The Republic of India (Bhāratiya Gaṇarājya) is a South Asian nation that ranks as the second most populous country in the world, and the world’s largest democracy. Geographically located between the Bay Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west, India is also bordered by the Indian Ocean and numerous other nations to its east, northeast, and west, including Bangladesh, Burma, China, Nepal, Bhutan, and Pakistan. India’s total land mass of 3,287,590 square kilometers makes it the 7th largest country in the world by size, with over 7,517 kilometers of coastline.

In the year 2007, the population of India was estimated to be 1.12 billion—equivalent to the populations of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Russian, and Iran combined. Yet the geographic size of India is equal to only one-third the land mass of the United States. The majority of India’s enormous population live in rural areas, but recent years have seen massive migrations from the countrysides of India’s interior to the major metropolitan centers of Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Delhi, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), Chennai (formerly Madras), Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Ahmadabad. This being said, while approximately 70% of India’s over one billion residents still reside in rural areas, the city of Mumbai is becoming increasingly known as the most populous city in the world. With an estimated population of 13 million people crowded onto an island city of only 603 square kilometers, the population density of Mumbai is approximately 22,000 people per square kilometer.

Compared to other geographic entities, India is as culturally, linguistically, and genetically diverse as the entre African continent. The two primary linguistic families in India are Indo-Aryan (derivatives of which are spoken by 74% of today’s population) and Dravidian (spoken by approximately 20%), with numerous additional languages coming from the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman linguistic families. From these four language families comes India’s official language of Hindi; yet the country also recognizes 21 additional languages that have significant spoken or classical status. It is estimated that these 22 total languages can, in turn, be broken down into approximately 1,652 dialects across India’s many states and territories. Nearly every college-educated Indian speaks English fluently, as do the majority of those schooled in the British tradition. This being said, the most fluent English speakers per capita reside in the country’s major city centers of Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata. English is so commonly used in business, administration, and the media that it is widely considered to be the country’s “subsidy official language” after Hindi.

Religion is a highly significant shaper of India’s daily way of life, as well as its overall cultural and historical make up. Over 800 million of India’s 1.12 billion citizens are of the Hindu faith (80.5%), with other significant religious groups including Muslims (13.4%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%), Buddhists (0.8%), Jains (0.4%), Jews, Zoroastrians, and Bahá'ís (<0.1% each). It should also be noted that so called tribals (which both overlap and run alongside the religions listed above) make up nearly 8.1% of the country’s population. Among the most populous of India’s 28 states are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, and West Bengal. Other key demographic facts are India’s median age of 24.9 years old, its population growth rate of 1.58% per annum, its infant mortality rate of 32.2 deaths/1,000 live births, and its relatively low literacy rate of 64.8% (placing it 152nd out of the world’s 177 recognized nations).

Historically, today’s India is a relatively recently declared national entity, having become a modern nation state in 1947. This independence came as the result of a tumultuous break from the United Kingdom, which colonized India in the mid-19th century (India having been gradually annexed by the British East India Company since the early 18th century). Since achieving this independence, the government of India has been a federal republic led by the Indian National Congress (INC) party. Other important national parties include the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist (Marxist) Party of India. Each of India’s states has its own elected governments, as do the union territory of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The president and current chief of state is Pratibha Patil (since July 2007), with the current head of government being Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (May of 2004). Due in part to its massive population and its historically tense relations with regional neighbors, India maintains the 3rd largest military force in the world (by number of active troops), maintaining a significant standing Army, Navy, and Air Force. The country is not only a founding and high-profile member of the United Nations, but has participated in over 35 military and police personnel peace keeping operations around the world since establishing independence over 50 years ago.  

In sum, India is a country of rapidly growing international importance known for its rich and diverse culturally history, its advanced nuclear capabilities, an exploding economy, and a highly prolific film industry (nicknamed Bollywood), which produces more movies per year than any other film industry in the world.