The Basics
India at a Glance
A republic in South Asia of more than 1.4 billion people. It is the seventh-largest country by area and the most populous in the world, with deep diversity of language, religion and landscape.
- New Delhi National capital (Mumbai is the largest city & financial hub)
- 3.29 M km² Area — the world's 7th-largest country
- 28 + 8 28 states and 8 union territories
- Hindi & English Official languages of the Union — 22 scheduled languages in all
- ₹ Rupee Currency (INR) — issued by the Reserve Bank of India
- Republic A parliamentary democratic republic — the world's largest democracy
- 15 Aug 1947 Independence; became a Republic on 26 January 1950
- Ashoka emblem National emblem: the Lion Capital of Ashoka; tricolour flag
People
A Sixth of Humanity
About one in six people on the planet is Indian. The population is young, increasingly urban, and varied in language and faith.
- ~1.46 bn Population (2026) — the world's most populous nation, ~17.8% of humanity
- ~28 yrs Median age — one of the world's youngest large populations
- ~80% Literacy rate (2023-24, NSO) — up sharply from 18% at independence
- 22 languages Scheduled languages; hundreds more spoken across the country
- Many faiths ~80% Hindu, ~14% Muslim, plus Christian, Sikh, Buddhist & Jain communities
- ~35 M Overseas diaspora — the largest in the world
Education & health
- ~24.8 cr School students across ~14.7 lakh schools — the world's largest school system (UDISE+ 2023-24)
- ~4.3 cr In higher education — 1,100+ universities and 45,000+ colleges (AISHE 2021-22)
- 23 IITs Plus the IIMs, AIIMS and IISc — premier institutes of national importance
- ~70 yrs Life expectancy at birth (SRS 2018-22) — up from ~32 years at independence
- Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY — the world's largest government health-assurance scheme; ₹5 lakh cover per family a year
- Pharmacy of the world The largest vaccine maker (~60% of global output); polio-free since 2014
Economy
A ~$4-Trillion Economy
India has one of the world's largest economies, and the fastest growth among the big ones. Services lead the way, helped by a huge home market. The year-by-year detail is on the topic pages linked below.
- ~$4 tn Nominal GDP ~$4 tn — among the world's largest; 3rd-largest by purchasing-power parity
- ~6.5% Real growth — among the fastest of the major economies
- ~$2,800 GDP per capita — still a middle-income level
- ~55% services Services-led (~55%); industry ~27%; agriculture ~18% of output
Minerals & energy
- Mica The world's largest producer — about 60% of global output
- Coal The world's 2nd-largest coal producer, with among the largest reserves
- Iron & bauxite A top-5 producer of iron ore, bauxite, aluminium & chromite
- Rare earths Vast monazite & thorium reserves (among the world's biggest); mining still small
- Year-by-year deep dives: GDP · Forex reserves · RBI gold · Public debt · Rupee vs dollar · Petrol price.
- Gold & silver: India is the world's largest gold consumer but mines very little — most of its gold and silver is imported.
Markets & Finance
The Stock Markets
India's share markets are among the world's biggest and busiest. Most trading happens on two exchanges, the NSE and the BSE, followed through the Nifty 50 and the Sensex.
- ~$5 tn Total market value — among the world's five largest stock markets
- NSE The world's largest derivatives exchange by contracts traded, several years running
- BSE Asia's oldest exchange, founded in 1875, with about 5,700 listed companies
- Sensex & Nifty The benchmark indices: the BSE Sensex (30 stocks) and the NSE Nifty 50
- ~21 crore Demat accounts — retail investing has surged since 2020
- SEBI The Securities and Exchange Board of India regulates the markets
The Union
28 States & 8 Union Territories
India is a union of states, each with its own government, language and identity. Tap a state on the map above, or open the full list of profiles.
- Uttar Pradesh The most populous state (~240 million) — bigger than most countries
- Rajasthan The largest state by area
- Maharashtra The largest state economy (Mumbai is the financial capital)
- Explore states Browse every state & UT profile → — all 28 states and 8 union territories, each with its own map
The Land
Geography & Natural India
From the high Himalayas to a long tropical coast, India packs nearly every kind of landscape into one country — and ranks among the most biodiverse nations on Earth.
