India: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Country in Asia}}

{{About|the Republic of India}}

 

 

{{Use Indian English|date=September 2023}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}

| conventional_long_name = Republic of India <!--Do NOT change the name to Bharat without discussion in the talk page for consensus and multiple reliable citations. -->

| native_name            = <!--Do NOT remove this from the infobox as infobox translations and transliterations do not fall under [[BP:Manual of Style/India-related articles#Indic scripts in leads and infoboxes]].--> {{transliteration|hi|ISO|Bhārat Gaṇarājya}}<br />{{smaller|(see [[Names of India in its official languages|other regional names]])}}

| national_anthem        = {{native phrase|hi|"[[Jana Gana Mana]]"|italics=off}}{{efn|Originally written in [[Sadhu bhasha|Sanskritised Bengali]] and adopted as the national anthem in its Hindi translation.}}<ref name="india.gov.in">{{Cite web |title=National Symbols &#124; National Portal of India |url=https://india.gov.in/india-glance/national-symbols |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204121208/https://india.gov.in/india-glance/national-symbols |archive-date=4 February 2017 |access-date=1 March 2017 |publisher=[[India.gov.in]] |quote=The National Anthem of India Jana Gana Mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950.}}</ref><ref name="tatsama">{{Cite news |date=14 August 2012 |title=National anthem of India: a brief on 'Jana Gana Mana' |publisher=[[News18 India|News18]] |url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/national-anthem-of-india-a-brief-on-jana-gana-mana-498576.html |access-date=7 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417194530/https://www.news18.com/news/india/national-anthem-of-india-a-brief-on-jana-gana-mana-498576.html |archive-date=17 April 2019}}</ref><br />"Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People"{{lower|0.2em|{{sfn|Wolpert|2003|p=1}}<ref name="india.gov.in" />}}<br />

| official_languages    = {{hlist |[[Hindi]]|[[Indian English|English]]{{efn|According to [[Part XVII of the Constitution of India]], [[Standard Hindi|Hindi]] in the [[Devanagari]] script is the [[official language]] of the Union, along with [[Indian English|English]] as an additional official language.{{sfn|National Informatics Centre|2005}}{{sfn|Ministry of Home Affairs 1960}}<ref name="india.gov.in2">{{Cite web |title=Profile &#124; National Portal of India |url=https://india.gov.in/india-glance/profile |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830064815/https://india.gov.in/india-glance/profile |archive-date=30 August 2013 |access-date=23 August 2013 |publisher=[[India.gov.in]]}}</ref> [[States and union territories of India|States and union territories]] can have a different official language of their own other than Hindi or English.}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Constitutional Provisions – Official Language Related Part-17 of the Constitution of India |url=https://rajbhasha.gov.in/en/constitutional-provisions |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418112326/https://rajbhasha.gov.in/en/constitutional-provisions |archive-date=18 April 2021 |access-date=18 April 2021 |website=[[Department of Official Language]] via [[Government of India]]}}</ref>}}

  |title = [[Languages with official status in India#Official languages of states|State level]] and [[Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India|{{nowrap|Eighth Schedule}}]]<ref name="langoff">{{Cite web |title=50th Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India (July 2012 to June 2013) |url=https://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM50thReport.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708012438/https://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM50thReport.pdf |archive-date=8 July 2016 |access-date=26 December 2014 |publisher=Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, [[Ministry of Minority Affairs]], [[Government of India]]}}</ref>

| languages              = [[List of languages by number of native speakers in India|447 languages]]{{efn|Different sources give widely differing figures, primarily based on how the terms "language" and "dialect" are defined and grouped. [[Ethnologue]] lists 461 tongues for India (out of 6,912 worldwide), 447 of which are living, while 14 are extinct.<ref name="Ethnologue">{{Cite web |year=2014 |editor-last=Lewis, M. Paul |editor2-last=Simons, Gary F. |editor3-last=Fennig, Charles D. |title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World : India |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/IN |access-date=15 December 2014 |publisher=[[Ethnologue]] by SIL International |edition=17th |location=Dallas, Texas}}</ref><ref name="Ethnologue2">{{Cite web |title=Ethnologue : Languages of the World (Seventeenth edition) : Statistical Summaries |url=https://archive.ethnologue.com/15/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=area |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217151950/https://archive.ethnologue.com/15/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=area |archive-date=17 December 2014 |access-date=17 December 2014 |publisher=[[Ethnologue]] by SIL International}}</ref>}}

| government_type        = Federal [[parliamentary republic]]

| leader_title2          = [[Vice President of India|Vice-President]]

| population_estimate    = {{increaseNeutral}} 1,428,627,663<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations |url=https://population.un.org/wpp/ |access-date=2 July 2023 |website=population.un.org}}</ref>

| population_census      = {{increaseNeutral}} 1,210,854,977<ref>{{Cite web |title=Population Enumeration Data (Final Population) |url=https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/population_enumeration.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522213913/https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/population_enumeration.html |archive-date=22 May 2016 |access-date=17 June 2016 |website=2011 Census Data |publisher=[[Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India|Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A – 2 Decadal Variation in Population Since 1901 |url=https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/A-2_Data_Tables/00%20A%202-India.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430213141/https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/A-2_Data_Tables/00%20A%202-India.pdf |archive-date=30 April 2016 |access-date=17 June 2016 |website=2011 Census Data |publisher=[[Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India|Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India]]}}</ref>

| GDP_PPP                = {{increase}} {{nowrap|$13.033 trillion}}<ref name="imf">{{Cite news |date=April 2023 |title=World Economic Outlook Database: April 2023 |work=Imf |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/April/weo-report?c=534,&s=NGDP_RPCH,NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,&sy=2021&ey=2028&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 |access-date=11 April 2023}}</ref>

| GDP_PPP_per_capita    = {{increase}} $9,073<ref name="imf" />

| GDP_nominal            = {{increase}} {{nowrap|$3.737 trillion}}<ref name="imf" />

| GDP_nominal_per_capita = {{increase}} $2,601<ref name="imf" />

| Gini_ref              =<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gini index (World Bank estimate) – India |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=IN |publisher=[[World Bank]]}}</ref>

| HDI_ref                =<ref name="UNHDR">{{Cite web |date=8 September 2022 |title=Human Development Report 2021/2022 |url=https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2021-22pdf_1.pdf |access-date=8 September 2022 |publisher=[[United Nations Development Programme]] |language=en}}</ref>

| utc_offset_DST        =

| time_zone_DST          =

| drives_on              = left<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 May 2020 |title=List of all left- & right-driving countries around the world |url=https://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/list-of-left-driving-countries/ |access-date=10 June 2020 |website=worldstandards.eu}}</ref>

| englishmotto="Truth Alone Triumphs"{{lower|0.2em|{{sfn|National Informatics Centre|2005}}}}

| today                  =

}}<!--Overly detailed information or infobox data duplication such as listing random examples, numbered statistics or naming individuals should be reserved for the body of the article-->

'''India'''<!--Do not add pronunciation as per [[Bharatpedia:Manual of Style/Lead section]].-->, officially the '''Republic of India''' <!--Do NOT change the name to Bharat without discussion in the talk page for consensus and multiple reliable citations. -->([[ISO 15919|ISO]]: {{transliteration|hi|ISO|Bhārat Gaṇarājya}}<!--Do not add pronunciation as per [[Bharatpedia:Manual of Style/Lead section]].-->),<ref>–{{citation|title=The Essential Desk Reference |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yjcOAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA76|year=2002|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-512873-4|page=76}} "Official name: Republic of India.";<br />–{{citation|author=John Da Graça|title=Heads of State and Government|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M0YfDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA421 |year=2017|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-349-65771-1|page=421}} "Official name: Republic of India; Bharat Ganarajya (Hindi)";<br />–{{citation|author=Graham Rhind |title=Global Sourcebook of Address Data Management: A Guide to Address Formats and Data in 194 Countries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iGdQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA302|year=2017|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-1-351-93326-1|page=302}} "Official name: Republic of India; Bharat.";<br />–{{citation|last=Bradnock|first=Robert W.|title=The Routledge Atlas of South Asian Affairs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzjbCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA108|year=2015|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-317-40511-5|page=108}} "Official name: English: Republic of India; Hindi:Bharat Ganarajya";<br />–{{citation|title=Penguin Compact Atlas of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pLw-ReHIgvQC&pg=PA140|year=2012|publisher=[[Penguin Group|Penguin]] |isbn=978-0-7566-9859-1|page=140}} "Official name: Republic of India";<br />–{{citation|title=Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Co_VIPIJerIC&pg=PA515|year=1997|isbn=978-0-87779-546-9 |edition=3rd |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]]|pages=515–516}} "Officially, Republic of India";<br />–{{citation|title=Complete Atlas of the World: The Definitive View of the Earth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O5moCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA54-IA10 |edition=3rd|year=2016|publisher=[[DK Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4654-5528-4|page=54}} "Official name: Republic of India";<br />–{{citation|title=Worldwide Government Directory with Intergovernmental Organizations 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQWhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA726|year= 2013|publisher=[[CQ Press]]|isbn=978-1-4522-9937-2|page=726}} "India (Republic of India; Bharat Ganarajya)"</ref> is a country in [[South Asia]]. <!--PLEASE DO NOT change the lead sentence: it is the result of a talk page consensus.--> It is the [[List of countries and dependencies by area|seventh-largest country by area]]; the [[List of countries by population (United Nations)|most populous country]] as of June 2023;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Biswas |first=Soutik |date=1 May 2023 |title=Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65322706 |access-date=3 May 2023 |website=[[BBC News]] |publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/wpp2022_summary_of_results.pdf |title=World Population Prospects 2022: Summary of Results |publisher=United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs |year=2022 |location=New York |pages=i}}</ref> and from the time of its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy.{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2012|p=327|ps=: "Even though much remains to be done, especially in regard to eradicating poverty and securing effective structures of governance, India's achievements since independence in sustaining freedom and democracy have been singular among the world's new nations."}}<ref name="stein-arnold">{{Citation |last=Stein |first=Burton |title=A History of India |year=2012 |editor-last=Arnold |editor-first=David |series=The Blackwell History of the World Series |edition=2 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |quote=One of these is the idea of India as 'the world's largest democracy', but a democracy forged less by the creation of representative institutions and expanding electorate under British rule than by the endeavours of India's founding fathers – Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and Ambedkar – and the labours of the Constituent Assembly between 1946 and 1949, embodied in the Indian constitution of 1950. This democratic order, reinforced by the regular holding of nationwide elections and polling for the state assemblies, has, it can be argued, consistently underpinned a fundamentally democratic state structure – despite the anomaly of the Emergency and the apparent durability of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty. |author-link=Burton Stein |editor-link=David Arnold (historian)}}</ref>{{sfn|Fisher|2018|pp=184–185|ps=: "Since 1947, India's internal disputes over its national identity, while periodically bitter and occasionally punctuated by violence, have been largely managed with remarkable and sustained commitment to national unity and democracy."}} 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 west;{{efn|1 = The [[Government of India]] also regards [[Afghanistan]] as a bordering country, as it considers all of [[Kashmir]] to be part of India. However, this is [[Kashmir conflict|disputed]], and the region bordering Afghanistan is administered by Pakistan. Source: {{cite web |title=Ministry of Home Affairs (Department of Border Management) |url=https://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/BMIntro-1011.pdf|access-date=1 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317182910/https://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/BMIntro-1011.pdf|archive-date=17 March 2015|url-status=dead}} }} [[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 Islands]] share a maritime border with [[Thailand]], Myanmar, and [[Indonesia]].

