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India भारत
India भारत officially the
Republic of
India भारत गणराज्य is a
sovereign nation in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by
geographical area, the second most populous country, and the most
populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the
south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the
east, India has a coastline of 7,517 kilometers (4,671 mi). It
borders Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the
north-east; and Bangladesh and Burma to the east. In the Indian
Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, Maldives, and
Indonesia.
Home to the Indus Valley Civilization and a region of historic trade
routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with
its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history.
Four major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism
originated here, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and
Islam arrived in the first millennium CE and shaped the region's
diverse culture. Gradually annexed by the British East India Company
from the early eighteenth century and colonised by the United
Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century, India became a modern
nation state in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was
marked by widespread nonviolent resistance.
India is the world's twelfth largest economy at market exchange
rates and the third largest economy in purchasing power. Economic
reforms have transformed it into the second fastest growing large
economy; however, it still suffers from high levels of poverty,
illiteracy, malnutrition and environmental degradation. A
pluralistic, multilingual, and multiethnic society, India is also
home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.
States of India:
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