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India
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Republic of India
Bharat Ganrajya
Horizontal tricolour flag bearing, from top to bottom, deep saffron, white, and green horizontal bands. In the centre of the white band is a navy-blue wheel with 24 spokes. Three lions facing left, right, and towa

rd viewer, atop a frieze containing a galloping horse, a 24-spoke wheel, and an elephant. Underneath is a motto: "सत्यमेव जयते". Flag Emblem
Motto: "Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit)
"Truth Alone Triumphs"[1]
Anthem: Jana Gana Mana
"You're the ruler of our minds"[2][3]
MENU0:00
National song:
Vande Mataram
"I Bow to Thee, Mother"[a][1][3]
Image of a globe centred on India, with India highlighted. Area controlled by India shown in dark green;
claimed but uncontrolled regions shown in light green. Capital New Delhi
28°36.8′N 77°12.5′E
Largest city Mumbai
Official languages
Hindi English
[show]
Recognised regional languages
8th Schedule[show]
National language None
Demonym Indian
Government Federal parliamentary
constitutional republic[1]
- President Pranab Mukherjee
- Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi (BJP)
- Chief Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha[6]
Legislature Parliament of India
- Upper house Rajya Sabha
- Lower house Lok Sabha
Independence from the United Kingdom
- Dominion 15 August 1947
- Republic 26 January 1950
Area
- Total 3,287,590[7] km2[b] (7th)
1,269,346 sq mi
- Water (%) 9.6
Population
- 2011 census 1,210,193,444[8] (2nd)
- Density 378.2/km2 (31st)
979.6/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2014 estimate
- Total $5.425 trillion[9] (3rd)
- Per capita $4,307[9] (133rd)
GDP (nominal) 2014 estimate
- Total $1.996 trillion[9] (10th)
- Per capita $1,584[9] (143rd)
Gini (2010) 33.9[10]
medium · 79th
HDI (2012) Increase 0.554[11][12]
medium · 136th (medium)
Currency Indian rupee (INR) (INR)
Time zone IST (UTC+05:30)
- Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+05:30)
Date format dd-mm-yyyy (CE)
Drives on the left
Calling code +91
ISO 3166 code IN
Internet TLD .in
other TLDs[show]
India (Listeni/ˈɪndiə/), 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 tenth-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 29 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
2.1 Ancient India
2.2 Medieval India
2.3 Early modern India
2.4 Modern India
3 Geography
4 Environment
5 Biodiversity
6 Politics
6.1 Government
6.2 Subdivisions
7 Foreign relations and military
8 Economy
9 Demographics
10 Culture
10.1 Art and architecture
10.2 Literature
10.3 Performing arts
10.4 Motion pictures
10.5 Society
10.6 Clothing
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 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] ( 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 ([ɦɪnd̪ʊˈst̪aːn] ( 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 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.[34]

Damaged brown painting of a reclining man and woman. 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 Buddha attracted 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 religions held up renunciation as an ideal,[41] and both established long-lasting monastic traditions. Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire.[35] The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent excepting the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas.[42][43] The Mauryan kings are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka's renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of the Buddhist dhamma.[44][45]

The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200 BCE and 200 CE, the southern peninsula was being ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas, dynasties that traded extensively with the Roman Empire and with West and South-East Asia.[46][47] In North India, Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family, leading to increased subordination of women.[48][35] By the 4th and 5th centuries, the Gupta Empire had created in the greater Ganges Plain a complex system of administration and taxation that became a model for later Indian kingdoms.[49][50] Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion rather than the management of ritual began to assert itself.[51] The renewal was reflected in a flowering of sculpture and architecture, which found patrons among an urban elite.[50] Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian science, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics made significant advances.[50]

Medieval India


The granite tower of Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur was completed in 1010 CE by Raja Raja Chola I. The Indian early medieval age, 600 CE to 1200 CE, is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity.[52] When Harsha of Kannauj, who ruled much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain from 606 to 647 CE, attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by the Chalukya ruler of the Deccan.[53] When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal.[53] When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south.[53] No ruler of this period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond his core region.[52] During this time, pastoral peoples whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agricultural economy were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes.[54] The caste system consequently began to show regional differences.[54]

