India
The Republic of India (Hindi: भारत गणराज्य) is a country in Asia. It is at the center of South Asia. India has more than 1.2billion (1,210,000,000) people, which is the second largest population in the world.[8] It is the seventh largest country in the world by area.
India has seven neighbours: Pakistan in the north-west, China and Nepal in the north, Bhutan and Bangladesh in the north-east, Myanmar in the east and Sri Lanka, an island, in the south.
India is the largest democracy in the world by population.[9] The capital of India is New Delhi. India is a peninsula, bound by theIndian Ocean in the south, the Arabian Sea on the west and Bay of Bengal in the east. The coastline of India is of about 7,517 km (4,671 mi) long.[10] India has the third largest army in the world[11][12] and nuclear weapons.[13]
India gets its name from the Greek word, Indus. It means "the people who live near the Indus River."
India is a growing economy, regarded as the fastest growing country in the world along with China.[14] In terms of Literacy and wealth, India has done a good job.[15] Although it's regarded as the 83rd most corrupt nation out of 174 most recognized countries,[16] as per Corruption Perceptions Index, Indian government has faced thousands of protests since April 2011, where people have demanded many major politicians to resign, and give up all the money which they have earned through corruption.[17]
India is a founding member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and has signed the Kyoto Protocol.
India has the largest number of spoken languages per country in the world. Many people of different religions live there.
HISTORY
Main page: History of India
Two of the main Classical languages of the world— Sanskrit and Tamil, were born in India. Both of these languages are more than 3000 years old. The country founded areligion called Hinduism, which most Indians still follow. Later, a king called Ashoka built an empire called the Maurya dynasty in 300 BC. It made most of South Asia into one whole country.[19] From 180 BC, many other countries invaded India. Even later (100 BC — AD 1100), other Indian dynasties (empires) came, including the Chalukyas, Cholas, Pallavas, and Pandyas.[20] South India at that time was famous for its very good science, art, and writing.
Many dynasties ruled India around the year 1000. Some of these were the Mughal,Vijayanagara, and the Maratha empires. In the 1600s, European countries invaded India, and the British controlled most of India by 1856.[21]
In the early 1900s, millions of people peacefully started to protest. One of the people who were leading the freedom movement was Mahatma Gandhi, who only used peaceful tactics, including a way called "ahinsa", which means "non-violence".[22] On 15 August 1947, India peacefully became free and independent from the British Empire. India's constitution was founded on 26 January 1950. Every year, on this day, Indians celebrate Republic Day. The first official leader (Prime Minister) of India was Jawaharlal Nehru.
After 1947, India has had a socialist planned economy. It is one founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations. It has fought many wars since independence from Britain, including in 1947-48, 1965, 1971, and 1999 with Pakistan and in 1962 withChina. It also fought a war to capture Goa, a Portuguese-built port and city which was not a part of India until 1961. The Portuguese refused to give it to the country, and so India had to use force and the Portuguese were defeated. India has also done nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998, and it is one of the few countries that has nuclear bombs.[23] Since 1991, India has been one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.[24]
Government[change | change source]
India's government is divided into three parts: the Legislative (the one that makes the laws, the Parliament), the Executive (the government), and the Judiciary (the one that makes sure that the laws are obeyed, the supreme court).
The legislative branch is made up of the Parliament of India, which is in New Delhi, the capital of India. The Parliament of India is divided into two groups: the upper house, Rajya Sabha (Council of States); and the lower house, Lok Sabha (House of People). The Rajya Sabha has 250 members,[25] and the Lok Sabha has 552 members.[25]
The executive branch is made up of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, and the Council of Ministers. The President of India is elected for five years. The President can choose the Prime Minister, who has most of the power. The Council of Ministers, such as the Minister of Defence, help the Prime Minister. Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India on May 16, 2014. He is the 19th Prime Minister of India.