By {{BCE|1200}}, an [[Proto-language|archaic form]] of [[Sanskrit]], an [[Indo-European language]], had [[Trans-cultural diffusion|diffused]] into India from the northwest.<ref name="Lowe2015">{{Cite book |last=Lowe |first=John J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L07CBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 |title=Participles in Rigvedic Sanskrit: The syntax and semantics of adjectival verb forms |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-19-100505-3 |pages=1–2 |quote=(The Rigveda) consists of 1,028 hymns (suktas), highly crafted poetic compositions originally intended for recital during rituals and for the invocation of and communication with the Indo-Aryan gods. Modern scholarly opinion largely agrees that these hymns were composed between around 1500&nbsp;BCE and 1200&nbsp;BCE, during the eastward migration of the Indo-Aryan tribes from the mountains of what is today northern Afghanistan across the Punjab into north India.}}</ref><ref name="Combined-4-Rigveda">(a) {{cite book|last=Witzel|first=Michael |author-link=Michael Witzel|editor=Gavin Flood|title=The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SKBxa-MNqA8C&pg=PA68|year=2008|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0-470-99868-7|pages=68–70|chapter=Vedas and Upanisads|quote=It is known from internal evidence that the Vedic texts were orally composed in northern India, at first in the Greater Punjab and later on also in more eastern areas, including northern Bihar, between ca. 1500 BCE and ca. 500–400 BCE. The oldest text, the Rgveda, must have been more or less contemporary with the Mitanni texts of northern Syria/Iraq (1450–1350 BCE); ... The Vedic texts were orally composed and transmitted, without the use of script, in an unbroken line of transmission from teacher to student that was formalised early on.  This ensured an impeccable textual transmission superior to the classical texts of other cultures; it is in fact something of a ''tape-recording'' of ca. 1500–500 BCE. Not just the actual words, but even the long-lost musical (tonal) accent (as in old Greek or in Japanese) has been preserved up to the present. (pp. 68–69) ... The RV text was composed before the introduction and massive use of iron, that is before ca. 1200–1000 BCE. (p. 70)}}<br />(b) {{citation|last=Doniger|first=Wendy|author-link=Wendy Doniger|title=On Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUnaAgAAQBAJ&pg=PR18|year= 2014|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-936009-3|pages=xviii, 10|quote=A Chronology of Hinduism: ca. 1500–1000 BCE Rig Veda; ca. 1200–900 BCE Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda (p. xviii); Hindu texts began with the ''Rig Veda'' ('Knowledge of Verses'), composed in northwest India around 1500 BCE (p. 10)}}<br />(c) {{harvnb|Ludden|2014|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pBq9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 19]}}, "In Punjab, a dry region with grasslands watered by five rivers (hence 'panch' and 'ab') draining the western Himalayas, one prehistoric culture left no material remains, but some of its ritual texts were preserved orally over the millennia. The culture is called Aryan, and evidence in its texts indicates that it spread slowly south-east, following the course of the Yamuna and Ganga Rivers. Its elite called itself Arya (pure) and distinguished themselves sharply from others. Aryans led kin groups organized as nomadic horse-herding tribes. Their ritual texts are called Vedas, composed in Sanskrit. [[Vedic Sanskrit]] is recorded only in hymns that were part of Vedic rituals to Aryan gods. To be Aryan apparently meant to belong to the elite among pastoral tribes. Texts that record Aryan culture are not precisely datable, but they seem to begin around 1200 BCE with four collections of Vedic hymns (Rg, Sama, Yajur, and Artharva)."

<br />(d) {{harvnb|Dyson|2018|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 14–15]}}, "Although the collapse of the Indus valley civilization is no longer believed to have been due to an 'Aryan invasion' it is widely thought that, at roughly the same time, or perhaps a few centuries later, new Indo-Aryan-speaking people and influences began to enter the subcontinent from the north-west. Detailed evidence is lacking. Nevertheless, a predecessor of the language that would eventually be called Sanskrit was probably introduced into the north-west sometime between 3,900 and 3,000 years ago. This language was related to one then spoken in eastern Iran; and both of these languages belonged to the Indo-European language family. ... It seems likely that various small-scale migrations were involved in the gradual introduction of the predecessor language and associated cultural characteristics. However, there may not have been a tight relationship between movements of people on the one hand, and changes in language and culture on the other. Moreover, the process whereby a dynamic new force gradually arose—a people with a distinct ideology who eventually seem to have referred to themselves as 'Arya'—was certainly two-way. That is, it involved a blending of new features which came from outside with other features—probably including some surviving Harappan influences—that were already present. Anyhow, it would be quite a few centuries before Sanskrit was written down. And the hymns and stories of the Arya people—especially the Vedas and the later Mahabharata and Ramayana epics—are poor guides as to historical events. Of course, the emerging Arya were to have a huge impact on the history of the subcontinent. Nevertheless, little is known about their early presence."; <br /> (e) {{harvnb|Robb|2011|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=GQ-2VH1LO_EC&pg=PA46 46–]}}, "The expansion of Aryan culture is supposed to have begun around 1500 BCE. It should not be thought that this Aryan emergence (though it implies some migration) necessarily meant either a sudden invasion of new peoples, or a complete break with earlier traditions. It comprises a set of cultural ideas and practices, upheld by a Sanskrit-speaking elite, or Aryans. The features of this society are recorded in the Vedas."</ref> Its evidence today is found in the hymns of the ''[[Rigveda]]''. Preserved by an [[oral tradition]] that was [[Indian mathematics#Styles of memorisation|resolutely vigilant]], the ''Rigveda'' records the dawning of [[Hinduism]] in India.<ref name="Combined-3">(a) {{citation|last1=Jamison|first1=Stephanie|author-link1=Stephanie W. Jamison|last2=Brereton|first2=Joel |title=The Rigveda|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LTRDwAAQBAJ|year=2020|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-063339-4|pages=2, 4|quote=The RgVeda is one of the four Vedas, which together constitute the oldest texts in Sanskrit and the earliest evidence for what will become Hinduism. (p. 2)  Although Vedic religion is very different in many regards from what is known as Classical Hinduism, the seeds are there. Gods like Visnu and Siva (under the name Rudra), who will become so dominant later, are already present in the Rgveda, though in roles both lesser than and different from those they will later play, and the principal Rgvedic gods like Indra remain in later Hinduism, though in diminished capacity (p. 4).}};<br />(b) {{citation|last=Flood|first=Gavin|author-link=Gavin Flood|editor=Gavin Flood|title=The Oxford History of Hinduism: Hindu Practice: Hindu Practice|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4yT3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4|year= 2020|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-105322-1|pages=4–|chapter=Introduction|quote=I take the term 'Hinduism to meaningfully denote a range and history of practice characterised by a number of features, particularly reference to Vedic textual and sacrificial origins, belonging to endogamous social units (jati/varna), participating in practices that involve making an offering to a deity and receiving a blessing (puja), and a first-level cultural polytheism (although many Hindus adhere to a second-level monotheism in which many gods are regarded as emanations or manifestations of the one, supreme being).}};<br />(c) {{cite book|last=Michaels|first=Axel|author-link=Axel Michaels|editor=Patrick Olivelle, Donald R. Davis|title=The Oxford History of Hinduism: Hindu Law: A New History of Dharmaśāstra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QAJCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA86|year=2017|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-100709-5|pages=86–97|quote=Almost all traditional Hindu families observe until today at least three ''samskaras'' (initiation, marriage, and death ritual).  Most other rituals have lost their popularity, are combined with other rites of passage, or are drastically shortened.  Although ''samskaras'' vary from region to region, from class (''varna'') to class, and from caste to caste, their core elements remain the same owing to the common source, the Veda, and a common priestly tradition preserved by the ''Brahmin'' priests. (p 86)}}<br />(d) {{cite book|last=Flood|first=Gavin D.|title=An Introduction to Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KpIWhKnYmF0C&pg=PA35|year=1996|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-43878-0|page=35|quote=It is this Sansrit, vedic, tradition which has maintained a continuity into modern times and which has provided the most important resource and inspiration for Hindu traditions and individuals.  The Veda is the foundation for most later developments in what is known as Hinduism.}}</ref> The [[Dravidian languages]] of India were supplanted in the northern and western regions.<ref name="Combined-4">{{harvnb|Dyson|2018|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 16], [https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA25 25]}}</ref>

<br />(b) {{harvnb|Fisher|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kZVuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA120 120]}}</ref> [[British Raj|British Crown rule]] began in 1858. The rights promised to Indians were granted slowly,<ref name="Combined-12">{{Citation |last=Taylor |first=Miles |title=Crowns and Colonies: European Monarchies and Overseas Empires |pages=38–39 |year=2016 |editor-last=Aldrish, Robert |chapter=The British royal family and the colonial empire from the Georgians to Prince George |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iR3GDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |isbn=978-1-5261-0088-7 |editor2-last=McCreery, Cindy}}</ref>{{sfn|Peers|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dyQuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 76]}} but [[Industrial Revolution|technological changes]] were introduced, and modern ideas of education and the public life took root.<ref name="EmbreeHay1988">{{Citation |last1=Embree |first1=Ainslie Thomas |title=Sources of Indian Tradition: Modern India and Pakistan |page=85 |year=1988 |chapter=Nationalism Takes Root: The Moderates |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XoMRuiSpBp4C&pg=PA85 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-06414-9 |last2=Hay |first2=Stephen N. |last3=Bary |first3=William Theodore De}}</ref> A pioneering and influential nationalist movement emerged, which was noted for nonviolent resistance and became the major factor in ending British rule.<ref name="Marshall2001">{{Citation |last=Marshall |first=P. J. |title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire |url={{Google books|S2EXN8JTwAEC|page=PA179|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |page=179 |year=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-00254-7 |quote=The first modern nationalist movement to arise in the non-European empire, and one that became an inspiration for many others, was the Indian Congress.}}</ref><ref name="Chiriyankandath2016">{{Citation |last=Chiriyankandath |first=James |title=Parties and Political Change in South Asia |url={{Google books|c4n7CwAAQBAJ|page=PA2|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |page=2 |year=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-58620-3 |quote=South Asian parties include several of the oldest in the post-colonial world, foremost among them the 129-year-old Indian National Congress that led India to independence in 1947}}</ref> In 1947 the British Indian Empire was [[Partition of India|partitioned]] into two independent [[Dominion#India, Pakistan and Bangladesh|dominions]],<ref name="fisher-partition">{{harvnb|Fisher|2018|pp=173–174}}: "The partition of South Asia that produced India and West and East Pakistan resulted from years of bitter negotiations and recriminations ... The departing British also decreed that the hundreds of princes, who ruled one-third of the subcontinent and a quarter of its population, became legally independent, their status to be settled later. Geographical location, personal and popular sentiment, and substantial pressure and incentives from the new governments led almost all princes eventually to merge their domains into either Pakistan or India.  ...  Each new government asserted its exclusive sovereignty within its borders, realigning all territories, animals, plants, minerals, and all other natural and human-made resources as either Pakistani or Indian property, to be used for its national development... Simultaneously, the central civil and military services and judiciary split roughly along religious 'communal' lines, even as they divided movable government assets according to a negotiated formula: 22.7 percent for Pakistan and 77.3 percent for India."</ref><ref name="chatterji-partition">{{Citation |last1=Chatterji |first1=Joya |title=Routledge Handbook of the South Asian Diaspora |year=2013 |editor-last=Chatterji |editor-first=Joya |chapter=Introduction: Concepts and Questions |place=London and New York |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-48010-9 |quote=[[Joya Chatterji]]  describes how the partition of the British Indian empire into the new nation states of India and Pakistan produced new diaspora on a vast, and hitherto unprecedented, scale, but hints that the sheer magnitude of refugee movements in South Asia after 1947 must be understood in the context of pre-existing migratory flows within the partitioned regions (see also Chatterji 2013). She also demonstrates that the new national states of India and Pakistan were quickly drawn into trying to stem this migration. As they put into place laws designed to restrict the return of partition emigrants, this produced new dilemmas for both new nations in their treatment of 'overseas Indians'; and many of them lost their right to return to their places of origin in the subcontinent, and also their claims to full citizenship in host countries. |last2=Washbrook |first2=David |editor2-last=Washbrook |editor2-first=David}}</ref><ref name="talbot-sing">{{Citation |last1=Talbot |first1=Ian |title=The Partition of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=utKmPQAACAAJ |year=2009 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213073754/https://books.google.com/books?id=utKmPQAACAAJ |url-status=live |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-85661-4 |quote=When the British divided and quit India in August 1947, they not only partitioned the subcontinent with the emergence of the two nations of India and Pakistan but also the provinces of Punjab and Bengal. ... Indeed for many the Indian subcontinent's division in August 1947 is seen as a unique event which defies comparative historical and conceptual analysis |archive-date=13 December 2016 |last2=Singh |first2=Gurharpal}}</ref><ref name="khan-great-partition">{{Citation |last=Khan |first=Yasmin |title=The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan |page=1 |year=2017 |orig-date=2007 |edition=2nd |place=New Haven and London |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-23032-1 |quote=South Asians learned that the British Indian empire would be partitioned on 3 June 1947.  They heard about it on the radio, from relations and friends, by reading newspapers and, later, through government pamphlets.  Among a population of almost four hundred million, where the vast majority live in the countryside, ploughing the land as landless peasants or sharecroppers, it is hardly surprising that many thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, did not hear the news for many weeks afterwards. For some, the butchery and forced relocation of the summer months of 1947 may have been the first that they knew about the creation of the two new states rising from the fragmentary and terminally weakened British empire in India |author-link=Yasmin Khan}}</ref> a Hindu-majority [[Dominion of India]] and a Muslim-majority [[Dominion of Pakistan]], amid large-scale loss of life and an unprecedented migration.<ref>(a) {{harvnb|Copland|2001|pp=71–78}};<br />(b) {{harvnb|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p=222}}.</ref>

India has been a [[federal republic]] since 1950, governed through a democratic [[parliamentary system]]. It is a [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|pluralistic]], [[Multilingualism|multilingual]] and [[Multiculturalism|multi-ethnic society]]. India's population grew from 361 million in 1951 to almost 1.4&nbsp;billion in 2022.<ref name="Dyson2018-219">{{harvnb|Dyson|2018|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA219 219], 262}}</ref>