In the 6th and 7th centuries, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tamil language.[55] They were imitated all over India and led to both the resurgence of Hinduism and the development of all modern languages of the subcontinent.[55] Indian royalty, big and small, and the temples they patronised, drew citizens in great numbers to the capital cities, which became economic hubs as well.[56] Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another urbanisation.[56] By the 8th and 9th centuries, the effects were felt in South-East Asia, as South Indian culture and political systems were exported to lands that became part of modern-day Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, and Java.[57] Indian merchants, scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission; South-East Asians took the initiative as well, with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and Hindu texts into their languages.[57]

After the 10th century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift-horse cavalry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains, leading eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206.[58] The sultanate was to control much of North India, and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disruptive for the Indian elites, the sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs.[59][60] By repeatedly repulsing Mongol raiders in the 13th century, the sultanate saved India from the devastation visited on West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region into the subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north.[61][62] The sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire.[63] Embracing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the military technology of the sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India,[64] and was to influence South Indian society for long afterwards.[63]

Early modern India


Writing the will and testament of the Mughal king court in Persian, 1590–1595
In the early 16th century, northern India, being then under mainly Muslim rulers,[65] fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors.[66] The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule, but rather balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices[67][68] and diverse and inclusive ruling elites,[69] leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule.[70] Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar, the Mughals united their far-flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to an emperor who had near-divine status.[69] The Mughal state's economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture[71] and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency,[72] caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.[70] The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion,[70] resulting in greater patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture.[73] Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajputs, and the Sikhs, gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience.[74] Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites along the coasts of southern and eastern India.[74] As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs.[75]

By the early 18th century, with the lines between commercial and political dominance being increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, including the English East India Company, had established coastal outposts.[76][77] The East India Company's control of the seas, greater resources, and more advanced military training and technology led it to increasingly flex its military muscle and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; both these factors were crucial in allowing the Company to gain control over the Bengal region by 1765 and sideline the other European companies.[78][76][79][80] Its further access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annex or subdue most of India by the 1820s.[81] India was then no longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instead supplying the British empire with raw materials, and many historians consider this to be the onset of India's colonial period.[76] By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and itself effectively made an arm of British administration, the Company began to more consciously enter non-economic arenas such as education, social reform, and culture.[82]

Modern India


The British Indian Empire, from the 1909 edition of The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Areas directly governed by the British are shaded pink; the princely states under British suzerainty are in yellow. Historians consider India's modern age to have begun sometime between 1848 and 1885. The appointment in 1848 of Lord Dalhousie as Governor General of the East India Company set the stage for changes essential to a modern state. These included the consolidation and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the population, and the education of citizens. Technological changes—among them, railways, canals, and the telegraph—were introduced not long after their introduction in Europe.[83][84][85][86] However, disaffection with the Company also grew during this time, and set off the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Fed by diverse resentments and perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, and summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, the rebellion rocked many regions of northern and central India and shook the foundations of Company rule.[87][88] Although the rebellion was suppressed by 1858, it led to the dissolution of the East India Company and to the direct administration of India by the British government. Proclaiming a unitary state and a gradual but limited British-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest.[89][90] In the decades following, public life gradually emerged all over India, leading eventually to the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885.[91][92][93][94]

Two smiling men in robes sitting on the ground with bodies facing the viewer and with heads turned toward each other. The younger wears a white Nehru cap; the elder is bald and wears glasses. A half-dozen other people are in the background. Jawaharlal Nehru (left) became India's first prime minister in 1947. Mahatma Gandhi (right) led the independence movement. The rush of technology and the commercialisation of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacks—many small farmers became dependent on the whims of far-away markets.[95] There was an increase in the number of large-scale famines,[96] and, despite the risks of infrastructure development borne by Indian taxpayers, little industrial employment was generated for Indians.[97] There were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in the newly canalled Punjab, led to increased food production for internal consumption.[98] The railway network provided critical famine relief,[99] notably reduced the cost of moving goods,[99] and helped nascent Indian-owned industry.[98] After World War I, in which some one million Indians served,[100] a new period began. It was marked by British reforms but also repressive legislation, by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, and by the beginnings of a non-violent movement of non-cooperation, of which Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would become the leader and enduring symbol.[101] During the 1930s, slow legislative reform was enacted by the British; the Indian National Congress won victories in the resulting elections.[102] The next decade was beset with crises: Indian participation in World War II, the Congress's final push for non-cooperation, and an upsurge of Muslim nationalism. All were capped by the advent of independence in 1947, but tempered by the partition of India into two states: India and Pakistan.[103]

