railway network provided critical famine relief,[100] notably redu
ced the cost of moving goods,[100] and helped nascent Indian-owned industry.[99]
After World War I, in which some one million Indians served,[101] a new period
began. It was marked by British reforms but also repressive legislation, by more
strident Indian calls for self-rule, and by the beginnings of a non-violent mov
ement of non-cooperation, of which Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would become the l
eader and enduring symbol.[102] During the 1930s, slow legislative reform was en
acted by the British; the Indian National Congress won victories in the resultin
g elections.[103] The next decade was beset with crises: Indian participation in
World War II, the Congress's final push for non-cooperation, and an upsurge of
Muslim nationalism. All were capped by the advent of independence in 1947, but t
empered by the partition of India into two states: India and Pakistan.[104]

Vital to India's self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, compl

eted in 1950, which put in place a secular and democratic republic.[105] In the
60 years since, India has had a mixed record of successes and failures.[106] It
has remained a democracy with civil liberties, an active Supreme Court, and a la
rgely independent press.[106] Economic liberalisation, which was begun in the 19
90s, has created a large urban middle class, transformed India into one of the w
orld's fastest-growing economies,[107] and increased its geopolitical clout. Ind
ian movies, music, and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global cul
ture.[106] Yet, India is also shaped by seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural
and urban;[106] by religious and caste-related violence;[108] by Maoist-inspire
d Naxalite insurgencies;[109] and by separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and in Nort
heast India.[110] It has unresolved territorial disputes with China,[111] and wi
th Pakistan.[111] The IndiaPakistan nuclear rivalry came to a head in 1998.[112]
India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among the world's new nations;
however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its di
sadvantaged population remains a goal yet to be achieved.[113]
Geography
Main article: Geography of India
See also: Geology of India
Map of India. Most of India is yellow (elevation 1001000 m). Some areas in the so
uth and mid-east are brown (above 1000 m). Major river valleys are green (below
100 m).
A topographic map of India
India comprises the bulk of the Indian subcontinent, lying atop the Indian tecto
nic plate, and part of the Indo-Australian Plate.[114] India's defining geologic
al processes began 75 million years ago when the Indian plate, then part of the
southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a north-eastward drift caused by seafloo
r spreading to its south-west, and later, south and south-east.[114] Simultaneou
sly, the vast Tethyn oceanic crust, to its northeast, began to subduct under the
Eurasian plate.[114] These dual processes, driven by convection in the Earth's
mantle, both created the Indian Ocean and caused the Indian continental crust ev
entually to under-thrust Eurasia and to uplift the Himalayas.[114] Immediately s
outh of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast trough that rapidl
y filled with river-borne sediment[115] and now constitutes the Indo-Gangetic Pl
ain.[116] Cut off from the plain by the ancient Aravalli Range lies the Thar Des
ert.[117]
The original Indian plate survives as peninsular India, the oldest and geologica
lly most stable part of India. It extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhy
a ranges in central India. These parallel chains run from the Arabian Sea coast
in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the
east.[118] To the south, the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau,
is flanked on the west and east by coastal ranges known as the Western and East
ern Ghats;[119] the plateau contains the country's oldest rock formations, some
over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north
of the equator between 6 44' and 35 30' north latitude[e] and 68 7' and 97 25' east
longitude.[120]
A shining white snow-clad range, framed against a turquoise sky. In the middle g
round, a ridge descends from the right to form a saddle in the centre of the pho
tograph, partly in shadow. In the near foreground, a loop of a road is seen.
The Kedar Range of the Greater Himalayas rises behind Kedarnath Temple (Indian s
tate of Uttarakhand), which is one of the twelve jyotirlinga shrines.
India's coastline measures 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) in length; of this distan
ce, 5,423 kilometres (3,400 mi) belong to peninsular India and 2,094 kilometres
(1,300 mi) to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep island chains.[121] Accordin
g to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coastline consists of th
e following: 43% sandy beaches; 11% rocky shores, including cliffs; and 46% mudf

lats or marshy shores.[121]

Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the
Ganges and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal.[122] Imp
ortant tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi; the latter's e
xtremely low gradient often leads to severe floods and course changes.[123] Majo
r peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding,
include the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also dra
in into the Bay of Bengal;[124] and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into
the Arabian Sea.[125] Coastal features include the marshy Rann of Kutch of weste
rn India and the alluvial Sundarbans delta of eastern India; the latter is share
d with Bangladesh.[126] India has two archipelagos: the Lakshadweep, coral atoll
s off India's south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcan
ic chain in the Andaman Sea.[127]
The Indian climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert,
both of which drive the economically and culturally pivotal summer and winter mo
nsoons.[128] The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowi
ng in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at
similar latitudes.[129][130] The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting
the moisture-laden south-west summer monsoon winds that, between June and Octob
er, provide the majority of India's rainfall.[128] Four major climatic groupings
predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montan
e.[131]
Biodiversity
Main article: Wildlife of India
Shola highlands are found in Kudremukh National Park, Chikmagalur which is part
of the Western Ghats.
India lies within the Indomalaya ecozone and contains three biodiversity hotspot
s.[132] One of 17 megadiverse countries, it hosts 8.6% of all mammalian, 13.7% o
f all avian, 7.9% of all reptilian, 6% of all amphibian, 12.2% of all piscine, a
nd 6.0% of all flowering plant species.[133][134] Endemism is high among plants,
33%, and among ecoregions such as the shola forests.[135] Habitat ranges from t
he tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and North-East Ind
ia to the coniferous forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the mois
t deciduous sal forest of eastern India; the dry deciduous teak forest of centra
l and southern India; and the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan
and western Gangetic plain.[136] Under 12% of India's landmass bears thick jung
le.[137] The medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies, is a k
ey Indian tree. The luxuriant pipal fig tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro
, shaded Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment.
Many Indian species descend from taxa originating in Gondwana, from which the In
dian pla