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This article is about the modern Republic of India. For other uses, see India (disambiguation).
à¤à¤¾à¤°à¤¤ गणराजà¥à¤¯*
BhÄrat GaṇarÄjya
Republic of India
Flag Emblem
Motto: "Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit)
सतà¥à¤¯à¤®à¥‡à¤µ जयते (DevanÄgarÄ«)
"Truth Alone Triumphs"[1]
Anthem: Jana Gana Mana
Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people[2]
National Song[4]
Vande Mataram
I bow to thee, Mother[3]
Capital New Delhi
Largest city Mumbai
Official languages:
Scheduled languages: Hindi, English[show]
Hindi in the Devanagari script is the official language of the union[5] and English the "subsidiary official language".[6]
8th Schedule:[show]
Assamese
Bengali
Bodo
Dogri
Gujarati
Hindi
Kannada
Kashmiri
Konkani
Maithili
Malayalam
Manipuri
Marathi
Nepali
Oriya
Punjabi
Sanskrit
Santali
Sindhi
Tamil
Telugu
Urdu[7]
Demonym Indian
Government Federal republic[8]
Parliamentary democracy[9]
- President Pratibha Patil
- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Independence from British colonial rule
- Declared 15 August 1947
- Republic 26 January 1950
Area
- Total 3,287,590‡ km² (7th)
1,269,346 sq mi
- Water (%) 9.56
Population
- 2008 estimate 1,132,446,000[8] (2nd)
- 2001 census 1,027,015,248
- Density 329/km² (31st)
852/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate
- Total $ 2.965 trillion[10] (4th)
- Per capita $ 2700 (165th)
GDP (nominal) 2007 estimate
- Total $ 1.089 trillion (12th)
- Per capita $ 977 (132nd)
Gini (2004) 36.8[11]
HDI (2007) â–² 0.619 (medium) (128th)
Currency Indian rupee (₨) (INR)
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
- Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+5:30)
Internet TLD .in
Calling code +91
Non-numbered Footnotes:[show]
* Bharat Ganarajya, that is, the Republic of India in Hindi,[9] written in the DevanÄgarÄ« script. See also other official names
‡ This is the figure as per the United Nations though the Indian government lists the total area as 3,287,260 square kilometers.[12]
India (Hindi: à¤à¤¾à¤°à¤¤ BhÄrat; see also other Indian languages), officially the Republic of India (Hindi: à¤à¤¾à¤°à¤¤ गणराजà¥à¤¯ BhÄrat GaṇarÄjya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by geographical area and the second most populous country in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east, India has a coastline of 7,517 kilometers (4,671 mi).[13] It borders Pakistan to the west;[14] China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Bangladesh and Burma to the east. India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Indonesia in the Indian Ocean.
Home to the Indus Valley Civilization 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.[15] The advancement of Indian civilization is evidenced by mathematics, medicine, atomism, linguistics, and astronomy. Four major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated here, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam arrived in the first millennium CE and shaped the region's diverse culture. In this period, subcontinental culture had a great effect, through the spread of Buddhism, towards shaping the cultures of East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gradually annexed by the British East India Company from the early eighteenth century and colonised by the United Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century, India became a modern nation state in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by widespread nonviolent resistance.
India is the world's twelfth largest economy at market exchange rates and the fourth largest in purchasing power. Economic reforms have transformed it into the second fastest growing large economy;[16] however, it still suffers from high levels of poverty,[17] illiteracy, and malnutrition. The world's largest democracy,[18] and a pluralistic, multilingual, and multiethnic society, India is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 History
3 Government
4 Politics
5 Foreign relations and military
6 Subdivisions
7 Geography
8 Flora and fauna
9 Economy
10 Demographics
11 Culture
12 Sports
13 See also
14 Notes
15 References
16 External links
Etymology
Main article: Names of India
The name India (pronounced /ˈɪndiÉ™/) is derived from Indus, which is derived from the Old Persian word Hindu, from Sanskrit Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River.[19] The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi (Ινδοί), the people of the Indus.[20] The Constitution of India and common usage in various Indian languages also recognise Bharat (pronunciation (help·info), /bÊ°É‘ËrÉ™t̪/) as an official name of equal status.[21] Hindustan (/hin̪d̪ust̪ɑËn/ (info)), which is the Persian word for “Land of the Hindus†and historically referred to northern India, is also occasionally used as a synonym for all of India.[22]
History
Main articles: History of India and History of the Republic of India
Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human life in India. The first known permanent settlements appeared over 9,000 years ago and gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilization,[23] dating back to 3300 BCE in western India. It was followed by the Vedic period, which laid the foundations of Hinduism and other cultural aspects of early Indian society, and ended in the 500s BC. From around 550 BCE, many independent kingdoms and republics known as the Mahajanapadas were established across the country.[24]
Paintings at the Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, 6th century.In the third century BCE, most of South Asia was united into the Maurya Empire under Ashoka the Great.[25] From 180 BCE, a series of invasions from Central Asia followed, including those led by the Indo-Greeks, Indo-Scythians, Indo-Parthians and Kushans in the north-western Indian subcontinent. From the third century CE, the Gupta dynasty oversaw the period referred to as ancient "India's Golden Age."[26][27] Among the notable South Indian empires were the Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Hoysalas, Pallavas, Pandyas, and Cholas. Science, engineering, art, literature, astronomy, and philosophy flourished under the patronage of these kings.
