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{{Infobox Country or territory|native_name = |conventional_long_name = Republic of India|common_name = India|image_flag = Flag of India.svg|image_coat = Emblem of India.svg|symbol_type = Emblem|national_motto = "Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit language)
(Devanagari)
"Truth Alone Triumphs"]Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people{{cite web|title =National Anthem- Know India portal|url =http://india.gov.in/knowindia/national_anthem.php|accessdate = 2007-08-31|publisher = National Informatics Centre (NIC) ]|other_symbol = Vande MataramI bow to thee, Mother{{cite web] (NIC) |date = 2007-->|languages_type = Official language:
Official languages of India:|languages = {{Collapsible list|title=Official languages of India#Hindi and English|Hindi in the Devanagari script is the official language of the union{{cite web] (NIC) |date = 2007--> and English language the 'subsidiary official language'.-->|capital = New Delhi|area_rank = 7th|area_magnitude = 1 E12|percent_water = 9.56|population_estimate = 1.12 1000000000 (number)|population_estimate_year = 2007|population_estimate_rank = 2nd|population_census = 1,027,015,248|population_census_year = 2001|population_density_km2 = 329|population_density_sq_mi = 852 ]|GDP_PPP_rank = 4th|GDP_PPP_per_capita = 3,737|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 118th|GDP_nominal = 1.0 1000000000000 (number)|GDP_nominal_rank = 12th|GDP_nominal_year = 2007|GDP_nominal_per_capita = 820|GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 132th|HDI_year = 2006|HDI = 0.611|HDI_rank = 126th|HDI_category = medium|Gini = 32.5|Gini_year = 1999-2000|Gini_category = medium|sovereignty_type = Indian independence movement|sovereignty_note = from British colonial rule [1947|established_date2 = [26 January 1950 (₨)|currency_code = INR|time_zone = [Indian Standard Time|utc_offset = +5:30|time_zone_DST = not observed|utc_offset_DST = +5:30|cctld = .in, written in the [Devanagari script. See also Official names of India |‡ This is the figure as per the United Nations though the Indian government lists the total area as 3,287,260 square kilometers.{{cite web]: भारत ; see also Official names of India), officially the Republic of India (Hindi: भारत गणराज्य ), is a sovereign country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east, India has a coastline of over 7500 kilometres. It borders Pakistan to the west;Footnote: The Government of India also considers Afghanistan to be a bordering country. This is because it considers the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir to be a part of India including the portion bordering Afghanistan. A ceasefire sponsored by the United Nations in 1948 froze the positions of Indian and Pakistani held territory. As a consequence, the region bordering Afghanistan is in Pakistani-administered territory. People's Republic of China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia.

Home to the Indus Valley civilization and a region of historic trade routes and vast History of India, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its Economic history of India and Culture of India wealth for much of its long history.Oldenburg, Phillip. 2007. "India: History," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. Four major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated here, while Islam in India, Christianity in India, Indian Jews and Parsi arrived in the first millennium Common Era and shaped the region's variegated culture. Gradually annexed by the British East India Company from the early eighteenth century and colonised by the British raj from the mid-nineteenth century, India became a modern nation-state in 1947 after a Indian independence movement that was marked by widespread use of nonviolent resistance as a means of social protest.

Although India is the world's List of countries by GDP (PPP) largest economy in Purchasing power parity and the List of countries by GDP (nominal) largest economy at market exchange rates, it has List of countries by percentage of population living in poverty of Poverty in India and illiteracy, Malnutrition#Statistics, and Environmental issues in India. A religious pluralism, List of national languages of India, and Multiethnic society society, India is also home to a diversity of Fauna of India in a variety of Protected areas of India.

