India (

i
/ndi/), officially the Republic of India (Bharat Ganrajya),
[13][c]
is a country in South Asia. It
is the seventh-largestcountry 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 religionsHinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhismoriginated 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 tenth-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest by purchasing
power parity (PPP).
[15]
Followingmarket-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 systemconsisting 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.
Contents
[hide]
1 Etymology
2 History
o 2.1 Ancient India
o 2.2 Medieval India
o 2.3 Early modern India
o 2.4 Modern India
3 Geography
4 Environment
5 Biodiversity
6 Politics
o 6.1 Government
o 6.2 Subdivisions
7 Foreign relations and military
8 Economy
9 Demographics
10 Culture
o 10.1 Art and architecture
o 10.2 Literature
o 10.3 Performing arts
o 10.4 Motion pictures
o 10.5 Society
o 10.6 Clothing
o 10.7 Sport
11 See also
12 Notes
13 Citations
14 References
15 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 Sanskritword Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus
River.
[16]
The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi(), which translates as "the people
of the Indus".
[17]
The geographical term Bharat (pronounced art ( listen)), 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 (n tan ( 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 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 25001900 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 2000500 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 theDeccan 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.
[34]



Paintings at the Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, 6th century
In the late Vedic period, around the 5th century BCE, the small chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and
the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were
known as the mahajanapadas.
[35][36]
The 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 Buddhaattracted followers from all social classes excepting the
middle class; chronicling the life of the Buddha was central to the beginnings of recorded history in
India.
[37][38][39]
Jainism came into prominence during the life of its exemplar, Mahavira.
[40]
In an age of
increasing urban wealth, both