INDIA

India (Hindi: Bhārat),
officially the Republic
of
India (Hindi: Bhārat
[20]
Gaṇarājya),  is a
country in South Asia.
It is the seventh-
largest country by
area, the second-
most
populous country,
and the most
populous democracyi
n the world. Bounded
by the Indian
Ocean on the south,
the Arabian Sea on
the southwest, and
the Bay of Bengal on
the southeast, it
shares land borders
with Pakistan to the
[e]
west;  China, Nepal,
and Bhutan to the
north;
and Bangladesh and 
Myanmar to the east.
In the Indian Ocean,
India is in the vicinity
of Sri Lanka and
the Maldives;
its Andaman and
Nicobar Islandsshare
a maritime border
with Thailand and Ind
onesia.
Modern
humans arrived on
the Indian
subcontinent from
Africa no later than
55,000 years ago.
[21]
 Their long
occupation, initially in
varying forms of
isolation as hunter-
gatherers, has made
the region highly
diverse, second only
to Africa in
human genetic
[22]
diversity.  Settled
life emerged on the
subcontinent in the
western margins of
the Indus river basin
9,000 years ago,
evolving gradually
into the Indus Valley
Civilisation of the
third millennium BCE.
[23]
 By 1200 BCE,
an archaic
form of Sanskrit,
an Indo-European
language,
had diffused into
India from the
northwest, unfolding 
as the language of
the Rigveda, and
recording the
dawning
of Hinduism in India.
[24]
 The Dravidian
languages of India
were supplanted in
the northern regions.
[25]
 By 400
BCE, stratification an
d exclusion by caste 
had emerged within
[26]
Hinduism,  and Bud
dhism and Jainism ha
d arisen,
proclaiming social
orders unlinked to
[27]
heredity.  Early
political
consolidations gave
rise to the loose-
knit Maurya and Gupt
a Empires based in
the Ganges Basin.
[28]
 Their
collective era was
suffused with wide-
ranging creativity,
[29]
 but also marked by
the declining status of
[30]
women,  and the
incorporation
of untouchabilityinto
an organised system
[f][31]
of belief.  In south
India, the Middle
kingdomsexported
Dravidian-languages
scripts and religious
cultures to the
kingdoms
[32]
of southeast Asia.
In the early medieval
era, Christianity, Isla
m, Judaism,
and Zoroastrianismpu
t down roots on
India's southern and
western coasts.
[33]
 Armed invasions
from Central
Asia intermittently
overran India's plains,
[34]
 eventually
establishing the Delhi
Sultanate, and
drawing northern
India into the
cosmopolitan network
s of medieval Islam.
[35]
 In the 15th
century,
theVijayanagara
Empire created a
long-lasting
composite Hindu
culture in south India.
[36]
 In
the Punjab, Sikhism e
merged, rejecting
institutionalised
[37]
religion.  The Mugh
al Empire, in 1526,
ushered in two
centuries of relative
[38]
peace,  leaving a
legacy of luminous
[g][39]
architecture.  Grad
ually expanding rule
of the British East
India
Company followed,
turning India into a
colonial economy, but
also consolidating
[40]
its sovereignty.  Briti
sh Crown rule began
in 1858. The rights
promised to Indians
were granted slowly,
[41]
but technological
changes were
introduced, and ideas
of education,
modernity and the
public life took root.
[42]
 A pioneering and
influentialnationalist
movement emerged,
[43]
 which was noted
for nonviolent
resistanceand led
India to its
independence in
1947.
India is
a secular federal
republic governed in
a
democratic parliamen
tary system. It is
a pluralistic,
multilingual and multi-
ethnic society. India's
population grew from
361 million in 1951 to
1,211 million in 2011.
[44]
 During the same
time, its nominal per
capita
income increased
from US$64 annually
to US$1,498, and its
literacy rate from
16.6% to 74%. From
being a comparatively
destitute country in
[45]
1951,  India has
become a fast-
growingmajor
economy, a hub
for information
technology services,
with an expanding
[46]
middle class.  It
has a space
programme which
includes several
planned or
completed extraterres
trial missions. Indian
movies, music, and
spiritual teachings
play an increasing
role in global culture.
[47]
 India has
substantially reduced
its rate of poverty,
though at the cost of
increasing economic
[48]
inequality.  India is
a nuclear weapons
state, which ranks
high inmilitary
expenditure. It has
disputes
over Kashmir with its
neighbours,Pakistan 
and China,
unresolved since the
mid-20th century.
[49]
 Among the socio-
economic challenges
India faces
are gender
inequality, child
[50]
malnutrition,  and
rising levels of air
[51]
pollution.  India's
land ismegadiverse,
with four biodiversity
[52]
hotspots.  Its forest
cover comprises
21.4% of its area.
[53]
 India's wildlife,
which has
traditionally been
viewed with tolerance
[54]
in India's culture,  is
supported among
these forests, and
elsewhere,
in protected habitats.