During the same time, its nominal [[per capita income]] increased from US$64 annually to US$2,601, and its literacy rate from 16.6% to 74%. From being a comparatively destitute country in 1951,<ref name="Fisher2018-8">{{harvnb|Fisher|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kZVuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 8]}}</ref> India has become a [[List of countries by real GDP growth rate|fast-growing]] [[G20|major economy]] and [[Information technology in India|a hub for information technology services]], with an expanding middle class.<ref name="MetcalfMetcalf2012-265">{{harvnb|Metcalf|Metcalf|2012|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mjIfqyY7jlsC&pg=PA265 265–266]}}</ref> India has [[ISRO|a space programme]] with several planned or completed [[List of Solar System probes|extraterrestrial missions]]. It is the fourth country to land [[Chandrayaan-3|a craft]] on the moon and the first to do so within {{convert|600|km|mi}} of the [[Lunar south pole]].<ref name=kumar-nytimes-8-23-2023>{{citation|last1=Kumar|first1=Hari|last2=Travelli|first2=Alex|last3=Mashal|first3=Mujib|last4=Chang|first4=Kenneth|title='India Is on the Moon': Lander's Success Moves Nation to Next Space Chapter|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 23, 2023|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/23/science/chandrayaan-3-india-moon-landing.html|quote=Two visitors from India — a lander named Vikram and a rover named Pragyan — landed in the southern polar region of the moon on Wednesday. The two robots, from a mission named Chandrayaan-3, make India the first country to ever reach this part of the lunar surface in one piece — and only the fourth country ever to land on the moon. ... The spacecraft stopped to hover about 150 yards above the surface for a few seconds, then resumed its downward journey until it settled gently on the surface, about 370 miles from the south pole.}}</ref> [[Cinema of India|Indian movies]], [[Music of India|music]], and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture.<ref name="MetcalfMetcalf2012-266">{{harvnb|Metcalf|Metcalf|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mjIfqyY7jlsC&pg=PA266 266]}}</ref> India has substantially reduced its rate of [[Poverty in India|poverty]], though at the cost of increasing economic inequality.<ref name="Dyson2018-216-a">{{harvnb|Dyson|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA216 216]}}</ref> India is a [[List of states with nuclear weapons|nuclear-weapon state]], which [[List of countries by military expenditures|ranks high in military expenditure]]. It has disputes over [[Kashmir]] with its neighbours, Pakistan and China, unresolved since the mid-20th century.<ref name="kashmir-disputes">(a) {{citation |title=Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Kashmir-region-Indian-subcontinent |access-date=15 August 2019 |url-access=subscription |quote=Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent{{nbsp}}... has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813203817/https://www.britannica.com/place/Kashmir-region-Indian-subcontinent |archive-date=13 August 2019 |url-status=live}};<br />(b) {{citation |last1=Pletcher |first1=Kenneth |title=Aksai Chin, Plateau Region, Asia |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Aksai-Chin |access-date=16 August 2019 |url-access=subscription |quote=Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, ... constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402090308/https://www.britannica.com/place/Aksai-Chin |archive-date=2 April 2019}};<br />(c) {{cite encyclopedia|title=Kashmir|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Americana]]: Jefferson to Latin |publisher=[[Scholastic Library Publishing]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l_cWAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA328 |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7172-0139-6 |page=328 |first=C. E |last=Bosworth |quote=KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, administered partly by India, partly by Pakistan, and partly by China. The region has been the subject of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947}}</ref> Among the socio-economic challenges India faces are [[Gender inequality in India|gender inequality]], [[Malnutrition in India|child malnutrition]],<ref name="NarayanJohn2018-lead">{{Cite journal |last1=Narayan |first1=Jitendra |last2=John |first2=Denny |last3=Ramadas |first3=Nirupama |year=2018 |title=Malnutrition in India: status and government initiatives |journal=[[Journal of Public Health Policy]] |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=126–141 |doi=10.1057/s41271-018-0149-5 |issn=0197-5897 |pmid=30353132 |s2cid=53032234}}</ref> and rising levels of [[Air pollution in India|air pollution]].<ref name="BalakrishnanDey2019-lead">{{Cite journal |last1=Balakrishnan |first1=Kalpana |last2=Dey |first2=Sagnik |display-authors=etal |year=2019 |title=The impact of air pollution on deaths, disease burden, and life expectancy across the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 |journal=[[The Lancet Planetary Health]] |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=e26–e39 |doi=10.1016/S2542-5196(18)30261-4 |issn=2542-5196 |pmc=6358127 |pmid=30528905}}</ref> India's land is [[megadiverse country|megadiverse]], with four [[biodiversity hotspots]].<ref name="IUCN-India">{{Citation |title=India |url=https://www.iucn.org/asia/countries/india |year=2019 |access-date=21 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101033802/https://www.iucn.org/asia/countries/india |url-status=dead |publisher=[[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN) |archive-date=1 November 2020}}</ref> [[Forest cover in India|Its forest cover]] comprises 21.7% of its area.<ref name="ISFR" /> [[Wildlife of India|India's wildlife]], which has traditionally been viewed with tolerance in [[Culture of India|India's culture]],{{sfn|Karanth|Gopal|2005|p=374}} is supported among these forests, and elsewhere, in [[Protected areas of India|protected habitats]].

According to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (third edition 2009), the name "India" is derived from the [[Classical Latin]] ''India'', a reference to [[South Asia]] and an uncertain region to its east. In turn the name "India" derived successively from [[Hellenistic Greek]] ''India'' ('' Ἰνδία''), [[ancient Greek]] ''Indos'' ('' Ἰνδός''), [[Old Persian]] ''[[Hindush]]'' (an eastern province of the [[Achaemenid Empire]]), and ultimately its [[cognate]], the [[Sanskrit]] ''Sindhu'', or "river", specifically the [[Indus River]] and, by implication, its well-settled southern basin.<ref>{{Citation |title=India (noun) |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/94384#eid677811 |work=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |year=2009 |edition=3rd}} (subscription required)</ref>{{sfn|Thieme|1970|pp=447–450}} The [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] referred to the Indians as ''Indoi'' (''{{ISO 639-2|GRC|Ἰνδοί}}''), which translates as "The people of the Indus".{{sfn|Kuiper|2010|p = 86}}

The term ''[[Names for India#Bhārata|Bharat]]'' ({{transliteration|hi|ISO|Bhārat}}; {{IPA-hns|ˈbʱaːɾət|pron|hi-Bharat.ogg}}), mentioned in both [[Indian epic poetry]] and the [[Constitution of India]],{{sfn|Clémentin-Ojha|2014}}<ref>{{Citation |title=The Constitution of India |date=1 December 2007 |url=https://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf |access-date=3 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909230437/https://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf |url-status=dead |publisher=[[Ministry of Law and Justice (India)|Ministry of Law and Justice]] |quote=Article 1(1): India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States. |archive-date=9 September 2014}}</ref> is used in its variations by [[Names of India in its official languages|many Indian languages]]. A modern rendering of the historical name ''Bharatavarsha'', which applied originally to [[North India]],<ref name="Jha2014">{{Citation |last=Jha |first=Dwijendra Narayan |title=Rethinking Hindu Identity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqDgBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 |page=11 |year=2014 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-317-49034-0}}</ref>{{sfn|Singh|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dYM4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA253 253]}} ''Bharat'' gained increased currency from the mid-19th century as a native name for India.{{sfn|Clémentin-Ojha|2014}}{{sfn|Barrow|2003}}

''[[Hindustan]]'' ({{IPA-hns|ɦɪndʊˈstaːn||Hindustan.ogg}}) is a [[Middle Persian]] name for India that became popular by the 13th century,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Paturi |first1=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oCo5DAAAQBAJ |title=World Religions & Cults Volume 2: Moralistic, Mythical and Mysticism Religions |last2=Patterson |first2=Roger |date=2016 |publisher=New Leaf Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-89051-922-6 |editor-last=Hodge |editor-first=Bodie |location=United States |pages=59–60 |chapter=Hinduism (with Hare Krishna) |quote=The actual term Hindu first occurs as a Persian geographical term for the people who lived beyond the Indus River. The term Hindu originated as a geographical term and did not refer to a religion. Later, Hindu was taken by European languages from the Arabic term al-Hind, which referred to the people who lived across the Indus River. This Arabic term was itself taken from the Persian term Hindū, which refers to all Indians. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as a popular alternative name for India, meaning the "land of Hindus." |editor-last2=Patterson |editor-first2=Roger}}</ref> and was used widely since the era of the [[Mughal Empire]]. The meaning of ''Hindustan'' has varied, referring to a region encompassing present-day northern India and [[Pakistan]] or to India in its near entirety.{{sfn|Clémentin-Ojha|2014}}{{sfn|Barrow|2003}}<ref>{{Citation |title=Hindustan |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266465/Hindustan |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=17 July 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Battle at Lanka, Ramayana, Udaipur, 1649-53.jpg|thumb|Manuscript illustration, {{circa|1650}}, of the Sanskrit epic [[Ramayana]], composed in story-telling fashion {{circa|{{BCE|400}}|{{CE|300}}}}<ref name="Lowe2017-epic">{{Cite book |last=Lowe |first=John J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSgmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |title=Transitive Nouns and Adjectives: Evidence from Early Indo-Aryan |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-879357-1 |page=58 |quote=The term 'Epic Sanskrit' refers to the language of the two great Sanskrit epics, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa. ...  It is likely, therefore, that the epic-like elements found in Vedic sources and the two epics that we have are not directly related, but that both drew on the same source, an oral tradition of storytelling that existed before, throughout, and after the Vedic period.}}</ref>|right]]

The rush of technology and the commercialisation of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacks, and many small farmers became dependent on the whims of far-away markets.{{sfn|Stein|1998|p = 260}} There was an increase in the number of large-scale [[Famine in India|famines]],{{sfn|Stein|2010|p=245|ps=: An expansion of state functions in British and in princely India occurred as a result of the terrible famines of the later nineteenth century, ... A reluctant regime decided that state resources had to be deployed and that anti-famine measures were best managed through technical experts.}} and, despite the risks of infrastructure development borne by Indian taxpayers, little industrial employment was generated for Indians.{{sfn|Stein|1998|p = 258}} There were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in the newly canalled Punjab, led to increased food production for internal consumption.{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 126}} The railway network provided critical famine relief,{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 97}} notably reduced the cost of moving goods,{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 97}} and helped nascent Indian-owned industry.{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 126}}

After World War I, in which approximately [[Indian Army during World War I|one million Indians served]],{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 163}} a new period began. It was marked by [[Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms|British reforms]] but also [[Rowlatt act|repressive legislation]], by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, and by the beginnings of a [[nonviolent]] movement of non-co-operation, of which [[Mahatma Gandhi]] would become the leader and enduring symbol.{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 167}} During the 1930s, slow legislative reform was enacted by the British; the Indian National Congress won victories in the resulting elections.{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|pp = 195–197}} The next decade was beset with crises: [[India in World War II|Indian participation in World War&nbsp;II]], the Congress's final push for non-co-operation, and an upsurge of [[Muslim nationalism in South Asia|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.{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 203}}

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.{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 231}} Per the [[London Declaration]], India retained its membership of the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]], becoming the first republic within it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=London Declaration, 1949 |url=https://thecommonwealth.org/london-declaration-1949 |access-date=11 October 2022 |website=Commonwealth |language=en}}</ref> Economic liberalisation, which [[Economic liberalisation in India|began in the 1980s]] and the collaboration with Soviet Union for technical know-how,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Role of Soviet Union in India's industrialisation: a comparative assessment with the West |url=http://ijrar.com/upload_issue/ijrar_issue_20544196.pdf |website=ijrar.com}}</ref> has created a large urban middle class, transformed India into [[List of countries by GDP (real) growth rate|one of the world's fastest-growing economies]],<ref>{{Citation |title=Briefing Rooms: India |url=https://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/India/ |work=[[Economic Research Service]] |year=2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520002800/https://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/India/ |url-status=dead |publisher=[[United States Department of Agriculture]] |archive-date=20 May 2011}}</ref> and increased its geopolitical clout. Yet, India is also shaped by seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban;{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006 |pp=265–266}} by [[Religious violence in India|religious]] and [[Caste-related violence in India|caste-related violence]];{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|pp = 266–270}} by [[Naxalite|Maoist-inspired Naxalite insurgencies]];{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 253}} and by [[Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir|separatism in Jammu and Kashmir]] and [[insurgency in Northeast India|in Northeast India]].{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 274}} It has unresolved territorial disputes with [[China–India relations#1960s|China]]{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|pp = 247–248}} and with [[Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts|Pakistan]].{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|pp = 247–248}} India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among the world's newer nations; however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged population remains a goal yet to be achieved.{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 304}}