Etymology The name India (International Phonetic Alphabet: ) is derived from Indus River, which is derived from the Old Persian word Hindu, from Sanskrit Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River."India", Oxford English Dictionary, second edition, 2100a.d. Oxford University Press The ancient Greeks referred to the ancient Indians as Indoi, the people of the Indus. The Constitution of India and common usage in various Indian languages also recognise Bharat (, ) as an official name of equal status.{{cite web] (), which is the Persian language word for “-stan of the Hindus” and historically referred to northern India, is also occasionally used as a synonym for all of India.{{cite web], Inc.|date = 2007-->

History Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human life in India. The first known permanent settlements appeared over 9,000 years ago and gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilization,{{cite web ], which laid the foundations of Hinduism and other cultural aspects of early Indian society. From around 550 BCE, many independent kingdoms and republics known as the Mahajanapadas were established across the country. in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. 2nd century BCE Ajanta Caves, India: Brief Description, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Retrieved 27 October 2006.

The empire built by the Maurya dynasty under Emperor Ashoka the Great united most of South Asia in the third century BCE. From 180 BCE, a series of invasions from Central Asia followed, including those led by the Indo-Greeks, Indo-Scythians, Indo-Parthians and Kushan Empire in the north-western Indian Subcontinent. From the third century CE, the Gupta Empire oversaw the period referred to as ancient "Golden Age of India."Heitzman, James. (2007). " Gupta Dynasty," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007 While the north had larger, fewer kingdoms, south India had several dynasties such as the Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas, Pallavas and Cholas, which overlapped in time and territory. Science and technology in ancient India, Indian art, Indian literature, Science and technology in ancient India#Astronomy, and Indian philosophy flourished under the patronage of these kings.

Following invasions from Central Asia between the tenth and twelfth centuries, much of north India came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate, and later the Mughal dynasty. Mughal emperors gradually expanded their kingdoms to cover large parts of the subcontinent. Nevertheless, several indigenous kingdoms, such as the Vijayanagara Empire, flourished, especially in the south. In the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the Mughal supremacy declined and the Maratha Empire became the dominant power. From the sixteenth century, several European countries, including Portugal, Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom, started arriving as traders and later took advantage of the fractious nature of relations between the kingdoms to establish colony in the country. By 1856, most of India was under the control of the British East India Company. A year later, a nationwide insurrection of rebelling military units and kingdoms, variously referred to as the Indian rebellion of 1857 or Sepoy Mutiny, seriously challenged British rule but eventually failed. As a consequence, India came under the direct control of the British Crown as a colony of the British Empire. (right) with Jawaharlal Nehru, 1937. Nehru would go on to become India's first prime minister in 1947.During the first half of the twentieth century, a nationwide Indian independence movement was launched by the Indian National Congress and other political organisations. Led by Mahatma Gandhi, and displaying commitment to ahimsa, or non-violence, millions of protesters engaged in mass campaigns of civil disobedience.{{cite book], 1947, India gained independence from British rule, but was Partition of India, in accordance to wishes of the Muslim League, along the lines of religion to create the Indian Muslim nationalism nation-state of Pakistan.{{cite book], 1950, India became a republic and a new Constitution of India came into effect.

Since independence, India has experienced sectarian violence and insurgency in various parts of the country, but has maintained its unity and democracy. It has unresolved territorial disputes with China, which in 1962 escalated into the brief Sino-Indian War; and with Pakistan, which resulted in wars in Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and Kargil War. India is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations (as part of British India). In 1974, India conducted an underground Smiling Buddha.{{cite web|title = India Profile|url = http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/India/index.html|accessdate = 2007-06-20|date = 2003|publisher = NTI--> This was followed by Operation Shakti in 1998, making India a List of countries with nuclear weapons#Other known nuclear powers. Beginning in 1991, significant economic reforms{{cite paper| author = Montek S. Ahluwalia | title = Economic Reforms in India since 1991: Has Gradualism Worked? | version = | publisher = Journal of Economic Perspectives | date = 2002 | url = http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/speech/spemsa/msa008.doc | format = MS Word | accessdate = 2007-06-13 --> have transformed India into List of countries by GDP (real) growth rate in the world, adding to its global and regional clout.

