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From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Republic of India
 भारत गणराज्य (Hindi)
Bhārat Gaṇarājya

Scheduled languages:

Flag

State Emblem

Motto: सत्यमेव जयते (Hindi)

"Truth Alone Triumphs"[1]

Anthem: "जन गण मन"[a]

"Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People"[2][3]

Duration: 1 minute and 4 seconds.1:04

National song

"वन्दे मातरम्" (Sanskrit)[b]

"I Bow to Thee, Mother"[c][1][3]

Duration: 2 minutes and 26 seconds.2:26

Land under the control of India is shown in dark green.

Land claimed but not under the control of India is shown in light green.
Capital New Delhi

28°36′50″N 77°12′30″E

Mumbai (city proper—within the limits of the city)

Largest city

Delhi (metropolitan area—city and suburbs)

Hindi
Official languages

English[d][6]

Recognised regional languages

Eighth Schedule[7]

Used by the states[e]

 Native languages 447 languages[f]

79.8% Hinduism
Religion

14.2% Islam
(2011)

2.3% Christianity

1.7% Sikhism

0.7% Buddhism

0.4% Jainism

0.23% unaffiliated

0.65% other[10]

Indian
Demonym(s)

Government Federal parliamentary republic

President Droupadi Murmu

Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Legislature Parliament

Upper house Rajya Sabha

Lower house Lok Sabha

Independence

from the United Kingdom

Dominion 15 August 1947

Republic 26 January 1950

Area

Total 3,287,263[3] km2 (1,269,219 sq mi)[g] (7th)

Water (%) 9.6

Population

1,428,627,663[12] (1st)
2023 estimate

1,210,854,977[13][14] (2nd)
2011 census
 GDP (PPP) 2024 estimate

$14.594 trillion[15] (3rd)

Total

$10,123[15] (125th)
Per capita

GDP (nominal) 2024 estimate

$3.937 trillion[15] (5th)

Total

$2,731[15] (136th)
Per capita

32.8[16]
Gini (2021)

medium

0.644[17]
HDI (2022)

medium · 134th

Currency Indian rupee (₹) (INR)

Time zone UTC+05:30 (IST)

DST is not observed

dd-mm-yyyy[h]
Date format

Driving side left[18]

Calling code +91

ISO 3166 code IN

Internet TLD .in (others)

Website

[Link]

India (भारत (Hindi) Bhārat Gaṇarājya) officially the Republic of India,[19] also known as Hindustān,[20] is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area. It is also the most populated country in the world.[21] It has been the world's largest democracy by number of people since 1947.[22][23][24]

India is a peninsular country. It has the Indian Ocean to the west, the Arabian Sea in the southwest, the Bay of Bengal in the southeast, and the Himalayas up north. It has six neighbours: Pakistan in the northwest;[i] China, Nepal and Bhutan in the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar in the east. Sri
Lanka and the Maldives are nearby to the south. Its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share water borders with Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand.

Humans came to the Indian subcontinent from Africa more than 55,000 years ago. [25][26][27] They have lived there for long time. At first, they had lived in the subcontinent as hunter-gatherers. The Indian subcontinent is the second most diverse region after Africa.[28] Humans began to create settlements in
the subcontinent 9,000 years ago, on the western banks of the Indus River. The settlements became parts of the Indus Valley Civilisation in the third millennium BCE.[29] By 1200 BCE, Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, spread to India from the northwest.[30][31] The first presence of Sanskrit is found in
the hymns (songs of worship) of the Rigveda. The hymns were spread from one person to another orally, not by any book. They show the early forms of Hinduism.[32] The Indo-Aryan languages replaced the Dravidian languages in the northern and western regions of India. [33] By 400 BCE,
the caste system was developed within Hinduism.[34] Buddhism and Jainism were also developed in India at the same time. [35]

India has been a federal republic since 1950. Its government is a democratic parliamentary system. It is a multilingual (multiple languages) and multicultural (multiple cultures) society.[36] The capital city of India is New Delhi. India has the second largest military force in the world and is also a nuclear
weapon state.[37] India's economy became the world's fastest growing in the G20 developing nations during 2014, replacing the People's Republic of China. [38] India's literacy and wealth are also rising.[39]

India has the fourth largest economy by nominal GDP, the third largest by GDP (PPP) and is one of the fastest growing major economy. According to New World Wealth, India is the fifth richest country in the world with a total individual wealth of $12.6 trillion.[40][41] However, it still has many social and
economic issues, for example poverty, pollution, social equality, religious extremism, terrorism and corruption.[42] India has reduced its rate of poverty but its economic inequality has increased.[43]

India is a founding member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and has signed the Kyoto Protocol. It is also a member of the G20 developing nations. India has its own space agency (ISRO). It has done much research throughout the Solar System. It has sent spacecraft to
the Moon and Mars. Indian movies, music and spiritual teachings are becoming more important in global culture. [44] Sources describe it as a potential superpower, because of its rising economy and increase in global influence. India is a country with nuclear weapons. It also has a high rank in military
expenditure. It has disputes over Kashmir with its neighbours, Pakistan and China, since the middle of the 20th century. [45]

India has the fourth largest number of spoken languages per country in the world, only behind Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Nigeria.[46] Most of Indians follow Hinduism at 80%, but people of different religions such as Buddhism, Sikhism and Islam also live there.[47]

Origin of the name

The Oxford English Dictionary (third edition - 2009) says that the name "India" comes from the Classical Latin name India. It was originally used for the Indian subcontinent and the areas to its east. Latin took the name from Hellenistic Greek India (Ἰνδία), from ancient Greek Indos (Ἰνδός) and then
from Old Persian Hinduš. The Old Persian name was used for the eastern province of the Achaemenid Empire. The name has a relation with the Sanskrit word sindhu. It means "river", especially the Indus River.[48][49] The ancient Greeks called Indians as Indoi (Ἰνδοί), which means "the people of the
Indus".[50]

The name Bhārat (भारत; pronounced [ˈbʱaːɾət] ( listen)) is found in both Indian epic poetry and the Constitution of India.[51][52] It is used in different Indian languages in different forms. Bhārat is a modern form of the older name Bharātavarṣa (भारतवर्ष). It original meaning was the northern part of
India.[53][54] It has become a very popular name for India since the middle of the 19th century. [51][55]

Hindustān ([ɦɪndʊˈstaːn] ( listen)) is a Middle Persian name for India. It became popular by the 13th century. [56] It is used widely since the Mughal Empire.[57]