India accounts for the bulk of the Indian subcontinent, lying atop the [[Indian Plate|Indian tectonic plate]], a part of the [[Indo-Australian Plate]].{{sfn|Ali|Aitchison|2005}} 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 [[Plate tectonics|drift]] caused by [[seafloor spreading]] to its south-west, and later, south and south-east.{{sfn|Ali|Aitchison|2005}} Simultaneously, the vast [[Tethys Ocean|Tethyan]] [[oceanic crust]], to its northeast, began to [[subduction|subduct]] under the [[Eurasian Plate]].{{sfn|Ali|Aitchison|2005}} These dual processes, driven by convection in the Earth's [[Mantle (geology)|mantle]], both created the Indian Ocean and caused the Indian [[continental crust]] eventually to under-thrust Eurasia and to uplift the [[Himalayas]].{{sfn|Ali|Aitchison|2005}} Immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast crescent-shaped [[trough (geology)|trough]] that rapidly filled with river-borne sediment{{sfn|Dikshit |Schwartzberg|2023|p=7}} and now constitutes the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]].{{sfn|Prakash et al.|2000}} The original Indian plate makes its first appearance above the sediment in the ancient [[Aravalli range]], which extends from the [[Delhi Ridge]] in a southwesterly direction. To the west lies the [[Thar Desert]], the eastern spread of which is checked by the Aravallis.<ref name="aravalli">{{harvnb|Kaul|1970|p=160}}, "&nbsp;The Aravalli range boldy defines the eastern limit of the arid and semi-arid zone. Probably the more humid conditions that prevail near the Aravallis prevented the extension of aridity towards the east and the Ganges Valley. It is noteworthy that, wherever there are gaps in this range, sand has advanced to the east of it."</ref><ref name="prasad-aravalli">{{harvnb|Prasad|1974|p=372}}, "&nbsp;The topography of the Indian Desert is dominated by the Aravalli Ranges on its eastern border, which consist largely of tightly folded and highly metamorphosed Archaean rocks."</ref><ref name="fisher-aravalli">{{harvnb|Fisher|2018|p=83}}, "&nbsp;East of the lower Indus lay the inhospitable Rann of Kutch and Thar Desert. East of the upper Indus lay the more promising but narrow corridor between the Himalayan foothills on the north and the Thar Desert and Aravalli Mountains on the south. At the strategic choke point, just before reaching the fertile, well-watered Gangetic plain, sat Delhi. On this site, where life giving streams running off the most northern spur of the rocky Aravalli ridge flowed into the Jumna river, and where the war-horse and war-elephant trade intersected, a series of dynasties built fortified capitals."</ref>

|0=[[File:KedarRange.jpg|thumb|left|The Kedar range of the Greater Himalayas rises behind the [[Kedarnath Temple]] in the Indian state of [[Uttarakhand]]. Snow melt from the glaciers behind Kedarnath forms the [[Mandakini river]], one of the [[River source|headstreams]] of the [[Ganges river]].<ref name="Sen2019">{{Citation |last=Sudipta Sen |title=Ganges: The Many Pasts of an Indian River |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOV8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT47 |page=47 |year=2019 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-24267-6}} Quote: "The confluence of rivers, especially of the Ganges and its tributaries, is one of the most significant geographical spaces for the pilgrim, ... A common name for such a place in Sanskrit ... is prayaga, ... such as [[Rudraprayag]], situated at the meeting of two rivers: the Mandakini River, coming down from the steep glaciers beyond Kedarnath, and Alaknanda River, making its way from [[Badrinath]]."</ref>]]

|1=[[File:Agasthiyamalai range and Tirunelveli rainshadow.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Agasthiyamalai]] range, constituting the southern end of the [[Western Ghats]], as seen from the [[rainshadow]] region of the [[southwest monsoon]] in [[Tirunelveli]], [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name="Oates1999">{{Citation |last=Oates |first=John F. |title=Myth and Reality in the Rain Forest |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V0WFszVK5lQC&pg=PA35 |page=35 |year=1999 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-22252-6}} Quote: "The Agastyamalai are the most southerly portion of the Western Ghats. These wet and rugged hills are one of the last places in South India to support an extensive area of evergreen shola forest, and they are home to what may be the largest surviving population of lion-tailed macaques"</ref>]]

|4=[[File:Thar desert Rajasthan India.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Thar desert]], 85% of which lies in the Indian state of [[Rajasthan]], spreads over an area of {{convert|2340000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}.  It constitutes the northwestern limit of the [[southwest monsoon]].<ref name="Laity2009">{{Citation |last=Laity |first=Julie J |title=Deserts and Desert Environments |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtAbzLLTcwcC&pg=PA30 |page=30 |year=2009 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-1-4443-0074-1}}</ref>]]

|7=[[File:Mt. Kanchenjunga.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Kanchenjunga|Khangchendzonga]] [[massif]], shows Mount Khangchendzonga Central, in the middle, the world's third highest mountain at {{convert|28169|ft|m}} located on the border of India's [[Sikkim]] state and [[Nepal]].<ref name="unesco-kangchenjunga">{{Citation |title=Khangchendzonda National Park |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1513 |access-date=18 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820000450/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1513 |url-status=live |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |archive-date=20 August 2019}}</ref>]]

Temperatures in India have risen by {{convert|0.7|C-change|1|abbr=on}} between 1901 and 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharma |first=Vibha |date=15 June 2020 |title=Average temperature over India projected to rise by 4.4 degrees Celsius: Govt report on impact of climate change in country |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/average-temperature-over-india-projected-to-rise-by-4-4-degrees-celsius-govt-report-on-impact-of-climate-change-in-country-99583 |access-date=30 November 2020 |website=[[The Tribune]]}}</ref> [[Climate change in India]] is often thought to be the cause. The [[Retreat of glaciers since 1850|retreat of Himalayan glaciers]] has adversely affected the [[Volumetric flow rate|flow rate]] of the major Himalayan rivers, including the [[Ganges]] and the [[Brahmaputra]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Sethi |first=Nitin |date=3 February 2007 |title=Global warming: Mumbai to face the heat |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/global-warming-mumbai-to-face-the-heat/articleshow/1556662.cms |access-date=11 March 2021 |website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref> According to some current projections, the number and severity of droughts in India will have markedly increased by the end of the present century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gupta |first1=Vivek |last2=Jain |first2=Manoj Kumar |year=2018 |title=Investigation of multi-model spatiotemporal mesoscale drought projections over India under climate change scenario |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002216941830773X |journal=[[Journal of Hydrology]] |volume=567 |pages=489–509 |bibcode=2018JHyd..567..489G |doi=10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.10.012 |issn=0022-1694 |s2cid=135053362}}</ref>

 

According to official statistics, India's [[forest cover]] is {{convert|713789|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, which is 21.71% of the country's total land area.<ref name="ISFR">{{Cite web |title=India State of Forest Report, 2021 |url=https://fsi.nic.in/forest-report-2021-details |access-date=17 January 2022 |publisher=Forest Survey of India, [[National Informatics Centre]]}}</ref> It can be subdivided further into broad categories of ''canopy density'', or the proportion of the area of a forest covered by its [[tree canopy]].<ref name="Jha2018">{{Citation |last=Jha |first=Raghbendra |title=Facets of India's Economy and Her Society Volume II: Current State and Future Prospects |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9n9SDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA198 |page=198 |year=2018 |publisher=[[Springer Publishing|Springer]] |isbn=978-1-349-95342-4}}</ref> ''Very dense forest'', whose ''canopy density'' is greater than 70%, occupies 3.02% of India's land area.<ref name="Jha2018" /><ref name="indiaforest">{{Cite web |title=Forest Cover in States/UTs in India in 2019 |url=https://www.frienvis.nic.in/Database/Forest-Cover-in-States-UTs-2019_2478.aspx |access-date=16 October 2021 |publisher=[[Forest Research Institute (India)|Forest Research Institute]] via [[National Informatics Centre]]}}</ref> It predominates in the [[tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest|tropical moist forest]] of the [[Andaman Islands]], the [[Western Ghats]], and [[Northeast India]]. ''Moderately dense forest'', whose canopy density is between 40% and 70%, occupies 9.39% of India's land area.<ref name="Jha2018" /><ref name="indiaforest" /> It predominates in the [[temperate coniferous forest]] of the [[Himalaya]]s, the moist deciduous ''[[Shorea robusta|sal]]'' forest of eastern India, and the dry deciduous [[teak]] forest of central and southern India.{{sfn|Tritsch|2001|pp=11–12}} ''Open forest'', whose canopy density is between 10% and 40%, occupies 9.26% of India's land area.<ref name="Jha2018" /><ref name="indiaforest" /> India has two natural zones of [[deserts and xeric shrublands|thorn forest]], one in the [[Deccan Plateau]], immediately east of the Western Ghats, and the other in the western part of the Indo-Gangetic plain, now turned into rich agricultural land by irrigation, its features no longer visible.{{sfn|Tritsch|2001|p=12|ps=India has two natural zones of thorn forest, one in the rain shadow area of the Deccan Plateau east of the Western Ghats, and the other in the western part of the Indo-Gangetic plain.  Growth is limited only by moisture availability in these areas, so with irrigation the fertile alluvial soil of Punjab and Haryana has been turned into India's prime agricultural area.  Much of the thorn forest covering the plains probably had savannah-like features now no longer visible.}}

 

Many Indian species have descended from those of [[Gondwana]], the southern [[supercontinent]] from which India separated more than 100 million years ago.{{sfn|Crame|Owen|2002|p = 142}} India's subsequent collision with Eurasia set off a mass exchange of species. However, [[Deccan Traps|volcanism]] and [[Climate variability and change|climatic changes]] later caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms.{{sfn|Karanth|2006}} Still later, mammals entered India from Asia through two [[zoogeographical]] passes flanking the Himalayas.{{sfn|Tritsch|2001|p=14}} This had the effect of lowering endemism among India's mammals, which stands at 12.6%, contrasting with 45.8% among reptiles and 55.8% among amphibians.<ref name="Puri" /> Among endemics are the vulnerable<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Singh, M. |last2=Kumar, A. |last3=Molur, S. |name-list-style=amp |year=2008 |title=Trachypithecus johnii |journal=[[The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] |volume=2008 |at=e.T44694A10927987 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T44694A10927987.en |doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Nilgiri Langur|hooded leaf monkey]]<ref name="itis">{{Cite web |last=Fischer |first=Johann |author-link=Johann Baptist Fischer |title=Semnopithecus johnii |url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=944270#null |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829072131/https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=944270#null |archive-date=29 August 2018 |access-date=27 August 2018 |publisher=[[ITIS]]}}</ref> and the threatened<ref name="IUCN">{{Cite journal |last1=S.D. Biju |last2=Sushil Dutta |last3=M.S. Ravichandran Karthikeyan Vasudevan |last4=S.P. Vijayakumar |last5=Chelmala Srinivasulu |last6=Gajanan Dasaramji Bhuddhe |year=2004 |title=Duttaphrynus beddomii |journal=[[The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] |publisher=[[IUCN]] |volume=2004 |page=e.T54584A86543952 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T54584A11155448.en |doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Duttaphrynus beddomii|Beddome's toad]]<ref name="IUCN" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Frost, Darrel R. |year=2015 |title=''Duttaphrynus beddomii'' (Günther, 1876) |url=https://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/Amphibia/Anura/Bufonidae/Duttaphrynus/Duttaphrynus-beddomii |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721092639/https://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/Amphibia/Anura/Bufonidae/Duttaphrynus/Duttaphrynus-beddomii |archive-date=21 July 2015 |access-date=13 September 2015 |website=Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 |publisher=[[American Museum of Natural History]]}}</ref> of the Western Ghats.

|0=[[File:Nilgiri tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius) female head.jpg|thumb|left|The endangered [[Nilgiri tahr]] is endemic to the [[Western Ghats]]. Its population in 2008 was between 1,800 and 2,000 and decreasing.<ref name="nilgiri-tahr-IUCN">{{Citation |last=Alempath |first=M. |title=Nilgiritragus hylocrius |work=[[The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] |year=2008 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T9917A13026736.en |last2=Rice |first2=C.}}</ref>]]

|1=[[File:Banyan Tree at The Valley School , Bangalore.JPG|thumb|left|The ''[[Ficus benghalensis]]'', commonly known as the Indian banyan, or Indian fig, is indigenous to India, and is one of the largest trees by canopy coverage.  It has [[aerial roots]] which form new trunks once they reach the ground and propagate.<ref name="Corner2002">{{Citation |last=Corner |first=E. J. H. |title=The Life of Plants |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V0VyqECPiuoC&pg=PA227 |page=227 |year=2002 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |isbn=978-0-226-11615-0}}</ref>]]

|2=[[File:Clinotarsus curtipes-Aralam-2016-10-29-001.jpg|thumb|left|The vulnerable [[Malabar frog]] (''Clinotarsus curtipes'') is a species of frog [[Endemism|endemic]] in the [[Western Ghats]] of India.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Frost, Darrel R. |year=2014 |title=''Clinotarsus curtipes'' (Jerdon, 1853) |url=https://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/Amphibia/Anura/Ranidae/Clinotarsus/Clinotarsus-curtipes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504173141/https://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/Amphibia/Anura/Ranidae/Clinotarsus/Clinotarsus-curtipes |archive-date=4 May 2014 |access-date=4 May 2014 |website=Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 |publisher=[[American Museum of Natural History]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Biju, S.D. |last2=Dutta, Sushil |last3=Inger, Robert |name-list-style=amp |year=2004 |title=Clinotarsus curtipes |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/58583/0 |url-status=live |journal=[[The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] |publisher=[[IUCN]] |volume=2004 |page=e.T58583A11789937 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T58583A11789937.en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228054221/https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/58583/0 |archive-date=28 December 2017 |access-date=10 January 2018}}</ref>]]