Government India is the largest democracy in the world.{{cite web] 2007--> The Constitution defines India as a [sovereignty, socialism, secularism, liberal democracy republic.{{cite web] (NIC) |date = 2007--> India has a federal form of government and a bicameralism parliament operating under a Westminster System parliamentary system. It has three branches of governance: the Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary.The President of India is the official head of state elected indirectly by an electoral college for a five-year term. The Prime Minister of India is, however, the de facto head of government and exercises most executive powers. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, with the requirement that they enjoy the support of the party or coalition securing the majority of seats in the lower house of Parliament.

The legislature of India is the bicameral Indian Parliament, which consists of the upper house called the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the lower house called the Lok Sabha (House of People). The Rajya Sabha, a permanent body, has up to 250 members serving staggered six year terms.{{cite web] legislatures in proportion to the state's population. The Lok Sabha's 545 members are directly elected by popular vote to represent individual constituency for five year terms.

The executive branch consists of the President, Vice-President, and the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet being its executive committee) headed by the Prime Minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of either house of parliament. In the Indian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature, with the Prime Minister and his Council being directly responsible to the lower house of the parliament.

India's independent judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of India, headed by the Chief Justice of India. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over disputes between states and the Centre, appellate jurisdiction over the twenty-one High Courts of India, and the power to declare union and state laws null and void if in conflict with the basic structure of the Constitution of India.

Politics , in New Delhi, houses key government officesFor most of its democratic history, the federal Government of India has been led by the Indian National Congress (INC). State politics have been dominated by several national parties including the INC, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communist Party of India (CPI), and various regional parties. From 1950 to 1990, the INC enjoyed a parliamentary majority barring two brief periods. The INC was out of power between 1977 and 1980, when the Janata Party won the election owing to public discontent with the Indian Emergency (1975–1977) declared by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In 1989, a Janata Dal led National Front (India) coalition in alliance with the Left Front coalition won the elections but managed to stay in power for only two years.{{cite book | last = Bhambhri | first = Chandra Prakash | title = Politics in India 1991-92 | publisher = Shipra Publications | year = 1992 | isbn = 978-8185402178 | pages = 118, 143 -->

The years 1996–1998 were a period of turmoil in the federal government with several short-lived alliances holding sway. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996, followed by the United Front (India) coalition. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance (India) (NDA) with several regional parties and became the first non-Congress government to complete a full five-year term.{{cite web| url = http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/government/PSPE/pdf/PSPE_WP5_07.pdf | title = The effective space of party competition | author = Patrick Dunleavy, Rekha Diwakar, Christopher Dunleavy | publisher = [London School of Economics | accessdate = 2007-10-01 --> In the Indian general elections, 2004, the INC won the largest number of Lok Sabha seats and formed a government with a coalition called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), supported by various left-leaning parties and members opposed to the BJP.{{cite book | last = Hermann | first = Kulke | coauthors = Dietmar Rothermund | title = A History of India | publisher = Routledge | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-0415329194 | pages = 384 -->

Foreign relations and the military during a Republic Day Parade.Since independence in 1947, India has maintained cordial relationships with most nations. It took a leading role in the 1950s by advocating the independence of List of former European colonies in Africa and Asia. India is one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement. After the Sino-Indian War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, India's relationship with the Soviet Union warmed at the expense of ties with the United States and continued to remain so until the end of the Cold War. India has fought and won Indo-Pakistani Wars, primarily over Kashmir. India also fought an additional war with Pakistan for the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has consistently refused to sign the CTBT and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, preferring instead to maintain sovereignty over its nuclear program. Recent overtures by the Indian government have strengthened relations with the United States, China, and Pakistan. In the economic sphere, India has close relationships with other developing nations in South America, Asia, and Africa. In recent years, India has played an influential role in the ASEAN, SAARC, and the WTO. India has been a long time supporter of the United Nations, with over 55,000 Indian Armed Forces and police personnel having served in thirty-five UN peace keeping operations deployed across four continents.