The judicial branch is made up of the courts of India, including the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice of India is the head of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court members have the power to stop a law being passed by Parliament if they think that the law is illegal and contradicts (opposes) the Constitution of India.[26] In India, there are also 21 High Courts.
Geography and climate[change | change source]
India is the seventh largest country in the world. It is the main part of the Indian subcontinent. The countries next to India are Pakistan,Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Bhutan, and Nepal. It is also near Sri Lanka, an island country.
India is a peninsula, which means that it is surrounded on three sides by water. One of the seven wonders of the world is located in Agra the Taj Mahal. In the west is the Arabian Sea, in the south is the Indian Ocean, and in the east is the Bay of Bengal. The northern part of India has many mountains. The most famous mountain range in India is the Himalayas, which have some of the tallest mountains in the world. There are many rivers in India. The main rivers are the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, the Yamuna, the Godavari, the Kaveri, the Narmada, and the Krishna.
India has different climates.[27] In the South, the climate is mainly tropical, which means it can get very hot in summer and cool in winter.[27] The northern part, though, has a cooler climate, called sub-tropical, and even alpine in mountainous regions.[27] The Himalayas, in the alpine climate region, can get extremely cold. There is very heavy rainfall along the west coast and in the Eastern Himalayan foothills. The west, though, is drier. Because of some of the deserts of India, all of India gets rain for four months of the year. That time is called the monsoon. That is because the deserts attract water-filled winds from the Indian Ocean, which give rain when they come into India. When the monsoon rains come late or not so heavily, droughts (when the land dries out because there is less rain) are possible.
Defence[change | change source]
The Indian Armed Forces are the military of India. It is made up of an Army, Navy Coast Guard and Air Force. There are other parts like Paramilitary and Strategic Nuclear Command.
The President of India is its Commander-in-Chief. However, it is managed by the Ministry of Defence. In 2010, the Indian Armed Forces had 1.32 million active personnel. This makes it one of the largest militaries in the world.[1]
Currently,the Indian Army is becoming more modern by buying and making new weapons. It is also building defences against missiles of other countries.[2] In 2011, India imported more weapons than any other nation in the world.[3]
From its independence in 1947, India fought four wars with Pakistan and one war with China.
India's Gurkha soldiers are famous around the world for their bravery.
Indian states[change | change source]
For administration purposes, India has been divided into smaller pieces. Most of these pieces are called states, some are called union territories. States and union territories are different in the way they are represented. Most union territories are ruled by administrators sent by the central government. All the states, and the territories of Dehli, and Puducherry elect their local government themselves. In total, there are twenty-nine states, and seven union territories.[28]
States:
| States | Capitals | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | Hyderabad | AP |
| Arunachal Pradesh | Itanagar | AR |
| Assam | Dispur | AS |
| Bihar | Patna | BR |
| Chhattisgarh | Raipur | CT |
| Goa | Panaji | GA |
| Gujarat | Gandhi nagar | GJ |
| Haryana | Chandigarh | HR |
| Himachal Pradesh | Shimla | HP |
| Jammu and Kashmir | Srinagar (summer) Jammu (winter) | JK |
| Jharkhand | Ranchi | JH |
| Karnataka | Bangalore | KA |
| Kerala | Tiruvanananthapuram | KL |
| Madhya Pradesh | Bhopal | MP |
| Maharashtra | Mumbai | MH |
| Manipur | Imphal | MN |
| Meghalaya | Shillong | ML |
| Mizoram | Aizawl | MZ |
| Nagaland | Kohima | NL |
| Orissa | Bhubaneshwar | OR |
| Punjab | Chandigarh | PB |
| Rajasthan | Jaipur | RJ |
| Sikkim | Gangtok | SK |
| Tamil Nadu | Chennai | TN |
| Telangana | Hyderabad | TG |
| Tripura | Agartala | TR |
| Uttar Pradesh | Lucknow | UP |
| Uttarakhand | Dehra Dun | UT |
| West Bengal | Kolkatta | WB |