India contains 172 [[World Conservation Union|IUCN]]-designated [[List of endangered animals in India|threatened animal species]], or 2.9% of endangered forms.{{sfn|Mace|1994|p = 4}} These include the endangered [[Bengal tiger]] and the [[South Asian river dolphin|Ganges river dolphin]]. [[Critically endangered]] species include the [[gharial]], a [[crocodilian]]; the [[great Indian bustard]]; and the [[Indian white-rumped vulture]], which has become nearly extinct by having ingested the carrion of [[diclofenac]]-treated cattle.<ref name="LovetteFitzpatrick2016">{{Citation |last1=Lovette |first1=Irby J. |title=Handbook of Bird Biology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OGyQDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA599 |page=599 |year=2016 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-1-118-29105-4 |last2=Fitzpatrick |first2=John W.}}</ref> Before they were extensively used for agriculture and cleared for human settlement, the thorn forests of Punjab were mingled at intervals with open grasslands that were grazed by large herds of blackbuck preyed on by the [[Asiatic cheetah]]; the blackbuck, no longer extant in Punjab, is now severely endangered in India, and the cheetah is extinct.{{sfn|Tritsch|2001|p=15|ps=Before it was so heavily settled and intensively exploited, the Punjab was dominated by thorn forest interspersed by rolling grasslands which were grazed on by millions of Blackbuck, accompanied by their dominant predator, the Cheetah. Always keen hunters, the Moghul princes kept tame cheetahs which were used to chase and bring down the Blackbuck. Today the Cheetah is extinct in India and the severely endangered Blackbuck no longer exists in the Punjab.}} The pervasive and ecologically devastating human encroachment of recent decades has critically endangered Indian wildlife. In response, the system of [[National parks of India|national parks]] and [[protected areas of India|protected areas]], first established in 1935, was expanded substantially. In 1972, India enacted the [[Wildlife Protection Act of 1972|Wildlife Protection Act]]{{sfn|Ministry of Environment and Forests 1972}} and [[Project Tiger]] to safeguard crucial wilderness; the Forest Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments added in 1988.{{sfn|Department of Environment and Forests|1988}} India hosts [[Wildlife sanctuaries of India|more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries]] and [[Biosphere reserves of India|eighteen{{Nbsp}}biosphere reserves]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=biosphere.pdf |url=https://moef.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/biosphere.pdf |access-date=28 June 2023}}</ref> four of which are part of the [[World Network of Biosphere Reserves]]; [[List of Ramsar sites in India|seventy-five wetlands]] are registered under the [[Ramsar Convention]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=75 Ramsar Sites in 75th Year of Independence |url=https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1851484 |access-date=28 June 2023 |website=pib.gov.in}}</ref>

 

</gallery>

| align            = left

| caption1          = As part of [[Janadesh 2007]], 25,000 pro-[[land reform in India|land reform]] [[landless]] people in [[Madhya Pradesh]] listen to [[Rajagopal P. V.]]<ref name="Johnston2019">{{Citation |last=Johnston |first=Hank |title=Social Movements, Nonviolent Resistance, and the State |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hSiFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT83 |page=83 |year=2019 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-429-88566-2}}</ref>

A [[parliamentary republic]] with a [[multi-party system]],{{sfn|Burnell|Calvert|1999|p = 125}} India has six{{Nbsp}}recognised [[List of political parties in India#National parties|national parties]], including the [[Indian National Congress]] (INC) and the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP), and more than 50{{Nbsp}}[[List of political parties in India#State parties|regional parties]].{{sfn|Election Commission of India}} The Congress is considered [[centre-left politics|centre-left]] in Indian [[political culture]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sáez |first1=Lawrence |last2=Sinha |first2=Aseema |year=2010 |title=Political cycles, political institutions and public expenditure in India, 1980–2000 |journal=[[British Journal of Political Science]] |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=91–113 |doi=10.1017/s0007123409990226 |s2cid=154767259}}</ref> and the BJP [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]].{{sfn|Malik|Singh|1992|pp=318–336}}{{sfn|Banerjee|2005|p=3118}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Halarnkar |first=Samar |date=13 June 2012 |title=Narendra Modi makes his move |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-18352532 |quote=The right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India's primary opposition party}}</ref> 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 of India|Parliament]]. Since then, however, it has increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP,{{sfn|Sarkar|2007|p=84}} as well as with powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party [[coalition government]]s at the centre.{{sfn|Chander|2004|p=117}}

In the Republic of India's first three general elections, in [[1951 Indian general election|1951]], [[1957 Indian general election|1957]], and [[1962 Indian general election|1962]], the [[Pandit 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 Nehru's daughter [[Indira Gandhi]], who went on to lead the Congress to election victories in [[1967 Indian general election|1967]] and [[1971 Indian general election|1971]]. Following public discontent with the [[The Emergency (India)|state of emergency]] she declared in 1975, the Congress was voted out of power in [[1977 Indian general election|1977]]; the then-new [[Janata Party]], which had opposed the emergency, was voted in. Its government lasted just over two years. There were two prime ministers during this period; [[Morarji Desai]] and [[Charan Singh]]. Voted back into power in 1980, the Congress saw a change in leadership in 1984, when Indira Gandhi was [[Assassination of Indira Gandhi|assassinated]]; she was succeeded by her son [[Rajiv Gandhi]], who won an easy victory in the general elections [[1984 Indian general election|later that year]]. The Congress was voted out again in [[1989 Indian general election|1989]] when a [[National Front (India)|National Front]] coalition, led by the newly formed [[Janata Dal]] in alliance with the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)|Left Front]], won the elections; that government too proved relatively short-lived, lasting just under two years. There were two prime ministers during this period; [[V.P. Singh]] and [[Chandra Shekhar]].{{sfn|Bhambhri|1992|pp=118, 143}} Elections were held again in [[1991 Indian general election|1991]]; no party won an absolute majority. The Congress, as the largest single party, was able to form a [[minority government]] led by [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 December 2004 |title=Narasimha Rao Passes Away |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.hindu.com/2004/12/24/stories/2004122408870100.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=2 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213181659/https://www.hindu.com/2004/12/24/stories/2004122408870100.htm |archive-date=13 February 2009}}</ref>

{{multiple image|perrow=1|total_width=220|image_style = border:none;| align = right |image1=Barack Obama at Parliament of India in New Delhi addressing Joint session of both houses 2010.jpg|caption1=US president [[Barack Obama]] addresses the [[Member of Parliament (India)|members]] of the [[Parliament of India]] in [[New Delhi]] in November 2010.}}

A two-year period of political turmoil followed the general election of [[1996 Indian general election|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 (India)|United Front]] coalitions, which depended on external support. There were two prime ministers during this period; [[H.D. Deve Gowda]] and [[I.K. Gujral]]. In [[1998 Indian general election|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.{{sfn|Dunleavy|Diwakar|Dunleavy|2007}} Again in the [[2004 Indian general election]]s, 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-wing politics|left-leaning]] parties and MPs who opposed the BJP. The UPA returned to power in the [[2009 Indian general election|2009 general election]] with increased numbers, and it no longer required external support from [[List of Communist Parties in India|India's communist parties]].{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|p = 384}} That year, [[Manmohan Singh]] became the first prime minister since [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] in [[1957 Indian general election|1957]] and [[1962 Indian general election|1962]] to be re-elected to a consecutive five-year term.{{sfn|Business Standard|2009}} In the [[2014 Indian general election|2014 general election]], the BJP became the first political party since 1984 to win a majority and govern without the support of other parties.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 May 2014 |title=BJP first party since 1984 to win parliamentary majority on its own |work=[[Daily News and Analysis|DNA]] |agency=Indo-Asian News Service |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-bjp-first-party-since-1984-to-win-parliamentary-majority-on-its-own-1988981 |access-date=20 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521032413/https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-bjp-first-party-since-1984-to-win-parliamentary-majority-on-its-own-1988981 |archive-date=21 May 2014}}</ref> In the [[2019 Indian general election|2019 general election]], the BJP was victorious again. The incumbent prime minister is [[Narendra Modi]], a former [[Chief minister (India)|chief minister]] of [[Gujarat]]. On 22 July 2022, [[Droupadi Murmu]] was [[2022 Indian presidential election|elected]] India's 15th president and took the oath of office on 25 July 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 July 2022 |title=Droupadi Murmu Swearing-in Live: My election is the greatness of India, mother of democracy, says President Murmu |publisher=The Indian Express |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/droupadi-murmu-swearing-in-live-updates-8049577/ |access-date=26 July 2022}}</ref>

{{multiple image|perrow=1|total_width=220|image_style = border:none;| align = left |image1=Rashtrapati Bhavan Wide New Delhi India.jpg|caption1=[[Rashtrapati Bhavan]], the official residence of the [[President of India]], was designed by British architects [[Edwin Lutyens]] and [[Herbert Baker]] for the [[Viceroy of India]], and constructed between 1911 and 1931 during the [[British Raj]].<ref name="Bremner2016">{{Citation |last=Bremner |first=G. A. |title=Architecture and Urbanism in the British Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjRADQAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 |page=117 |year=2016 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-102232-6}}</ref>}}

India is a [[federation]] with a [[parliamentary system]] governed under the Constitution of India—the country's supreme legal document. It is a constitutional republic.

| language    = None<ref name="Times News Network">{{Cite news |last=Khan |first=Saeed |date=25 January 2010 |title=There's no national language in India: Gujarat High Court |work=[[The Times of India]] |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Theres-no-national-language-in-India-Gujarat-High-Court/articleshow/5496231.cms |access-date=5 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318040319/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Theres-no-national-language-in-India-Gujarat-High-Court/articleshow/5496231.cms |archive-date=18 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="NoneNtl">{{Cite news |date=16 November 2009 |title=Learning with the Times: India doesn't have any 'national language' |work=[[The Times of India]] |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Learning-with-the-Times-India-doesnt-have-any-national-language/articleshow/5234047.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010085454/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Learning-with-the-Times-India-doesnt-have-any-national-language/articleshow/5234047.cms |archive-date=10 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="Press Trust of India">{{Cite news |date=25 January 2010 |title=Hindi, not a national language: Court |work=[[Press Trust of India]] via [[The Hindu]] |location=Ahmedabad |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/hindi-not-a-national-language-court/article94695.ece |access-date=23 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704084339/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/hindi-not-a-national-language-court/article94695.ece |archive-date=4 July 2014}}</ref>

| calendar    = [[Indian national calendar|Shaka]]

The Government of India comprises three branches:<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Constitution of India |url=https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/COI-updated-as-31072018.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416044642/https://www.legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/COI-updated-as-31072018.pdf |archive-date=16 April 2019 |access-date=16 July 2016 |website=legislature.gov.in}}</ref>

* [[Executive (government)|Executive]]: The [[President of India]] is the ceremonial [[head of state]],{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 31}} who is elected indirectly for a five-year term by an [[Electoral College (India)|electoral college]] comprising members of national and state legislatures.{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 138}}{{sfn|Gledhill|1970|p = 112}} The [[Prime Minister of India]] is the [[head of government]] and exercises most [[executive (government)|executive power]].{{sfn|Sharma|1950}} Appointed by the president,{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 162}} the prime minister is by convention supported by the [[political party|party]] or [[political alliance]] having a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament.{{sfn|Sharma|1950}} The executive of the Indian government consists of the president, the [[Vice President of India|vice-president]], and the [[Union Council of Ministers]]—with the [[Cabinet (government)|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.{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 31}} In the Indian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature; the prime minister and their council are directly responsible to the lower house of the parliament. [[Civil Services of India|Civil servants]] act as permanent executives and all decisions of the [[Executive (government)|executive]] are implemented by them.{{sfn|Mathew|2003|p = 524}}