India maintains the List of countries by size of armed forces, which consists of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force. Auxiliary forces such as the Indian Paramilitary Forces, the Indian Coast Guard, and the Strategic Forces Command also come under the military's purview. The President of India is the supreme commander of the Indian armed forces. India also became a list of states with nuclear weapons in 1974 after conducting an initial Smiling Buddha. Pokhran-II in 1998 led to international military sanctions against India, which were gradually withdrawn after September 2001. India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy and has a clean record of non-proliferation.

Subdivisions India is a union of twenty-eight State (country subdivision) and seven federally governed union territories. All states, the union territory of Puducherry, and the National Capital Territory of Delhi have elected governments. The other five union territories have centrally appointed administrators.

All states and union territories are subdivided into Districts of India. In larger states, districts may be grouped together to form a division.

Geography India, the major portion of the Indian subcontinent, sits atop both the Indian Plate and the northwestern Indo-Australian Plate.Its defining geological processes commenced seventy five million years ago, when the Indian subcontinent, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a northeastwards Plate tectonics, lasting fifty million years, across the then unformed Indian Ocean. The subcontinent's subsequent collision with the Eurasian Plate and subduction under it, gave rise to the Himalayas, the planet's highest mountains, which now abut India in the North India and the North-East India. Plate movement also created a vast trough in the former seabed immediately south of the Himalayas, which was subsequently filled with river-borne sediment, and now forms the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The original Indian plate survives as Indian Peninsula, the oldest and geologically most stable part of India, and extending as far north as the Vindhya Range in central India. Other important topographic features in India include, the western Thar Desert, which is separated from both the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the moisture of the annual monsoons by the Aravalli Hills. The peninsular Deccan, flanked on the left and right by the coastal ranges, the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats respectively, has the oldest rock formations in India, some over one billion years old. So constituted, India lies to the north of the equator between 6°44' and 35°30' north latitudeIndia's northernmost point is the region of the disputed Siachen Glacier in Jammu and Kashmir; however, the Government of India regards the entire region of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (including the Northern Areas currently administered by Pakistan) to be its territory, and therefore assigns the longitude 37° 6' to its northernmost point. and 68°7' and 97°25' east longitude.

Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges River and the Brahmaputra River, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal. Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and "Bihar's Sorrow", the Kosi River, whose extremely low gradient causes disastrous floods every year. Major peninsular rivers–whose steeper gradients seldom cause floods–include the Godavari River, the Mahanadi River, the Kaveri River, and the Krishna River, which also drain into the Bay of Bengal, and the Narmada River and the Tapti River, which drain into the Arabian Sea. Among notable coastal features of India are the marshy Rann of Kutch in western India, and the south-western part of the alluvial Sundarbans delta, which India shares with Bangladesh. India has two archipelagos: the Lakshadweep, coral atolls off India's south-western coast, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea.

India's climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the dynamics of the monsoons. The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes.. Concurrently, the Thar Desert plays a role in attracting moisture-laden southwest summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall. Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: Climate of India#Tropical wet, Climate of India#Tropical dry, Climate of India#Subtropical humid, and Climate of India#Montane..

Flora and fauna

India, lying within the Indomalaya ecozone, hosts significant biodiversity; it is home to 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of all birds, 6.2% of all reptile, 4.4% of all amphibian, 11.7% of all fish, and 6.0% of flowering plant species.{{cite web], such as the shola South Western Ghats montane rain forests, exhibit extremely high rates of endemic (ecology); for example, 33% of Indian plant species are endemic.Botanical Survey of India. 1983. Flora and Vegetation of India — An Outline. Botanical Survey of India, Howrah. p. 24.Valmik Thapar, Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent, 1997. ISBN 978-0520214705 India's forest cover ranges from the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and North-East India to the temperate coniferous forests of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the sal-dominated tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests forest of eastern India; the teak-dominated tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests forest of central and southern India; and the Acacia nilotica indica-dominated deserts and xeric shrublands of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain.Tritsch, M.E. 2001. Wildlife of India Harper Collins, London. 192 pages. ISBN 0-00-711062-6 Important Indian trees include the medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbalism remedies. The pipal Ficus tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, shaded Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment.