Vital to India's self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, completed in 1950, which put in place a secular and democratic republic.[104] In the 60 years since, India has had a mixed record of successes and failures.[105] It has remained a democracy with civil liberties, an activist Supreme Court, and a largely independent press.[105] Economic liberalisation, which was begun in the 1990s, has created a large urban middle class, transformed India into one of the world's fastest-growing economies,[106] and increased its geopolitical clout. Indian movies, music, and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture.[105] Yet, India has also been weighed down by seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban;[105] by religious and caste-related violence;[107] by Maoist-inspired Naxalite insurgencies;[108] and by separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and in Northeast India.[109] It has unresolved territorial disputes with China,[110] and with Pakistan.[110] The India–Pakistan nuclear rivalry came to a head in 1998.[111] India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among the world's new nations; however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged population remains a goal yet to be achieved.[112]

Geography
Main article: Geography of India
See also: Geology of India
Map of India. Most of India is yellow (elevation 100–1000 m). Some areas in the south and mid-east are brown (above 1000 m). Major river valleys are green (below 100 m). A topographic map of India
India comprises the bulk of the Indian subcontinent, lying atop the Indian tectonic plate, and part of the Indo-Australian Plate.[113] India's defining geological processes began 75 million years ago when the Indian plate, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a north-eastward drift caused by seafloor spreading to its south-west, and later, south and south-east.[113] Simultaneously, the vast Tethyn oceanic crust, to its northeast, began to subduct under the Eurasian plate.[113] These dual processes, driven by convection in the Earth's mantle, both created the Indian Ocean and caused the Indian continental crust eventually to under-thrust Eurasia and to uplift the Himalayas.[113] Immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast trough that rapidly filled with river-borne sediment[114] and now constitutes the Indo-Gangetic Plain.[115] Cut off from the plain by the ancient Aravalli Range lies the Thar Desert.[116]

The original Indian plate survives as peninsular India, the oldest and geologically most stable part of India. It extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel chains run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the east.[117] To the south, the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the west and east by coastal ranges known as the Western and Eastern Ghats;[118] the plateau contains the country's oldest rock formations, some over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6° 44' and 35° 30' north latitude[e] and 68° 7' and 97° 25' east longitude.[119]

A shining white snow-clad range, framed against a turquoise sky. In the middle ground, a ridge descends from the right to form a saddle in the centre of the photograph, partly in shadow. In the near foreground, a loop of a road is seen. The Kedar Range of the Greater Himalayas rises behind Kedarnath Temple (Indian state of Uttarakhand), which is one of the twelve jyotirlinga shrines. India's coastline measures 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) in length; of this distance, 5,423 kilometres (3,400 mi) belong to peninsular India and 2,094 kilometres (1,300 mi) to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep island chains.[120] According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coastline consists of the following: 43% sandy beaches; 11% rocky shores, including cliffs; and 46% mudflats or marshy shores.[120]

Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal.[121] Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi; the latter's extremely low gradient often leads to severe floods and course changes.[122] Major peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding, include the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also drain into the Bay of Bengal;[123] and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea.[124] Coastal features include the marshy Rann of Kutch of western India and the alluvial Sundarbans delta of eastern India; the latter is shared with Bangladesh.[125] 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.[126]

The Indian climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the economically and culturally pivotal summer and winter monsoons.[127] 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.[128][129] The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden south-west summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall.[127] Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montane.[130]

Environment
Main article: Environmental issues in India
In India, major environmental issues include forest and agricultural degradation of land; depletion of resources such as water, minerals, forest, sand, and rocks; environmental degradation; public health issues; loss of biodiversity; loss of resilience in ecosystems; and livelihood security for the poor.[131] According to data collection and environment assessment studies of World Bank experts, between 1995 and 2010, the progress India has made in addressing its environmental issues and improving its environmental quality has been among the fastest in the world.[132][133]