Following invasions from Central Asia between the tenth and twelfth centuries, much of north India came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate, and later the Mughal Empire. Mughal emperors gradually expanded their Kingdoms to cover large parts of the subcontinent. Nevertheless, several indigenous kingdoms, such as the Vijayanagara Empire, flourished, especially in the south. In the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the Mughal supremacy declined and the Maratha Empire became the dominant power. From the sixteenth century, several European countries, including Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom, started arriving as traders and later took advantage of the fractious nature of relations between the kingdoms to establish colonies in the country. By 1856, most of India was under the control of the British East India Company.[28] A year later, a nationwide insurrection of rebelling military units and kingdoms, variously referred to as the India's First War of Independence or Sepoy Mutiny, seriously challenged the British Company's control but eventually failed. As a consequence, India came under the direct rule of the British Crown as a colony of the British Empire.
Mahatma Gandhi (right) with Jawaharlal Nehru, 1937. Nehru would go on to become India's first prime minister in 1947.During the first half of the twentieth century, a nationwide struggle for independence was launched by the Indian National Congress and other political organizations. In the 1920s and 1930, a movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, and displaying commitment to ahimsa, or non-violence, millions of protesters engaged in mass campaigns of civil disobedience.[29] Finally, on 15 August 1947, India gained independence from British rule, but was partitioned with independent governments for the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan in accordance to wishes of the Muslim League, along the lines of religion to create the Islamic nation state of Pakistan.[30] Three years later, on 26 January 1950, India became a republic and a new constitution came into effect.[8]
Since independence, India has suffered from religious violence, casteism and insurgencies in various parts, but has been able to control them through tolerance and constitutional reforms. It has unresolved territorial disputes with China, which in 1962 escalated into the brief Sino-Indian War; and with Pakistan, which resulted in wars in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999. India is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations (as part of British India). In 1974, India conducted an underground nuclear test.[31] This was followed by five more tests in 1998, making India a nuclear state.[31] Beginning in 1991, significant economic reforms[32] have transformed India into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, adding to its global and regional clout.[16]
Government
Main article: Government of India
National Symbols of India[33]
Flag Tricolour
Emblem Sarnath Lion Capital
Anthem Jana Gana Mana
Song VandÄ“ MÄtaram
Animal Royal Bengal Tiger
Bird Indian Peafowl
Flower Lotus
Tree Banyan
Fruit Mango
Sport Field hockey
Calendar Saka
The Constitution of India, the longest and the most exhaustive constitution of any independent nation in the world, came into force on January 26, 1950.[34] The pream |
ktms1589
|
Form my experience of living in India for 11 years, I would say that India is rich overall, but several million citizens in the country is very poor. WHen I say rich overall, I am talking about the government of India( roads, health, Cleanliness..not included in it)..the leaders are rich as a king. also many citizens are as well..but there is a big lower/poor class in india, which makes up a larger population than the rich/upper class of India..so, at the end, India is still kinda poor, but improving tremendously..hope it helped!
For most of its post-independence history, India adhered to a quasi-socialist approach with strict government control over private sector participation, foreign trade, and foreign direct investment. However, since 1991, India has gradually opened up its markets through economic reforms and reduced government controls on foreign trade and investment.[32] Foreign exchange reserves have risen from US$5.8 billion in March 1991 to US$300 billion in March, 2008,[89] while federal and state budget deficits have decreased.[90] Privatization of publicly-owned companies and the opening of certain sectors to private and foreign participation has continued amid political debate.[91] With a GDP growth rate of 9.4% in 2006-07, the economy is among the fastest growing in the world.[92] India's GDP in terms of USD exchange-rate is US$1.089 trillion. When measured in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), India has the world's fourth largest GDP at US$4.726 trillion. India's per capita income (nominal) is US$977, while its per capita (PPP) is US$2700.
Although the Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades; its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas.[93] Income inequality in India is relatively small (Gini coefficient: 36.8 in year 2004[11]), though it has been increasing of late. Wealth distribution in India is fairly uneven, with the top 10% of income groups earning 33% of the income.[94] Despite significant economic progress, a quarter of the nation's population earns less than the government-specified poverty threshold of $0.40 per day. In 2004–2005, 27.5% of the population was living below the poverty line.[18] |
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