India

Official name

Republic of India^[1]

Region

South Asia^[1]

Area rank

Seventh-largest country by area^[1]

Population

1.46 billion (World Bank, 2025)^[3]

Population growth

0.9% annually (World Bank, 2025)^[3]

GDP growth

7.6% annually (World Bank, 2025)^[3]

Life expectancy

72 years at birth (World Bank, 2024)^[3]

Government

Federal parliamentary republic (since 1950)^[1]

India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia.^[1] It is the seventh-largest country in the world by land area and the largest by population,^[1] which the World Bank put at 1.46 billion in 2025.^[3]

Geography

The Indian Ocean bounds India to the south, with the Arabian Sea to the southwest and the Bay of Bengal to the southeast.^[1] India borders Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east.^[1] Sri Lanka and the Maldives lie nearby in the Indian Ocean.^[1]

India is classified as megadiverse, with four biodiversity hotspots and wildlife supported in protected habitats.^[1] According to the World Bank, forests covered 24.5% of its land area in 2023, and annual freshwater withdrawals equaled 45% of internal resources in 2022.^[3]

History

Humans had reached the Indian subcontinent from Africa by roughly 55,000 years ago.^[1] Permanent settlement on the western edge of the Indus basin began around 9,000 years ago and grew into the Indus Valley Civilization in the third millennium BCE.^[1]

By 1200 BCE an early form of Sanskrit had reached India from the northwest, and its hymns mark the beginnings of Hinduism.^[1] Caste-based social stratification had become firmly rooted in Hinduism by 400 BCE,^[1] and around the same time Buddhism and Jainism appeared, offering social frameworks independent of birth.^[1]

The Maurya and Gupta Empires flourished in India and produced extensive cultural and scientific achievement.^[1] In the first millennium CE, the Dravidian-speaking middle kingdoms of South India carried their scripts and cultural practices into Southeast Asia,^[1] and before the millennium ended, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism had all taken root on India's southern and western coasts.^[1]

Early in the second millennium, invaders from Central Asia repeatedly swept across northern India and eventually founded the Delhi Sultanate.^[1] In the south, a durable composite South Indian culture took shape under the Vijayanagara Empire,^[1] and in the Punjab, Guru Nanak founded Sikhism.^[1] Under the Mughals, India enjoyed roughly two hundred years of growth and stability.^[1]

The British Crown took direct control of India in 1858.^[1] A nationalist movement then developed, the first of its kind in the non-European British Empire, and from 1920 it became identified with nonviolent struggle.^[1] In 1947 the British Indian Empire was divided into two self-governing states: a predominantly Hindu India and a predominantly Muslim Pakistan.^[1]

0:54 What Does 'Civilization' Mean? Segment defining the term civilization in the context of the Indus Valley.

1:52 Characteristics of a Civilization Segment describing the characteristics used to classify ancient civilizations.

3:03 The Indus Valley Civilization Segment surveying the geography, cities and material culture of the Indus Valley.

5:57 An Open Letter to Historians Closing segment addressing historians' interpretations of the Indus Valley.

Politics and government

India has been a federal republic with a democratic parliamentary system since 1950.^[1] It has nuclear weapons and is one of the higher military spenders.^[1] It still has disputes with Pakistan and China over Kashmir that date to the mid-twentieth century.^[1] According to the World Bank, women held 14% of the seats in the national parliament in 2025.^[3]

Economy and society

India's population rose from 361 million in 1951 to more than 1.4 billion in 2023,^[1] and the World Bank put it at 1.46 billion in 2025, growing by 0.9% a year.^[3] Its rapidly expanding economy is an information technology center with a growing middle class.^[1]

According to the World Bank, India's GDP grew 7.6% in 2025, unemployment was 4.2% of the labor force, and consumer prices rose 2.4%.^[3] Net inflows of foreign direct investment equaled 1.0% of GDP and personal remittances received 3.8% of GDP in 2025, while central government debt stood at 46.5% of GDP in 2018.^[3]

Life expectancy at birth was 72 years in 2024, and 5.3% of the population lived on less than $3.00 per day (2021 PPP) in 2022.^[3] India has reduced poverty even as economic inequality has grown,^[1] and gender disparity, childhood undernutrition and worsening air quality remain concerns.^[1]

In 2024, 99.9% of the population had access to electricity and 63% used safely managed sanitation services; in 2025, 70% used the Internet.^[3]

Per-capita CO2 emissions, excluding LULUCF, were 2.2 t CO2e in 2024, and renewable sources other than hydroelectric power produced 9.2% of total electricity in 2021.^[3] Net migration was negative 495,753 in 2025, and the intentional homicide rate was 3 per 100,000 people in 2022.^[3]

Media

0:37 Geography Segment surveying India's physical geography and borders.

6:04 India Segment covering Indian history, culture and demographics.

10:21 Statistics Segment presenting statistical data about India.

17:10 Diplomacy Closing segment on India's foreign relations.

1. c. 55,000 years ago According to Wikipedia contributors, modern humans arrive on the Indian subcontinent from Africa.^[1]
2. c. 3000 BCE According to Wikipedia contributors, the Indus Valley Civilization emerges in the third millennium BCE.^[1]
3. 1200 BCE According to Wikipedia contributors, an archaic form of Sanskrit diffuses into India from the northwest.^[1]
4. 400 BCE According to Wikipedia contributors, social differentiation by caste consolidates within Hinduism; Buddhism and Jainism arise.^[1]
5. 1000 According to Wikipedia contributors, Middle kingdoms of South India transmit Dravidian language scripts and cultures to Southeast Asia.^[1]
6. 1858 British Crown rule over India begins.^[1]
7. 1947 The British Indian Empire is partitioned into India and Pakistan.^[1]
8. 1950 India becomes a federal parliamentary republic.^[1]
9. 2023 India's population exceeds 1.4 billion.^[1]
10. 2025 World Bank records India's population at 1.46 billion and annual GDP growth at 7.6%.^[3]