Biodiversity
Main article: Wildlife of India


The Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) is identified with Garuda, the mythical mount of Vishnu. It hunts for fish and other prey near the coasts and around inland wetlands. India lies within the Indomalaya ecozone and contains three biodiversity hotspots.[134] One of 17 megadiverse countries, it hosts 8.6% of all mammalian, 13.7% of all avian, 7.9% of all reptilian, 6% of all amphibian, 12.2% of all piscine, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species.[135][136] Endemism is high among plants, 33%, and among ecoregions such as the shola forests.[137] Habitat ranges from the tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and North-East India to the coniferous forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the moist deciduous sal forest of eastern India; the dry deciduous teak forest of central and southern India; and the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain.[138] Under 12% of India's landmass bears thick jungle.[139] The medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies, is a key Indian tree. The luxuriant pipal fig tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, shaded Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment. Many Indian species descend from taxa originating in Gondwana, from which the Indian plate separated more than 105 million years before present.[140] Peninsular India's subsequent movement towards and collision with the Laurasian landmass set off a mass exchange of species. Epochal volcanism and climatic changes 20 million years ago forced a mass extinction.[141] Mammals then entered India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes flanking the rising Himalaya.[138] Thus, while 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians are endemic, only 12.6% of mammals and 4.5% of birds are.[136] Among them are the Nilgiri leaf monkey and Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172 IUCN-designated threatened animal species, or 2.9% of endangered forms.[142] These include the Asiatic lion, the Bengal tiger, and the Indian White-rumped Vulture, which, by ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-laced cattle, nearly went extinct. The pervasive and ecologically devastating human encroachment of recent decades has critically endangered Indian wildlife. In response the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act[143] and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial wilderness; the Forest Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments added in 1988.[144] India hosts more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries and thirteen biosphere reserves,[145] four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; twenty-five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.[146]

The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 was enacted by the Government of India on 5 February 2003.[147] The Act extends to the whole of India and reaffirms the sovereign rights of the country over its biological resources. Subsequently the Government of India published Biological Diversity Rules, 2004 (15 April 2004).[148] The Rules under section 22 states that ‘every local body shall constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC’s) within its area of jurisdiction’. First BMC of the Ahmednagar districtof Maharashtra was formed in the village Pimpri Gawali. Politics
Main article: Politics of India


A parliamentary joint session being held in the Sansad Bhavan. The Rashtrapati Bhavan is the official residence of the president of India. India is the world's most populous democracy.[149] A parliamentary republic with a multi-party system,[150] it has six recognised national parties, including the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 40 regional parties.[151] The Congress is considered centre-left or "liberal" in Indian political culture, and the BJP centre-right or "conservative". For most of the period between 1950—when India first became a republic—and the late 1980s, the Congress held a majority in the parliament. Since then, however, it has increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP,[152] as well as with powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party coalitions at the centre.[153]

In the Republic of India's first three general elections, in 1951, 1957, and 1962, the Jawaharlal Nehru-led Congress won easy victories. On Nehru's death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri briefly became prime minister; he was succeeded, after his own unexpected death in 1966, by Indira Gandhi, who went on to lead the Congress to election victories in 1967 and 1971. Following public discontent with the state of emergency she declared in 1975, the Congress was voted out of power in 1977; the then-new Janata Party, which had opposed the emergency, was voted in. Its government lasted just over three years. Voted back into power in 1980, the Congress saw a change in leadership in 1984, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated; she was succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi, who won an easy victory in the general elections later that year. The Congress was voted out again in 1989 when a National Front coalition, led by the newly formed Janata Dal in alliance with the Left Front, won the elections; that government too proved relatively short-lived: it lasted just under two years.[154] Elections were held again in 1991; no party won an absolute majority. But the Congress, as the largest single party, was able to form a minority government led by P. Narasimha Rao.[155]

