India ( i / ˈ ɪ n d i ə/ ), officially the Republic
of India ( Bharat Ganrajya), [13][c] 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. 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
routes and vast empires, the Indian
subcontinent was identified with its
commercial and cultural wealth for much
of its long history. [14] Four world religions
—Hinduism , Buddhism, Jainism , and
Sikhism—originated here, whereas
Judaism , Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and
Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and
also helped shape the region's diverse
culture . Gradually annexed by and brought
under the administration of the British
East India Company from the early 18th
century and administered 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
eleventh-largest by nominal GDP and
third-largest by purchasing power parity
(PPP). [15] Following market-based
economic reforms in 1991, India became
one of the fastest-growing major
economies; it is considered a newly
industrialised country. However, it
continues to face the challenges of
poverty , corruption, malnutrition,
inadequate public healthcare, and
terrorism. A nuclear weapons state and a
regional power , it has the third-largest
standing army in the world and ranks
eighth in military expenditure among
nations. India is a federal constitutional
republic governed under a parliamentary
system consisting of 28 states and 7
union territories. India is a pluralistic,
multilingual , and a multi-ethnic society. It
is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a
variety of protected habitats .
Etymology
Main article: Names of India
The name India is derived from Indus ,
which originates from the Old Persian
word Hinduš. The latter term stems from
the Sanskrit word Sindhu , which was the
historical local appellation for the Indus
River . [16] The ancient Greeks referred to
the Indians as Indoi (Ινδοί), which
translates as "the people of the Indus". [17]
The geographical term Bharat
(pronounced [ˈbʱaːrət̪] ( )), which is
recognised by the Constitution of India as
an official name for the country, is used by
many Indian languages in its variations.
[18] The eponym of Bharat is Bharata , a
theological figure that Hindu scriptures
describe as a legendary emperor of
ancient India. Hindustan ( [ɦɪnd̪ʊ
ˈst̪aːn] ( )) was originally a Persian word
that meant "Land of the Hindus"; prior to
1947, it referred to a region that
encompassed northern India and Pakistan.
It is occasionally used to solely denote
India in its entirety. [19][20]
History
Main articles: History of India and History
of the Republic of India
Ancient India
Anatomically modern humans are thought
to have arrived in South Asia 73-55,000
years back, [21] though the earliest
authenticated human remains date to only
about 30,000 years ago. [22] Nearly
contemporaneous Mesolithic rock art sites
have been found in many parts of the
Indian subcontinent, including at the
Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya
Pradesh . [23] Around 7000 BCE, the first
known Neolithic settlements appeared on
the subcontinent in Mehrgarh and other
sites in western Pakistan. [24] These
gradually developed into the Indus Valley
Civilisation ,[25] the first urban culture in
South Asia; [26] it flourished during 2500–
1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India.
[27] Centred around 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. [26]
During the period 2000–500 BCE, in terms
of culture, many regions of the
subcontinent transitioned from the
Chalcolithic to the Iron Age. [28] The
Vedas , the oldest scriptures of Hinduism,
[29] were composed during this period,[30]
and historians have analysed these to
posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region
and the upper Gangetic Plain . [28] Most
historians also consider this period to
have encompassed several waves of Indo-
Aryan migration into the subcontinent
from the north-west. [31][29][32] The caste
system , which created a hierarchy of
priests, warriors, and free peasants, but
which excluded indigenous peoples by
labelling their occupations impure, arose
during this period. [33] On the Deccan
Plateau , archaeological evidence from this
period suggests the existence of a
chiefdom stage of political organisation.
[28] In southern India, a progression to
sedentary life is indicated by the large
number of megalithic monuments dating
from this period, [34] as well as by nearby
traces of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and
craft traditions. [3