Many Indian species are descendants of taxa originating in Gondwana, to which India originally belonged. Indian Plate subsequent plate tectonics towards, and collision with, the Laurasian landmass set off a mass exchange of species. However, Deccan Traps and climatic changes 20 million years ago caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms.K. Praveen Karanth. (2006). Out-of-India Gondwanan origin of some tropical Asian biota Soon thereafter, mammals entered India from Asia through two Zoogeography passes on either side of the emerging Himalaya. As a result, among Indian species, only 12.6% of mammals and 4.5% of birds are endemic, contrasting with 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians. Notable endemics are the Nilgiri Langur and the brown and carmine Bufo beddomii of the Western Ghats. India contains 172, or 2.9%, of IUCN-designated threatened species.Groombridge, B. (ed). 1993. The 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. lvi + 286 pp. These include the Asiatic lion, the Bengal tiger, and the Indian White-rumped Vulture, which suffered a near-extinction from ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle.

In recent decades, human encroachment has posed a threat to India's wildlife; in response, the system of National parks of India and protected areas of India, first established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972{{cite web|title = THE WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT, 1972|url = http://www.helplinelaw.com/docs/wildlife/index.php|publisher = Helplinelaw.com|accessdate = 2007-06-16|date = 2000--> and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial habitat; further federal protections were promulgated in the 1980s. Along with Wildlife sanctuaries of India, India hosts Biosphere reserves of India,{{cite web|title = Biosphere Reserves of India|url = http://www.cpreec.org/pubbook-biosphere.htm|accessdate = 2007-06-17--> four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; List of Ramsar Sites in India are registered under the Ramsar Convention.{{cite web], 2007|publisher = The Secretariat of the Convention of on Wetlands|pages = p. 18|format = PDF-->

Economy is Asia's oldest and India's Market capitalization stock exchangeFor most of its post-independence history, India adhered to a quasi-socialism approach with strict government control over private sector participation, foreign trade, and foreign direct investment. However, since 1991, India has gradually opened up its markets through liberalization and reduced government controls on foreign trade and investment. Foreign exchange reserves have risen from US$5.8 billion in March 1991 to US$247 billion in September 2007,{{cite web|url = http://rbi.org.in/scripts/WSSView.aspx?Id=11220|title = Weekly Statistical Supplement|accessdate=2007-06-11|date = June 1, 2007 --> while federal and state budget deficits have decreased.{{cite web |url = http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=269424&leftnm=2&subLeft=0&chkFlg= |title = "Revenue surge boosts fiscal health" |publisher = [Business Standard of publicly-owned companies and the opening of certain sectors to private and foreign participation has continued amid political debate.With a [gross domestic product growth rate of 9.4% in 2006-07, the Indian economy is among the fastest growing in the world.{{cite web|url = http://mospi.nic.in/pressnote_31may07.htm|title = "Quarterly estimates of gross domestic product, 2006-07"|publisher = Government of India [exchange rate is US$1.103 trillion, which makes it the List of countries by GDP (nominal) economy in the world.{{cite web|url = http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Mr_Rupee_pulls_India_into_1_trillion_GDP_gang/articleshow/1957520.cms|title = "India twelfth wealthiest nation in 2005: World Bank"|publisher = The Economic Times (PPP), India has the world's [List of countries by GDP (PPP) GDP at US$4.156 trillion. India's per capita income (nominal) is $820, ranked List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita in the world, while its per capita (PPP) of US$3,700 is ranked List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita.

The Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades; however, its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas. Although List of countries by income equality in India is relatively small (Gini coefficient: 32.5 in year 1999- 2000) it has been increasing of late. Despite significant economic progress, a quarter of the nation's population earns less than the government-specified poverty threshold of $0.40/day. In addition, India has a higher rate of malnutrition among children under the age of three (46% in year 2007) than any other country in the world.{{cite web]|last = Page|first = Jeremy|date = February 22, 2007 of 509.3 million, 60% of which is employed in [agriculture in India and related industries; 28% in services and related industries; and 12% in industry. Major agricultural crops include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes. The agricultural sector accounts for 28% of GDP; the service and industrial sectors make up 54% and 18% respectively. Major industries include automobiles, cement, chemicals, consumer electronics, food processing, machinery, mining, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, steel, transportation equipment, and textiles.

In 2006, estimated exports stood at US$112 billion and imports were around US$187.9 billion. Textiles, jewellery, engineering goods and software are major export commodities. Crude oil, machineries, fertilizers, and chemicals are major imports. India's most important trading partners are the United States, the European Union, People's Republic of China, and the United Arab Emirates.{{cite web]|url = https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html|accessdate=2007-03-10--> More recently, India has capitalised on its large pool of educated, English-speaking people, and trained professionals to become an important Business process outsourcing in India destination for multinational corporations and a popular destination for medical tourism. India has also become a major exporter of software as well as financial, research, and technological services. Its natural resources include arable land, bauxite, chromite, coal, diamonds, iron ore, limestone, manganese, mica, natural gas, petroleum, and titanium ore.

Demographics

With an estimated population of 1.12 billion, India is the world's second most populous country and is expected to be the most populous by 2040.{{cite book|title = Concise Encyclopedia|publisher = Dorling Kindersley Limited|year = 1997|pages = p. 332|isbn = 0-7513-5911-4--> Almost 70% of Indians reside in rural areas, although in recent decades migration to larger cities has led to a dramatic increase in the country's urban population. India's Status of Indian cities List of most populous metropolitan areas in India are Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Delhi, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), Chennai (formerly Madras), Bangalore, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh and Ahmedabad.{{cite web]: Indo-Aryan languages (spoken by about 74% of the population) and Dravidian languages (spoken by about 24%). Other languages spoken in India come from the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman linguistic families. Hindi, with the largest number of speakers, is the official language of India. Mallikarjun, B. (Nov., 2004), Fifty Years of Language Planning for Modern Hindi–The Official Language of India, Language in India, Volume 4, Number 11. ISSN 1930-2940. English, which is extensively used in business and administration, has the status of a 'subsidiary official language'. The constitution also recognises in particular Official languages of India that are either abundantly spoken or have classical status. The number of dialects in India is as high as 1,652.

Over 800 million Indians, or about 80.5% of the country's population, are Hinduism. The next-largest religious group are Islam, who make up 13.4% of the population. Other religious groups include Christianity (2.3%), Sikhism (1.9%), Buddhism (0.8%), Jainism (0.4%), Judaism, Zoroastrians, Bahá'í Faith and others. Adivasi constitute 8.1% of the population.

At the time of India's independence in 1947, its literacy rate was 12.2%. Since then, it has increased to 64.8% (53.7% for females and 75.3% for males). The state of Kerala has the highest literacy rate (91%); Bihar has the lowest (47%). The national sex ratio is 944 females per 1,000 males. India's median age is 24.9, and the population growth rate of 1.38% per annum; there are 22.01 births per 1,000 people per year.

Culture , Agra. Shah Jahan's 1648 memorial to wife Mumtaz Mahal, would, in 1983, be cited as "the jewel of Islamic art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the World Heritage Site."India's culture is marked by a high degree of syncretism and cultural pluralism. It has managed to preserve established traditions while absorbing new customs, traditions, and ideas from invaders and immigrants. Multicultural concerns have long informed India’s history and traditions, constitution and political arrangements.