A two-year period of political turmoil followed the general election of 1996. Several short-lived alliances shared power at the centre. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996; it was followed by two comparatively long-lasting United Front coalitions, which depended on external support. In 1998, the BJP was able to form a successful coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the NDA became the first non-Congress, coalition government to complete a five-year term.[156] In the 2004 Indian general elections, again no party won an absolute majority, but the Congress emerged as the largest single party, forming another successful coalition: the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). It had the support of left-leaning parties and MPs who opposed the BJP. The UPA returned to power in the 2009 general election with increased numbers, and it no longer required external support from India's communist parties.[157] That year, Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957 and 1962 to be re-elected to a consecutive five-year term.[158] In the 2014 general election, Bharatiya Janata Party became the first political party since 1984 to win a majority and govern without the support of other parties.[159]

Government
Main article: Government of India
See also: Elections in India
India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India, which serves as the country's supreme legal document. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, in which "majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law". Federalism in India defines the power distribution between the federal government and the states. The government abides by constitutional checks and balances. The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950,[160] states in its preamble that India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.[161] India's form of government, traditionally described as "quasi-federal" with a strong centre and weak states,[162] has grown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic, and social changes.[163][164]

National symbols[1]
Flag Tricolour
Emblem Sarnath Lion Capital
Anthem Jana Gana Mana
Song Vande Mataram
Currency ₹ (Indian Rupee)
Calendar Saka
Game Not declared[165]
Flower Lotus
Fruit Mango
Tree Banyan
Bird Indian Peafowl
Land animal Tiger
Aquatic animal River Dolphin
River Ganga or Ganges
The federal government comprises three branches:

Executive: The President of India is the head of state[166] and is elected indirectly by a national electoral college[167] for a five-year term.[168] The Prime Minister of India is the head of government and exercises most executive power.[169] Appointed by the president,[170] the prime minister is by convention supported by the party or political alliance holding the majority of seats in the lower house of parliament.[169] The executive branch of the Indian government consists of the president, the 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 one of the houses of parliament.[166] In the Indian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature; the prime minister and his council are directly responsible to the lower house of the parliament.[171]
Legislative: The legislature of India is the bicameral parliament. It operates under a Westminster-style parliamentary system and comprises the upper house called the Rajya Sabha ("Council of States") and the lower called the Lok Sabha ("House of the People").[172] The Rajya Sabha is a permanent body that has 245 members who serve in staggered six-year terms.[173] Most are elected indirectly by the state and territorial legislatures in numbers proportional to their state's share of the national population.[170] All but two of the Lok Sabha's 545 members are directly elected by popular vote; they represent individual constituencies via five-year terms.[174] The remaining two members are nominated by the president from among the Anglo-Indian community, in case the president decides that they are not adequately represented.[175]
Judicial: India has a unitary three-tier independent judiciary[176] that comprises the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India, 24 High Courts, and a large number of trial courts.[176] The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over cases involving fundamental rights and over disputes between states and the centre; it has appellate jurisdiction over the High Courts.[177] It has the power both to declare the law and to strike down union or state laws which contravene the constitution.[178] The Supreme Court is also the ultimate interpreter of the constitution.[179]
Subdivisions


A clickable map of the 29 states and 7 union territories of India
Main article: Administrative divisions of India
See also: Political integration of India
India is a federation composed of 29 states and 7 union territories.[180] All states, as well as the union territories of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and governments, both patterned on the Westminster model. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the centre through appointed administrators. In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act, states were reorganised on a linguistic basis.[181] Since then, their structure has remained largely unchanged. Each state or union territory is further divided into administrative districts. The districts in turn are further divided into tehsils and ultimately into villages. States

Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Telangana
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
Union territories

Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Chandigarh
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Daman and Diu
Lakshadweep
National Capital Territory of Delhi
Puducherry
Foreign relations and military
Main articles: Foreign relations of India and Indian Armed Forces
Two seated men converse. The first is dressed in Indian clothing and turban and sits before an Indian flag; the second is in a Western business suit and sits before a Russian flag. Manmohan Singh meets Dmitry Medvedev at the 34th G8 summit. India and Russia share extensive economic, defence, and technological ties. Since its independence in 1947, India has maintained cordial relations with most nations. In the 1950s, it strongly supported decolonisation in Africa and Asia and played a lead role in the Non-Aligned Movement.[182] In the late 1980s, the Indian military twice intervened abroad at the invitation of neighbouring countries: a peace-keeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990; and an armed intervention to prevent a coup d'état attempt in Maldives. India has tense relations with neighbouring Pakistan; the two nations have gone to war four times: in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999. Three of these wars were fought over the disputed territory of Kashmir, while the fourth, the 1971 war, followed from India's support for the independence of Bangladesh.[183] After waging the 1962 Sino-Indian War and the 1965 war with Pakistan, India pursued close military and economic ties with the Soviet Union; by the late 1960s, the Soviet Union was its largest arms supplier.[184]

Aside from ongoing strategic relations with Russia, India has wide-ranging defence relations with Israel and France. In recent years, it has played key roles in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the World Trade Organisation. The nation has provided 100,000 military and police personnel to serve in 35 UN peacekeeping operations across four continents. It participates in the East Asia Summit, the G8+5, and other multilateral forums.[185] India has close economic ties with South America,[186] Asia, and Africa; it pursues a "Look East" policy that seeks to strengthen partnerships with the ASEAN nations, Japan, and South Korea that revolve around many issues, but especially those involving economic investment and regional security.[187][188]



INS Vikramaditya, the Indian Navy’s biggest warship, as seen on 16 November 2013.[189]
China's nuclear test of 1964, as well as its repeated threats to intervene in support of Pakistan in the 1965 war, convinced India to develop nuclear weapons.[190] India conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1974 and carried out further underground testing in 1998. Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has signed neither the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty nor the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, considering both to be flawed and discriminatory.[191] India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy and is developing a nuclear triad capability as a part of its "minimum credible deterrence" doctrine.[192][193] It is developing a ballistic missile defence shield and, in collaboration with Russia, a fifth-generation fighter jet.[194] Other indigenous military projects involve the design and implementation of Vikrant-class aircraft carriers and Arihant-class nuclear submarines.[194]

Since the end of the Cold War, India has increased its economic, strategic, and military cooperation with the United States and the European Union.[195] In 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement was signed between India and the United States. Although India possessed nuclear weapons at the time and was not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it received waivers from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, ending earlier restrictions on India's nuclear technology and commerce. As a consequence, India became the sixth de facto nuclear weapons state.[196] India subsequently signed cooperation agreements involving civilian nuclear energy with Russia,[197] France,[198] the United Kingdom,[199] and Canada.[200]

The President of India is the supreme commander of the nation's armed forces; with 1,325 million active troops, they compose the world's third-largest military.[201] It comprises the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force; auxiliary organisations include the Strategic Forces Command and three paramilitary groups: the Assam Rifles, the Special Frontier Force, and the Indian Coast Guard.[202] The official Indian defence budget for 2011 was US$36.03 billion, or 1.83% of GDP.[203] For the fiscal year spanning 2012–2013, US$40.44 billion was budgeted.[204] According to a 2008 SIPRI report, India's annual military expenditure in terms of purchasing power stood at US$72.7 billion,[205] In 2011, the annual defence budget increased by 11.6%,[206] although this does not include funds that reach the military through other branches of government.[207] As of 2012, India is the world's largest arms importer; between 2007 and 2011, it accounted for 10% of funds spent on international arms purchases.[208] Much of the military expenditure was focused on defence against Pakistan and countering growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean.[206]

Economy
Main article: Economy of India
See also: Economic history of India, Economic development in India, Tourism in India and Transport in India


A farmer in Rajasthan milks his cow. Milk is India's largest crop by economic value. Worldwide, as of 2011, India had the largest herds of buffalo and cattle, and was the largest producer of milk. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as of 2013, the Indian economy is nominally worth US$1.842 trillion; it is the eleventh-largest economy by market exchange rates, and is, at US$4.962 trillion, the third-largest by purchasing power parity, or PPP.[9] With its average annual GDP growth rate of 5.8% over the past two decades, and reaching 6.1% during 2011–12,[209] India is one of the world's fastest-growing economies.[210] However, the country ranks 140th in the world in nominal GDP per capita and 129th in GDP per capita at PPP.[211] Until 1991, all Indian governments followed protectionist policies that were influenced by socialist economics. Widespread state intervention and regulation largely walled the economy off from the outside world. An acute balance of payments crisis in 1991 forced the nation to liberalise its economy;[212] since then it has slowly moved towards a free-market system[213][214] by emphasising both foreign trade and direct investment inflows.[215] India's recent economic model is largely capitalist.[214] India has been a member of WTO since 1 January 1995.[216]