* [[Legislature]]: The legislature of India is the [[bicameralism|bicameral]] [[Parliament of India|parliament]]. Operating under a [[Westminster system|Westminster-style]] parliamentary system, it comprises an upper house called the [[Rajya Sabha]] (Council of States) and a lower house called the [[Lok Sabha]] (House of the People).{{sfn|Gledhill|1970|p = 127}} The Rajya Sabha is a permanent body of 245{{Nbsp}}members who serve staggered six-year terms.{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 161}} Most are elected indirectly by the [[States and union territories of India|state and union territorial]] legislatures in numbers proportional to their state's share of the national population.{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 162}} All but two of the Lok Sabha's 545{{Nbsp}}members are elected directly by popular vote; they represent [[Single-member constituency|single-member constituencies]] for five-year{{Nbsp}}terms.{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 143}} Two seats of parliament, [[Anglo-Indian reserved seats in the Lok Sabha|reserved]] for [[Anglo-Indian]]s in the article 331, have been scrapped.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 December 2019 |title=Cabinet approves scrapping of 2 seats reserved for Anglo-Indians in Parliament |url=https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/seats-reserved-for-anglo-indians-in-parliament-to-be-scrapped-after-cabinet-approval |access-date=17 October 2021 |website=[[National Herald]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Ghosh |first1=Abantika |last2=Kaushal |first2=Pradeep |date=2 January 2020 |title=Explained: Anglo-Indian quota, its history, MPs |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/anglo-indian-quota-history-mps-6164232/ |access-date=17 October 2021 |newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]}}</ref>

India is a federal union comprising 28 [[States and union territories of India|states]] and 8 [[Union territory|union territories]].{{sfn|Library of Congress|2004}} All states, as well as the union territories of [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] and the [[Delhi|National Capital Territory of Delhi]], have elected legislatures and governments following the Westminster system of governance. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the central government through appointed administrators. In 1956, under the [[States Reorganisation Act, 1956|States Reorganisation Act]], states were reorganised on a linguistic basis.{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 49}} There are over a quarter of a million local government bodies at city, town, block, district and village levels.<ref>{{Cite web |title=India |url=https://www.clgf.org.uk/regions/clgf-asia/india/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715203036/https://www.clgf.org.uk/regions/clgf-asia/india/ |archive-date=15 July 2019 |access-date=7 September 2019 |website=[[Commonwealth Local Government Forum]]}}</ref>

# [[Odisha]]<!--Do not change this per [[BP:COMMONNAME]].-->

|image1=Jawaharlal Nehru, Nasser and Tito at the Conference of Non-Aligned Nations held in Belgrade.jpg|caption1=During the 1950s and 60s, India played a pivotal role in the [[Non-Aligned Movement]].<ref name="Dinkel2018">{{Cite book |last=Dinkel |first=Jürgen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YqOODwAAQBAJ |title=The Non-Aligned Movement: Genesis, Organization and Politics (1927–1992) |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-90-04-33613-1 |pages=92–93}}</ref> From left to right: [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] of [[United Arab Republic]] (now Egypt), [[Josip Broz Tito]] of [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] and [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] in Belgrade, September 1961.

<br />(d) {{citation|last=Medcalf|first=Rory|title=Indo-Pacific Empire: China, America and the contest for the world's pivotal|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-5261-5077-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RCjXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT81|quote=From an Indian perspective, the China-India war of 1962 was a shocking betrayal of the principles of co-operation and coexistence: a surprise attack that humiliated India and personally broke Nehru.}}

<br />(f) {{citation|last=Raghavan|first=Srinath|chapter=A Missed Opportunity? The Nehru-Zhou Enlai Summit of 1960|title=India and the Cold War|editor-last=Bhagavan|editor-first=Manu|publisher=University of North Carolina Press |page=121|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4696-5117-0|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-yoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA121|quote=The 'forward policy' adopted by India to prevent the Chinese from occupying territory claimed by them was undertaken in the mistaken belief that Beijing would be cautious in dealing with India owing to Moscow's stance on the dispute and its growing proximity to India. These misjudgments would eventually culminate in India's humiliating defeat in the war of October–November 1962.}}</ref> This was followed by another [[Nathu La and Cho La clashes|military conflict in 1967]] in which India successfully repelled Chinese attack.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brahma Chellaney |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZCmFAAAAMAAJ |title=Asian Juggernaut: The Rise of China, India, and Japan |date=2006 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-8172236502 |pages=195 |language=en |quote=Indeed, Beijing's acknowledgement of Indian control over Sikkim seems limited to the purpose of facilitating trade through the vertiginous Nathu-la Pass, the scene of bloody artillery duels in September 1967 when Indian troops beat back attacking Chinese forces. |author-link=Brahma Chellaney}}</ref> India has had [[Indo-Pakistani relations|tense relations]] with neighbouring Pakistan; the two nations have gone to war four times: in [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947|1947]], [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965|1965]], [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|1971]], and [[Kargil War|1999]]. Three of these wars were fought over the [[Kashmir conflict|disputed territory of Kashmir]], while the third, the 1971 war, followed from India's support for the [[Bangladesh Liberation War|independence of Bangladesh]].{{sfn|Gilbert|2002|pp = 486–487}} In the late 1980s, the Indian military twice intervened abroad at the invitation of the host country: a [[Indian Peace Keeping Force|peace-keeping operation]] in [[Sri Lanka]] between 1987 and 1990; and an armed intervention to prevent a [[1988 Maldives coup d'état|1988 coup d'état attempt]] in the Maldives. After the 1965 war with Pakistan, India began to pursue close military and economic [[India-Soviet Union relations|ties with the Soviet Union]]; by the late 1960s, the Soviet Union was its largest arms supplier.{{sfn|Sharma|1999|p=56}}

Aside from its ongoing [[India–Russia relations|special relationship with Russia]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gvosdev |first1=N.K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ipzAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA353 |title=Russian Foreign Policy: Interests, Vectors, and Sectors |last2=Marsh |first2=C. |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4833-1130-2 |page=353 |quote=Putin's visit to India in December 2012 for the yearly India–Russia summit saw both sides reaffirming their special relationship.}}</ref> India has wide-ranging [[India–Israel relations|defence relations with Israel]] and [[France–India relations|France]]. In recent years, it has played key roles in the [[South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation]] and the [[World Trade Organization]]. The nation has provided 100,000 [[Indian Armed Forces|military]] and [[Law enforcement in India|police]] personnel to serve in 35 [[United Nations peacekeeping|UN peacekeeping operations]] across four continents. It participates in the [[East Asia Summit]], the [[G8+5]], and other multilateral forums.{{sfn|Alford|2008}} India has close economic ties with countries in [[South America]],<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Jorge Heine |last2=R. Viswanathan |date=Spring 2011 |title=The Other BRIC in Latin America: India |url=https://www.americasquarterly.org/india-latin-america |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525115121/https://www.americasquarterly.org/india-latin-america |archive-date=25 May 2017 |access-date=19 May 2017 |website=[[Americas Quarterly]]}}</ref> Asia, and Africa; it pursues a [[Look East policy (India)|"Look East" policy]] that seeks to strengthen partnerships with the [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations|ASEAN]] nations, [[India–Japan relations|Japan]], and [[India–South Korea relations|South Korea]] that revolve around many issues, but especially those involving economic investment and regional security.{{sfn|Ghosh|2009|pp = 282–289}}{{sfn|Sisodia|Naidu|2005|pp = 1–8}}

| caption1    = The [[Indian Air Force]] contingent marching at the 221st [[Bastille Day military parade]] in Paris, on 14 July 2009. The parade at which India was the foreign guest was led by India's oldest regiment, the [[Maratha Light Infantry]], founded in 1768.<ref name="guardian-muir-diary-maratha">{{Citation |last=Muir |first=Hugh |title=Diary |date=13 July 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jul/14/bbc-peter-salmon-trevor-mcdonald |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=17 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019165743/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jul/14/bbc-peter-salmon-trevor-mcdonald |url-status=dead |quote="Members of the Indian armed forces have the plum job of leading off the great morning parade for Bastille Day. Only after units and bands from India's navy and air force have followed the Maratha Light Infantry will the parade be entirely given over to ... France's armed services." |archive-date=19 October 2014}}</ref>

China's [[596 (nuclear test)|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.{{sfn|Perkovich|2001|pp = 60–86, 106–125}} India conducted its [[Smiling Buddha|first nuclear weapons test]] in 1974 and carried out [[Pokhran-II|additional 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.{{sfn|Kumar|2010}} India maintains a "[[no first use]]" nuclear policy and is developing a [[nuclear triad]] capability as a part of its "[[Minimum Credible Deterrence]]" doctrine.{{sfn|Nair|2007}}{{sfn|Pandit|2009}} It is developing a [[Indian Ballistic Missile Defense Program|ballistic missile defence shield]] and, a [[HAL AMCA|fifth-generation fighter jet]].{{sfn|Pandit|2015}}<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Iyer-Mitra |first1=Abhijit |last2=Das |first2=Pushan |title=The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft:A Technical Analysis |url=https://dhqxnzzajv69c.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IssueBrief_105.pdf |access-date=17 October 2021 |website=[[Observer Research Foundation]]}}</ref> Other indigenous military projects involve the design and implementation of [[Vikrant class aircraft carrier|''Vikrant''-class aircraft carriers]] and [[Arihant class submarine|''Arihant''-class nuclear submarines]].<ref name="Hindu 2011">{{Cite news |date=5 October 2011 |title=India, Russia Review Defence Ties |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2514142.ece |url-status=dead |access-date=8 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007183650/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2514142.ece |archive-date=7 October 2011}}</ref>

The President of India is the supreme commander of the nation's armed forces; with 1.45&nbsp;million active troops, they compose the [[List of countries by number of troops|world's second-largest military]]. It comprises the [[Indian Army]], the [[Indian Navy]], the [[Indian Air Force]], and the [[Indian Coast Guard]].{{sfn|Central Intelligence Agency}} The official Indian [[List of countries by military expenditures|defence budget]] for 2011 was US$36.03&nbsp;billion, or 1.83% of GDP.{{sfn|Behera|2011}} Defence expenditure was pegged at US$70.12&nbsp;billion for fiscal year 2022–23 and, increased 9.8% than previous fiscal year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ministry wise Summary of Budget Provisions, 2022–23 |url=https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/eb/sumsbe.pdf |access-date=3 February 2022 |website=Ministry of Finance, Government of India}}</ref>{{sfn|Pandit|2022}} India is the world's second-largest arms importer; between 2016 and 2020, it accounted for 9.5% of the total global arms imports.{{sfn|Pandit|2021}} Much of the military expenditure was focused on defence against Pakistan and countering growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean.{{sfn|Miglani|2011}} In May 2017, the [[Indian Space Research Organisation]] launched the [[South Asia Satellite]], a gift from India to its neighbouring [[SAARC]] countries.<ref name="Deccan Herald">{{Cite news |date=12 January 2015 |title=Isro-Saarc satellite to be a communication vehicle |work=[[Deccan Herald]] |agency=DH News Service |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/452938/isro-saarc-satellite-communication-vehicle.html |url-status=live |access-date=22 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628084201/https://www.deccanherald.com/content/452938/isro-saarc-satellite-communication-vehicle.html |archive-date=28 June 2015}}</ref> In October 2018, India signed a US$5.43&nbsp;billion (over {{INR|link=yes}}400&nbsp;billion) agreement with [[Russia]] to procure four [[S-400 Triumf]] surface-to-air missile defence systems, Russia's most advanced long-range [[missile defence]] system.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 October 2018 |title=India Russia S-400 missile deal: All you need to know |work=[[The Times of India]] |url=https://m.timesofindia.com/india/india-russia-s-400-missile-deal-all-you-need-to-know/articleshow/66066460.cms |url-status=live |access-date=9 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005130114/https://m.timesofindia.com/india/india-russia-s-400-missile-deal-all-you-need-to-know/articleshow/66066460.cms |archive-date=5 October 2018}}</ref>

| caption1    = A farmer in northwestern [[Karnataka]] ploughs his field with a tractor even as another in a field beyond does the same with a pair of oxen.  In 2019, 43% of India's total workforce was employed in agriculture.<ref name="worldbank-ilo-total-agriculture">{{Citation |title=Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS?most_recent_value_desc=false&view=map |work=[[The World Bank]] |year=2019 |access-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822193854/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS%3Fmost_recent_value_desc%3Dfalse%26view%3Dmap |url-status=live |archive-date=22 August 2019}}</ref>

| caption3    = Women tend to a recently planted rice field in [[Junagadh]] district in Gujarat. 55% of India's female workforce was employed in agriculture in 2019.<ref name="worldbank-ilo-female-agriculture">{{Citation |title=Employment in agriculture, female (% of female employment) (modeled ILO estimate) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.FE.ZS?most_recent_value_desc=false&view=map |work=[[The World Bank]] |year=2019 |access-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822193855/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.FE.ZS%3Fmost_recent_value_desc%3Dfalse%26view%3Dmap |url-status=live |archive-date=22 August 2019}}</ref>

| caption2    = India is the world's largest producer of milk, with the largest population of cattle.  In 2018, nearly 80% of India's milk was sourced from small farms with herd size between one and two, the milk harvested by hand milking.<ref name="milk-sourcing">{{Citation |last=Kapoor |first=Rana |title=Growth in organised dairy sector, a boost for rural livelihood |date=27 October 2015 |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/growth-in-organised-dairy-sector-a-boost-for-rural-livelihood/article7810689.ece# |work=[[Business Line]] |access-date=26 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720215652/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/growth-in-organised-dairy-sector-a-boost-for-rural-livelihood/article7810689.ece |url-status=live |quote="Nearly 80 per cent of India's milk production is contributed by small and marginal farmers, with an average herd size of one to two milching animals." |archive-date=20 July 2019}}</ref>

