India
country in South Asia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
India (Hindi: Bhārat), officially the Republic of India (Hindi: Bhārat Gaṇarājya),[20] also commonly called Hindustan,[21] is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area. It is also the largest country by number of people.[22] It is the world's largest democracy by number of people since 1947.[23][24][25]
Republic of India Bhārat Gaṇarājya | |
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Motto: "Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit) "Truth Alone Triumphs"[1] | |
Anthem: "Jana Gana Mana"[lower-alpha 1][2][3] "Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People"[4][2] | |
National song "Vande Mātaram" (Sanskrit)[lower-alpha 2] "I Bow to Thee, Mother"[lower-alpha 3][1][2] | |
Capital | New Delhi 28°36′50″N 77°12′30″E |
Largest city |
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Official languages | |
Recognised regional languages | Eighth Schedule[8] |
Native languages | 447 languages[lower-alpha 6] |
Religion (2011) | |
Demonym(s) |
|
Government | Federal parliamentary republic |
Droupadi Murmu | |
Jagdeep Dhankhar | |
Narendra Modi | |
Legislature | Parliament |
Rajya Sabha | |
Lok Sabha | |
Independence from the United Kingdom | |
• Dominion | 15 August 1947 |
• Republic | 26 January 1950 |
Area | |
• Total | 3,287,263[2] km2 (1,269,219 sq mi)[lower-alpha 7] (7th) |
• Water (%) | 9.6 |
Population | |
• 2023 estimate | 1,428,627,663[13] (1st) |
• 2011 census | 1,210,854,977[14][15] (2nd) |
• Density | [convert: invalid number] (30th) |
GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | $14.594 trillion[16] (3rd) |
• Per capita | $10,123[16] (125th) |
GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | $3.937 trillion[16] (5th) |
• Per capita | $2,731[16] (136th) |
Gini (2021) | 32.8[17] medium |
HDI (2022) | 0.644[18] medium · 134th |
Currency | Indian rupee (₹) (INR) |
Time zone | UTC+05:30 (IST) |
DST is not observed | |
Date format |
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Driving side | left[19] |
Calling code | +91 |
ISO 3166 code | IN |
Internet TLD | .in (others) |
India is a peninsula. It has has the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, and the Himalayas on the north. It has six neighbours: Pakistan in the northwest;[lower-alpha 9] China, Nepal and Bhutan in the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar in the east. Sri Lanka and the Maldives are nearby to the south. Its Andaman and Nicobar Islands are near Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand.
Modern humans came to the Indian subcontinent from Africa more than 55,000 years ago.[26][27][28] They have lived there for long time. At first, they had lived in the subcontinent as hunter-gatherers. The Indian subcontinent is the second most diverse region after Africa.[29] Humans began to create settlements in the subcontinent 9,000 years ago, on the western banks of the Indus River. The settlements became parts of the Indus Valley Civilisation in the third millennium BCE.[30] By 1200 BCE, Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, spread to India from the northwest.[31][32] The first presence of Sanskrit is found in the hymns (songs of worship) of the Rigveda. The hymns were spread from one person to another orally, not by any book. They show the early forms of Hinduism.[33] The Indo-Aryan languages replaced the Dravidian languages in the northern and western regions of India.[34] By 400 BCE, the caste system was developed within Hinduism.[35] Buddhism and Jainism were also developed in India at the same time.[36]
India has been a federal republic since 1950. Its government is a democratic parliamentary system. It is a multilingual (multiple languages) and multicultural (multiple cultures) society.[37] The capital city of India is New Delhi. India has the second largest military force in the world and is also a nuclear weapon state.[38] India's economy became the world's fastest growing in the G20 developing nations during 2014, replacing the People's Republic of China.[39] India's literacy and wealth are also rising.[40]
India has the fifth largest economy by nominal GDP, the third largest by GDP (PPP) and is one of the fastest growing major economy. According to New World Wealth, India is the fifth richest country in the world with a total individual wealth of $12.6 trillion.[41][42] However, it still has many social and economic issues, for example poverty, pollution, social equality, religious extremism, terrorism and corruption.[43] India has reduced its rate of poverty. But its economic inequality has increased.[44]
India is a founding member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and has signed the Kyoto Protocol. It is also a member of the G20 developing nations. India has its own space agency (ISRO). It has done many research throughout the Solar System. It has sent spacecraft to the Moon and Mars. Indian movies, music and spiritual teachings are becoming more important in global culture.[45] Sources describe it as a potential superpower, because of its rising economy and increase in global influence. India is a country with nuclear weapons. It also has a high rank in military expenditure. It has disputes over Kashmir with its neighbours, Pakistan and China, since the middle of the 20th century.[46]
India has the fourth largest number of spoken languages per country in the world, only behind Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Nigeria.[47] Most of Indians follow Hinduism at 80%, but people of different religions such as Buddhism, Sikhism and Islam also live there.[48]