Notable monuments, such as the Taj Mahal and other examples of Mughal architecture and South Indian architecture are the result of traditions that combined elements from several parts of the country and abroad. The Indian vernacular architecture displays notable regional variation.

Music of India covers a wide range of traditions and regional styles. Indian classical music is mainly split between the North Indian Hindustani classical music and South Indian Carnatic music traditions. Highly regionalised forms of popular music include filmi music and Indian folk music like bhangra. Many Indian classical dance exist, including bharatanatyam, kathakali, kathak, kuchipudi, Manipuri dance, odissi and yakshagana. They often have a narrative form and are usually infused with devotional and Hindu mythology elements.

The earliest works of Indian literature were transmitted orally and only later written down. These included works of Sanskrit literature, such as the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, and the drama The Recognition of Śakuntalā, and those of the Sangam literature in Tamil language. Among Indian writers of the modern era active in Indian languages or Indian Writing in English, Rabindranath Tagore is best known. Gitanjali, his anthology of devotional songs, earned him the Nobel Prize in 1913. (1848-1906) of Kilimanoor palace (in present-day Kerala) of a scene from The Recognition of Śakuntalā by Kalidasa.The Cinema of India, which debuted in 1913 with director Dadasaheb Phalke's Raja Harishchandra, is today the world's largest; the Mumbai-based Bollywood commercial Hindi language film is its most recognisable face. Established traditions also exist in the regional-language cinema, including Bengali cinema, Cinema of Karnataka, Malayalam cinema, Marathi cinema, Tamil cinema, and Tollywood. A product of the regional tradition, Pather Panchali (1955), auteur Satyajit Ray's debut film of childhood and death in rural Bengal Province, is a landmark of world cinema.

Cuisine of India is characterized by a wide variety of regional styles and sophisticated use of herbs and spices. The staple foods in the region are rice (especially in the south and the east) and wheat (predominantly in the north).Delphine, Roger, "The History and Culture of Food in Asia", in

Traditional Indian dress greatly varies across the regions in its colours and styles and depends on various factors, including climate. Popular styles of dress include the sari or shalwar kameez for women and the lungi, kurta, or dhoti for men.

India's national sport is field hockey, even though cricket is the most popular sport. In some states, particularly those in the North-East India and the states of West Bengal, Goa, and Kerala, football (soccer) is also a popular sport. In recent times, tennis has also gained popularity.

India
High Commission of India in London, including contact information for the Consulates General of India in Birmingham and Edinburgh.

DFID | Country Profiles | Asia | India
Details of the work DFID is doing in India ... DFID India British High Commission, B-28 Tara Crescent, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi 110016, India

India :: Oxfam GB
In India, Oxfam works on livelihoods, gender equality, disaster preparedness, education, peace-building, and HIV and AIDS.

Quick Facts about India
Information and resources on India for Children ... General Information on India. India lies in south Asia, between Pakistan, China and Nepal.

India for Kids
Visit the cities of Thrissur, Mysore, Mumbai, and Jaipur as well as the river Ganges. Read bedtime stories, excerpts from the Ramayana, or a diary kept by one of the site's virtual ...

India Holidays | DialAFlight™
Book India Holidays with DialAFlight. The award winning India specialist offers great value holidays and all calls are answered live in 5 seconds!

HIV and AIDS in India
On the spread and current state of the disease in the country. Includes detailed accounts of the worst affected states and communities.

BBC - India Pakistan
Portal page for the BBC's India Pakistan season 2007 ... Season highlights. In summer 2007 the BBC marked the 60th anniversary of India and Pakistan's independence.

INDIA Project
The INDIA Project is motivated primarily by a requirement to improve understanding of the interacting hydrodynamic and sedimentological processes at work in the European coastal ...

India
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