According to the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF), the Indian economy in 2022 was nominally worth $3.46&nbsp;trillion; it was the [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|fifth-largest economy]] by market exchange rates and is, around $11.6&nbsp;trillion, the [[List of countries by GDP (PPP)|third-largest]] by [[purchasing power parity]] (PPP).<ref name="GDP IMF">{{Cite web |date=October 2022 |title=World Economic Outlook Database |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2022/October/weo-report?c=512,914,612,171,614,311,213,911,314,193,122,912,313,419,513,316,913,124,339,638,514,218,963,616,223,516,918,748,618,624,522,622,156,626,628,228,924,233,632,636,634,238,662,960,423,935,128,611,321,243,248,469,253,642,643,939,734,644,819,172,132,646,648,915,134,652,174,328,258,656,654,336,263,268,532,944,176,534,536,429,433,178,436,136,343,158,439,916,664,826,542,967,443,917,544,941,446,666,668,672,946,137,546,674,676,548,556,678,181,867,682,684,273,868,921,948,943,686,688,518,728,836,558,138,196,278,692,694,962,142,449,564,565,283,853,288,293,566,964,182,359,453,968,922,714,862,135,716,456,722,942,718,724,576,936,961,813,726,199,733,184,524,361,362,364,732,366,144,146,463,528,923,738,578,537,742,866,369,744,186,925,869,746,926,466,112,111,298,927,846,299,582,487,474,754,698,&s=NGDPD,PPPGDP,&sy=2018&ey=2023&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 |access-date=21 November 2022 |website=IMF.org |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]]}}</ref> With its average annual GDP growth rate of 5.8% over the past two decades, and reaching 6.1% during 2011–2012,{{sfn|International Monetary Fund 2011a|p = 2}} India is one of the [[List of countries by real GDP growth rate|world's fastest-growing economies]].{{sfn|Nayak|Goldar|Agrawal|2010|p = xxv}} However, the country ranks 139th in the world in [[List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita|nominal GDP per capita]] and 118th in [[List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita|GDP per capita at PPP]].{{sfn|International Monetary Fund}} Until 1991, all Indian governments followed [[protectionism|protectionist]] policies that were influenced by socialist economics. Widespread [[Licence Raj|state intervention and regulation]] largely walled the economy off from the outside world. An acute [[1991 India economic crisis|balance of payments crisis in 1991]] forced the nation to [[Economic liberalisation in India|liberalise its economy]];{{sfn|Wolpert|2003|p = xiv}} since then, it has moved increasingly towards a free-market system{{sfn|Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2007}}{{sfn|Gargan|1992}} by emphasising both foreign trade and direct investment inflows.{{sfn|Alamgir|2008|pp = 23, 97}} India has been a member of [[World Trade Organization]] since 1 January 1995.{{sfn|World Trade Organization 1995}}

The 522-million-worker [[Labour in India|Indian labour force]] is the [[List of countries by labour force|world's second-largest]], {{As of|2017|lc=y}}.{{sfn|Central Intelligence Agency}} The service sector makes up 55.6% of GDP, the industrial sector 26.3% and the agricultural sector 18.1%. India's [[Remittance|foreign exchange remittances]] of US$100&nbsp;billion in 2022,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 December 2022 |title=Remittances to India set to hit record $100bn this year, 25% higher than FDI flows |work=The times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/remittances-to-india-set-to-hit-record-100bn-this-year-25-higher-than-fdi-flows/articleshow/95894938.cms |access-date=5 December 2022}}</ref> highest in the world, were contributed to its economy by 32 million Indians working in foreign countries.<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 November 2021 |title=India received $87 billion in remittances in 2021: World Bank |work=[[Business Standard]] |url=https://wap.business-standard.com/article-amp/economy-policy/india-received-87-billion-in-remittances-in-2021-world-bank-121111800329_1.html |access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref> Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes.{{sfn|Library of Congress|2004}} Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, and software.{{sfn|Library of Congress|2004}} In 2006, the share of external trade in India's GDP stood at 24%, up from 6% in 1985.{{sfn|Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2007}} In 2008, India's share of world trade was 1.68%;<ref>{{Citation |title=Exporters Get Wider Market Reach |date=28 August 2009 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Exporters-get-wider-market-reach/articleshow/4942892.cms?referral=PM |work=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=23 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912002353/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Exporters-get-wider-market-reach/articleshow/4942892.cms?referral=PM |url-status=live |archive-date=12 September 2014}}</ref> In 2021, India was the world's [[List of countries by imports|ninth-largest importer]] and the [[List of countries by exports|sixteenth-largest exporter]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999–2019 |title=Trade Map: Trade statistics for international business development |url=https://www.trademap.org/Country_SelProduct_TS.aspx?nvpm=1%7c%7c%7c%7c%7cTOTAL%7c%7c%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c%7c1 |access-date=30 September 2022 |website=[[International Trade Centre]]}}</ref> Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, jewellery, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and manufactured leather goods.{{sfn|Library of Congress|2004}} Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, and chemicals.{{sfn|Library of Congress|2004}} Between 2001 and 2011, the contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports grew from 14% to 42%.{{sfn|Economist 2011}} India was the world's second-largest textile exporter after [[China]] in the 2013 calendar year.{{sfn|Economic Times 2014}}

Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% for several years prior to 2007,{{sfn|Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2007}} India has more than doubled its hourly wage rates during the first decade of the 21st century.{{sfn|Bonner|2010}} Some 431 million Indians have left poverty since 1985; India's middle classes are projected to number around 580&nbsp;million by 2030.{{sfn|Farrell|Beinhocker|2007}} Though ranking 68th in [[Global Competitiveness Report|global competitiveness]],<ref name="rank 2019">{{Cite web |title=The Global Competitiveness Report 2019 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2019.pdf |access-date=18 February 2022}}</ref> {{As of|2010|lc=y}}, 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.{{sfn|Schwab|2010}} With seven of the world's top 15 information technology outsourcing companies based in India, {{As of|2009|lc=y}}, the country is viewed as the second-most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States.{{sfn|Sheth|2009}} India is ranked 40th in the [[Global Innovation Index]] in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GII 2022 results The GII reveals the most innovative economies in the world, ranking the innovation performance of 132 economies. |url=https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo-pub-2000-2022-section3-en-gii-2022-results-global-innovation-index-2022-15th-edition.pdf |access-date=29 September 2022 |website=[[World Intellectual Property Organization]] |publisher=[[United Nations]] |page=10 |language=en}}</ref> India's consumer market, the world's [[List of largest consumer markets|eleventh-largest]],{{As of?|date=August 2023}} is expected to become fifth-largest by 2030.{{sfn|Farrell|Beinhocker|2007}}

Driven by growth, India's nominal [[GDP per capita]] increased steadily from US$308 in 1991, when economic liberalisation began, to US$1,380 in 2010, to an estimated US$1,730 in 2016. It is expected to grow to US$2,466 by 2022.<ref name="imf" /> However, it has remained lower than those of other Asian developing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is expected to remain so in the near future.

| caption1    = A panorama of [[Bangalore]], the centre of India's software development economy.  In the 1980s, when the first [[multinational corporation]]s began to set up centres in India, they chose Bangalore because of the large pool of skilled graduates in the area, in turn due to the many science and engineering colleges in the surrounding region.<ref name="ScottGarofoli2007">{{Citation |last1=Scott |first1=Allen J. |title=Development on the Ground: Clusters, Networks and Regions in Emerging Economies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GUCUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA208 |page=208 |year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-135-98422-9 |last2=Garofoli |first2=Gioacchino}}</ref>

According to a 2011 [[PricewaterhouseCoopers]] (PwC) report, India's GDP at purchasing power parity could overtake that of the United States by 2045.{{sfn|Hawksworth|Tiwari|2011}} During the next four decades, Indian GDP is expected to grow at an annualised average of 8%, making it potentially the world's fastest-growing major economy until 2050.{{sfn|Hawksworth|Tiwari|2011}} The report highlights key growth factors: a young and rapidly growing working-age population; growth in the manufacturing sector because of rising education and engineering skill levels; and sustained growth of the consumer market driven by a rapidly growing middle-class.{{sfn|Hawksworth|Tiwari|2011}} The World Bank cautions that, for India to achieve its economic potential, it must continue to focus on public sector reform, [[Transport in India|transport infrastructure]], agricultural and rural development, removal of labour regulations, [[Education in India|education]], [[Energy policy of India|energy security]], and [[Healthcare in India|public health]] and nutrition.<ref>{{Citation |title=India Country Overview |date=September 2010 |url=https://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20195738~menuPK:295591~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:295584,00.html |access-date=23 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522115104/https://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20195738~menuPK:295591~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:295584,00.html |url-status=dead |publisher=[[World Bank]] |archive-date=22 May 2011}}</ref>

|0=[[File:Bombay Stock Exchange 3.jpg|thumb|alt=Street-level view looking up at a modern 30-story building.|The [[Bombay Stock Exchange]], founded in 1875, is Asia's oldest stock exchange.<ref name="Armijo1999">{{Cite book |last=Echeverri-Gent |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LOEYDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA211 |title=Financial Globalization and Democracy in Emerging Markets |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan UK]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-333-99489-4 |editor-last=L. Armijo |pages=211–232, 211 |chapter=India: Financial Globalization, Liberal Norms, and the Ambiguities of Democracy}}</ref>]]

|5=[[File:Colourful vegetables.jpg|thumb|A vegetable retailer in the state of [[Tamil Nadu]]. Almost all the [[Retailing in India|retail industry]] in India, which accounts for 10% of India's GDP, and 8% of its employment, belongs to the unorganised sector of individual and family-owned businesses.<ref name="BartlettBeamish2018">{{Citation |last=Bartlett |first=Christopher A. |title=Transnational Management: Text and Cases in Cross-Border Management |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QAxMDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA393 |page=393 |year=2018 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-108-52744-6 |last2=Beamish |first2=Paul W.}}</ref>]]

[[Telecommunications in India|India's telecommunication industry]] is the [[List of mobile network operators|second-largest in the world]] with over 1.2&nbsp;billion subscribers. It contributes 6.5% to India's GDP.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indian Telecom Industry – Telecom Sector, FDI, Opportunities |url=https://www.investindia.gov.in/sector/telecom |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518111147/https://www.investindia.gov.in/sector/telecom |archive-date=18 May 2021 |website=investindia.gov.in}}</ref> After the third quarter of 2017, India surpassed the US to become the second-largest smartphone market in the world after China.<ref>{{Citation |last=Khan |first=Danish |title=Indian smartphone market grows 23% to overtake US in Q3; Samsung, Xiaomi drive shipments |date=28 October 2017 |url=https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/indian-smartphone-market-grows-23-to-overtake-us-in-q3-samsung-xiaomi-drive-shipments/61255184 |work=[[The Economic Times]] |access-date=5 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031155522/https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/indian-smartphone-market-grows-23-to-overtake-us-in-q3-samsung-xiaomi-drive-shipments/61255184 |archive-date=31 October 2017}}</ref>

The [[pharmaceutical industry in India]] emerged as a global player. As of 2021, with 3000 pharmaceutical companies and 10,500 manufacturing units India is the world's third-largest pharmaceutical producer, largest producer of generic medicines and supply up to 50—60% of global vaccines demand, these all contribute up to {{USD}}24.44&nbsp;billions in exports and India's local pharmaceutical market is estimated up to {{USD}}42&nbsp;billion.<ref name="Phamra1">{{Cite news |date=16 September 2021 |title=Indian Pharma: a strategic sector from 'Make in India' to 'Make and Develop in India' |work=[[The Financial Express (India)]] |url=https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/health/indian-pharma-a-strategic-sector-from-make-in-india-to-make-and-develop-in-india/2331377/ |access-date=18 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="Pharma2">{{Cite web |date=12 October 2021 |title=Indian Pharmaceutical Industry |url=https://www.ibef.org/industry/pharmaceutical-india.aspx |access-date=18 October 2021 |website=[[India Brand Equity Foundation]]}}</ref> India is among the top 12 biotech destinations in the world.<ref>Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sector in India: sector briefing by the UK Trade and Investment 2011, utki.gov.uk</ref>{{sfn|Yep|2011}} The Indian biotech industry grew by 15.1% in 2012–2013, increasing its revenues from {{INR}}204.4&nbsp;billion ([[Indian rupee]]s) to {{INR}}235.24&nbsp;billion (US$3.94&nbsp;billion at June 2013 exchange rates).<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 June 2013 |title=Biotechnology in India – 2013 "biospectrum-able" Survey |url=https://www.differding.com/page/biotechnology_in_india_2013_biospectrum_able_survey/f1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223203715/https://www.differding.com/page/biotechnology_in_india_2013_biospectrum_able_survey/f1.html |archive-date=23 February 2014 |access-date=4 April 2014 |publisher=Differding.com}}</ref>