The 486.6-million worker Indian labour force is the world's second-largest, as of 2011.[202] The service sector makes up 55.6% of GDP, the industrial sector 26.3% and the agricultural sector 18.1%. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes.[180] Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, and software.[180] In 2006, the share of external trade in India's GDP stood at 24%, up from 6% in 1985.[213] In 2008, India's share of world trade was 1.68%;[217] In 2011, India was the world's tenth-largest importer and the nineteenth-largest exporter.[218] Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, jewellery, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and leather manufactures.[180] Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, and chemicals.[180] Between 2001 and 2011, the contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports grew from 14% to 42%.[219]

Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% for several years prior to 2007,[213] India has more than doubled its hourly wage rates during the first decade of the 21st century.[220] Some 431 million Indians have left poverty since 1985; India's middle classes are projected to number around 580 million by 2030.[221] Though ranking 51st in global competitiveness, India ranks 17th in financial market sophistication, 24th in the banking sector, 44th in business sophistication, and 39th in innovation, ahead of several advanced economies, as of 2010.[222] With 7 of the world's top 15 information technology outsourcing companies based in India, the country is viewed as the second-most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States, as of 2009.[223] India's consumer market, currently the world's eleventh-largest, is expected to become fifth-largest by 2030.[221]

India's telecommunication industry, the world's fastest-growing, added 227 million subscribers during the period 2010–11,[224] and after the first quarter of 2013, India surpassed Japan to become the third largest smartphone market in the world after China and the U.S.[225]

Street-level view looking up at a modern 30-story building. The Bombay Stock Exchange is Asia's oldest and India's largest bourse by market capitalisation. Its automotive industry, the world's second fastest growing, increased domestic sales by 26% during 2009–10,[226] and exports by 36% during 2008–09.[227] Power capacity is 250 gigawatts, of which 8% is renewable. At the end of 2011, Indian IT Industry employed 2.8 million professionals, generated revenues close to US$100 billion equalling 7.5% of Indian GDP and contributed 26% of India's merchandise exports.[228]

The Pharmaceutical industry in India is among the significant emerging markets for global pharma industry. The Indian pharmaceutical market is expected to reach $48.5 billion by 2020. India's R & D spending constitutes 60% of Biopharmaceutical industry.[229][230] India is among the top 12 Biotech destinations of the world.[231] [232] The Indian biotech industry grew by 15.1% in 2012-13, increasing its revenues from 204.4 Billion INR (Indian Rupees) to 235.24 Billion INR (3.94 B US$ - exchange rate June 2013: 1 US$ approx. 60 INR)[233] Although hardly 2% of Indians pay income taxes.[234]

Despite impressive economic growth during recent decades, India continues to face socio-economic challenges. India contains the largest concentration of people living below the World Bank's international poverty line of US$1.25 per day,[235] the proportion having decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005, and 25% in 2011[236] 44% of India's children under the age of five are underweight, half the children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition, and in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkand, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh, which account for 50.04% of India's population, 70% of the children between the ages of six months and 59 months are anaemic.[237] The Mid-Day Meal Scheme attempts to lower these rates.[238] Since 1991, economic inequality between India's states has consistently grown: the per-capita net state domestic product of the richest states in 2007 was 3.2 times that of the poorest.[239] Corruption in India is perceived to have increased significantly,[240] with one report estimating the illegal capital flows since independence to be US$462 billion.[241]

Driven by growth, India's nominal GDP per capita has steadily increased from US$329 in 1991, when economic liberalisation began, to US$1,265 in 2010, and is estimated to increase to US$2,110 by 2016; however, it has remained lower than those of other Asian developing countries such as Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is expected to remain so in the near future. While it is currently higher than Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and others.[242]

According to a 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers report, India's GDP at purchasing