India's capacity to generate electrical power is 300 gigawatts, of which 42 gigawatts is [[Renewable energy in India|renewable]].<ref name="Par">{{Cite web |date=1 August 2016 |title=India's Total Power Generation Capacity Crosses 300 GW Mark |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/indias-total-power-generation-capacity-crosses-300-gw-mark-1438906 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616181350/https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/indias-total-power-generation-capacity-crosses-300-gw-mark-1438906 |archive-date=16 June 2017 |access-date=17 October 2021 |publisher=[[NDTV India|NDTV]]}}</ref> [[Coal in India|The country's usage of coal]] is a major cause of [[Climate change in India#Greenhouse gas emissions|greenhouse gas emissions by India]] but [[Renewable energy in India|its renewable energy]] is competing strongly.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rowlatt |first=Justin |date=12 May 2020 |title=India's carbon emissions fall for first time in four decades |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52614770 |access-date=3 December 2020}}</ref> India emits about 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This equates to about 2.5 tons of [[carbon dioxide]] per person per year, which is half the world average.<ref name="USAID2018">{{cite web|last=USAID|date=September 2018|title=Greenhouse Gas Emissions in India |url=https://www.climatelinks.org/sites/default/files/asset/document/India%20GHG%20Emissions%20Factsheet%20FINAL.pdf |access-date=10 June 2021|website=}}</ref><ref name="UNEP2019">{{cite web|last=UN Environment Programme |year=2019 |title=Emissions Gap Report 2019|url=https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2019|access-date=10 June 2021|website=UNEP – [[UN Environment Programme]]}}</ref> Increasing [[Electrification|access to electricity]] and [[clean cooking]] with [[liquefied petroleum gas]] have been priorities for energy in India.<ref>{{cite web|title=India 2020 – Analysis|url=https://www.iea.org/reports/india-2020|access-date=3 December 2020|publisher=[[International Energy Agency]]|language=en-GB}}</ref>

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Indian music ranges over various traditions and regional styles. [[Indian classical music|Classical music]] encompasses two genres and their various folk offshoots: the northern [[Hindustani classical music|Hindustani]] and the southern [[Carnatic music|Carnatic]] schools.{{sfn|Massey|Massey|1998}} Regionalised popular forms include [[filmi]] and [[Indian folk music|folk music]]; the [[Syncretism|syncretic]] tradition of the ''[[baul]]s'' is a well-known form of the latter. [[Dance in India|Indian dance]] also features diverse folk and classical forms. Among the better-known [[List of Indian folk dances|folk dances]] are: ''[[Bhangra (dance)|bhangra]]'' of Punjab, ''[[bihu dance|bihu]]'' of Assam, ''[[Jhumair]]'' and ''[[Chhau dance|chhau]]'' of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, ''[[Garba (dance)|garba]]'' and ''[[Dandiya Raas|dandiya]]'' of Gujarat, ''[[ghoomar]]'' of Rajasthan, and ''[[lavani]]'' of Maharashtra. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms and mythological elements, have been accorded [[Classical Indian dance|classical dance status]] by India's [[Sangeet Natak Akademi|National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama]]. These are: ''[[Bharata Natyam|bharatanatyam]]'' of the state of Tamil Nadu, ''[[kathak]]'' of Uttar Pradesh, ''[[kathakali]]'' and ''[[mohiniyattam]]'' of Kerala, ''[[kuchipudi]]'' of Andhra Pradesh, ''[[Manipuri dance|manipuri]]'' of Manipur, ''[[odissi]]'' of Odisha<!--Do not change this per [[BP:COMMONNAME]].-->, and the ''[[sattriya]]'' of Assam.<ref>{{citation|title=South Asian Arts: Indian Dance|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/556016/South-Asian-arts/65246/Indian-dance |access-date=17 July 2011}}</ref>

[[Family values]] are important in the Indian tradition, and multi-generational [[patrilineal]] [[joint family|joint families]] have been the norm in India, though [[nuclear family|nuclear families]] are becoming common in urban areas.{{sfn|Makar|2007}} An overwhelming majority of Indians, with their consent, have [[Arranged marriage in the Indian subcontinent|their marriages arranged]] by their parents or other family elders.{{sfn|Medora|2003}} Marriage is thought to be for life,{{sfn|Medora|2003}} and the divorce rate is extremely low,{{sfn|Jones|Ramdas|2005|p = 111}} with less than one in a thousand marriages ending in divorce.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-37481054|title=What divorce and separation tell us about modern India|first=Soutik|last=Biswas|date=29 September 2016|access-date=18 October 2021|work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> [[Child marriage]]s are common, especially in rural areas; many women wed before reaching 18, which is their legal marriageable age.{{sfn|Cullen-Dupont|2009|p = 96}} [[Female infanticide in India]], and lately [[female foeticide in India|female foeticide]], have created skewed gender ratios; the number of [[missing women]] in the country quadrupled from 15 million to 63&nbsp;million in the 50-year period ending in 2014, faster than the population growth during the same period, and constituting 20 percent of India's female electorate.<ref name="The Hindu_November_17_2019c">{{cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/indias-missing-women/article5670801.ece |title=India's missing women|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=10 February 2014|last1=Kapoor|first1=Mudit|last2=Shamika|first2=Ravi |access-date= 17 November 2019 |quote=In the last 50 years of Indian democracy, the absolute number of missing women has increased fourfold from 15 million to 68 million. This is not merely a reflection of the growth in the overall population, but, rather, of the fact that this dangerous trend has worsened with time. As a percentage of the female electorate, missing women have gone up significantly — from 13 per cent to approximately 20 per cent}}</ref> According to an Indian government study, an additional 21 million girls are unwanted and do not receive adequate care.<ref name="The_Guardian_November_17_2019c">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/30/more-than-63-million-women-missing-in-india-statistics-show |title=More than 63 million women 'missing' in India, statistics show |newspaper=[[Associated Press]] via [[The Guardian]] |date= 30 January 2018 |access-date= 17 November 2019}} Quote: "More than 63 million women are "missing" statistically across India, and more than 21 million girls are unwanted by their families, government officials say. The skewed ratio of men to women is largely the result of sex-selective abortions, and better nutrition and medical care for boys, according to the government's annual economic survey, which was released on Monday. In addition, the survey found that "families where a son is born are more likely to stop having children than families where a girl is born".</ref> Despite a government ban on sex-selective foeticide, the practice remains commonplace in India, the result of a preference for boys in a patriarchal society.<ref name="Foreign_Policy_November_17_2019c">{{cite web |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/15/a-generation-of-girls-is-missing-in-india/ |title=A Generation of Girls Is Missing in India – Sex-selective abortion fuels a cycle of patriarchy and abuse.|newspaper=[[Foreign Policy]] |first=Ira|last=Trivedi |date=15 August 2019 |access-date= 17 November 2019}} Quote: "Although it has been illegal nationwide for doctors to disclose the sex of a fetus since the 1994 Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, the ease of ordering cheap and portable ultrasound machines, especially online, has kept the practice of sex-selective abortions alive."</ref> The payment of [[Dowry system in India|dowry]], although [[Dowry law in India|illegal]], remains widespread across class lines.<ref>{{cite news|first=Dean|last=Nelson|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10280802/Woman-killed-over-dowry-every-hour-in-India.html|title=Woman killed over dowry 'every hour' in India|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=10 February 2014|date=2 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323074436/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10280802/Woman-killed-over-dowry-every-hour-in-India.html|archive-date=23 March 2014}}</ref> [[Dowry deaths|Deaths resulting from dowry]], mostly from [[bride burning]], are on the rise, despite stringent anti-dowry laws.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rising-number-of-dowry-deaths-in-india-ncrb/article4995677.ece|title=Rising number of dowry deaths in India: NCRB|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=10 February 2014|first=Ignatius |last=Pereira|date=6 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207050439/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rising-number-of-dowry-deaths-in-india-ncrb/article4995677.ece|archive-date=7 February 2014}}</ref>

The education system of India is the world's second-largest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.studyinindia.gov.in/whyindiaeducation|title=Study in India|website=studyinindia.gov.in|access-date=18 October 2021}}</ref> India has over 900 universities, 40,000 colleges<ref name="highered1">{{cite web |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/hrd-to-increase-nearly-25-pc-seats-in-varsities-to-implement-10-pc-quota-for-poor-in-gen-category/articleshow/67545006.cms |title=HRD to increase nearly 25 pc seats in varsities to implement 10 pc quota for poor in gen category |newspaper=[[The Economic Times]] |date=15 January 2019|access-date=18 October 2021}}</ref> and 1.5&nbsp;million schools.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dashboard.udiseplus.gov.in/#/home|title=UDISE+ Dashboard|website=dashboard.udiseplus.gov.in|publisher=[[Ministry of Education (India)|Ministry of Education]]|access-date=18 October 2021}}</ref> In India's higher education system, a significant number of seats are reserved under [[Reservation in India|affirmative action]] policies for the historically disadvantaged. In recent decades India's improved education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to its [[economic development in India|economic development]].<ref name=Sify>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=1475704|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220170624/https://www.sify.com/finance/india-achieves-27-decline-in-poverty-news-news-jegxaXgfcab.html|title=India achieves 27% decline in poverty|work=[[Press Trust of India]] via [[Sify.com]]|date=12 September 2008|archive-date=20 February 2014|access-date=18 October 2021|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=N. Jayapalan|title=History of Education in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IDNeW78fedkC|year=2005|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors|isbn=978-81-7156-922-9}}</ref>

[[Cricket in India|Cricket]] is the most popular sport in India.<ref>{{citation|last=Shores|first=Lori|title=Teens in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CPQmbyiS-iEC|access-date=24 July 2011|date=15 February 2007|publisher=[[Compass Point Books]]|isbn=978-0-7565-2063-2|page=78|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617050252/https://books.google.com/books?id=CPQmbyiS-iEC|archive-date=17 June 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Major domestic leagues include the [[Indian Premier League]]. Professional leagues in other sports include the [[Indian Super League]] ([[soccer|football]]) and the [[Pro Kabaddi League|Pro Kabaddi]] league.<ref>{{cite web|date=26 September 2021|title=From IPL to ISL, sports leagues in India to watch out for|url=https://www.financialexpress.com/sports/from-ipl-to-isl-sports-leagues-in-india-to-watch-out-for/2337628/|access-date=3 December 2021|website=The Financial Express|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Indian Super League: Odisha president says sacking Stuart Baxter was 'the only course of action'|url=https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11995/12207157/indian-super-league-odisha-president-says-sacking-stuart-baxter-was-the-only-course-of-action|access-date=3 December 2021|publisher=Sky Sports}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=6 August 2014|title=Kabaddi gets the IPL treatment|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-28660432|access-date=3 December 2021}}</ref>

India has won two [[One Day International|ODI]] [[Cricket World Cup]]s, the [[1983 Cricket World Cup|1983 edition]] and the [[2011 Cricket World Cup|2011 edition]], as well as becoming the inaugural [[Twenty20 International]] Cricket Champions in [[2007 ICC World Twenty20|2007]]. India also has eight field hockey gold medals in the [[Field hockey at the Summer Olympics|summer olympics]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/sports/other-sports/story/independence-day-india-at-70-cricket-football-hockey-kabaddi-1029624-2017-08-14|title=What India was crazy about: Hockey first, Cricket later, Football, Kabaddi now?|website=India Today}}</ref>

 

{{notelist|refs={{efn|name=remaining religions|Besides specific religions, the last two categories in the 2011 Census were "Other religions and persuasions" (0.65%) and "Religion not stated" (0.23%).}}|33em}}

* {{citation|last1=Nayak|first1=P. B.|last2=Goldar|first2=B.|last3=Agrawal|first3=P.|year=2010|title=India's Economy and Growth: Essays in Honour of V. K. R. V. Rao|publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|SAGE Publications]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N1Ho2SGXUHwC|isbn=978-81-321-0452-0}}

* {{citation|last1=Drèze|first1=J.|last2=Goyal|first2=A.|editor-last=Baru|editor-first=R. V.|year=2009|title=School Health Services in India: The Social and Economic Contexts|chapter=The Future of Mid-Day Meals|publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|SAGE Publications]]|isbn=978-81-7829-873-3|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQ39RO9OET4C&pg=PA46|ref={{sfnRef|Drèze|Goyal|2008}}}}

* {{citation|last=Medora|first=N.|editor1-last=Hamon|editor1-first=R. R.|editor2-last=Ingoldsby|editor2-first=B. B.|year=2003|title=Mate Selection Across Cultures|chapter=Mate Selection in Contemporary India: Love Marriages Versus Arranged Marriages|publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|SAGE Publications]]|pages=209–230|isbn=978-0-7619-2592-7}}

== External links ==<!--    {{No more links}}

[[Category:G20 members]]