- Himalayas The world's highest range guards the north; Kangchenjunga (8,586 m, Sikkim) is India's highest peak
- The great rivers The Ganga, Brahmaputra, Indus and Godavari (the longest peninsular river) water the land
- The monsoon The south-west monsoon (June–September) brings most of the year's rain and feeds the harvest
- ~11,099 km Coastline (revised 2023-24), plus the Thar Desert, the Gangetic plains and two island groups
- Megadiverse One of 17 megadiverse nations — about 8% of all recorded species; 4 of the world's biodiversity hotspots
- The Sundarbans The world's largest mangrove forest; the Asiatic lion survives only in Gir, Gujarat
- ~3,680 tigers Home to about 75% of the world's wild tigers (2022 census); Project Tiger began in 1973
- 106 national parks Plus 570+ wildlife sanctuaries and 58 tiger reserves protecting the wild
Environment, energy & climate
- 25.17% Forest & tree cover of the country (India State of Forest Report 2023)
- 50%+ clean power Half of installed electricity capacity is now non-fossil — a 2030 target met early
- Net-zero by 2070 India's climate pledge, announced at COP26 in Glasgow (2021)
- Solar leader Among the world's top renewable-energy nations; the International Solar Alliance is headquartered in India
Agriculture
Feeding 1.4 Billion
Farming still supports much of the country. Since the Green Revolution India has grown enough food grain for itself, and today it leads the world in several staples.
- World No. 1 Largest producer of milk, pulses, jute & spices
- World No. 2 In rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton, and fruit & vegetables
- ~45% of the workforce still depends on agriculture
- Green Revolution Turned 1960s food shortages into grain self-sufficiency
Strengths & Industry
What India Leads In
India supplies the world in fields from software to medicines, and it has one of the largest startup scenes anywhere.
- IT & services A global software & back-office hub — IT exports of ~$200 bn+
- Pharmacy of the world The largest supplier of generic medicines & vaccines
- Automobiles Among the world's largest vehicle producers
- 3rd-largest Startup ecosystem — 100+ unicorns
- Textiles & steel A leading producer of textiles, steel, chemicals & engineering goods
- Cinema The world's largest film industry by output (Bollywood & beyond)
Culture & Heritage
A Civilisational Mosaic
Indian culture is thousands of years old and lived every day. Festivals, faiths and classical arts differ from region to region, and the food changes every few hundred kilometres.
- Festivals Diwali, Holi, Eid, Christmas, Navratri, Pongal & countless more
- Yoga & Ayurveda Indian gifts to the world; 21 June is International Day of Yoga
- Classical arts Bharatanatyam, Kathak & more; Hindustani & Carnatic music
- Cuisine Vast regional diversity — from biryani to dosa to chaat
- Birthplace of faiths Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism & Sikhism all originated here
- Languages & literature Ancient Sanskrit to modern writing in dozens of languages
Places to Visit
From the Himalayas to the Sea
Snow peaks, deserts, backwaters and beaches; ancient temples and Mughal monuments. India has 44 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
- Taj Mahal Agra's marble wonder — one of the New 7 Wonders of the World
- 44 sites UNESCO World Heritage Sites — the 6th-most of any country
- Golden Triangle Delhi · Agra · Jaipur — India's classic first trip
- Himalayas The world's highest mountains along the northern frontier
- Kerala & Goa Backwaters, hill stations and beaches of the south & west coast
- Varanasi One of the world's oldest living cities, on the Ganga
- Golden Temple Sikhism's holiest shrine — the gilded Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar
- Ajanta & Ellora Ancient rock-cut cave temples in Maharashtra (UNESCO)
- Hampi The vast ruins of the Vijayanagara Empire in Karnataka (UNESCO)
- Khajuraho Exquisitely sculpted medieval temples in Madhya Pradesh (UNESCO)
- Konark Odisha's 13th-century Sun Temple, carved as a giant chariot (UNESCO)
- Mahabalipuram Pallava shore temples & the great Chola temples of Tamil Nadu (UNESCO)
- Ladakh High-altitude Himalayan desert of stark passes & ancient monasteries
- Kaziranga Assam's grasslands — home to most of the world's one-horned rhinos (UNESCO)
Modern India
Space, Tech & Digital Public Goods
India is a space-faring nation and a leader in digital public services. It runs some of the world's largest tech platforms and reaches space at a fraction of the usual cost.
- Chandrayaan-3 First nation to land near the Moon's south pole (2023); Mars on the first try
- UPI The world's largest real-time payments system — billions of monthly transactions
- Aadhaar The world's largest biometric digital-ID system (~1.4 billion enrolled)
- Digital India Among the world's cheapest mobile data; one of the fastest 5G rollouts
- Defence One of the world's largest militaries, with a growing indigenous industry
- Nuclear & renewables A nuclear power and a fast-growing solar & wind leader
Rail, Road, Metro & Air
Moving a Continent
India runs some of the largest transport networks in the world, and is now adding new metros, expressways and its first bullet train.
- Railways The 4th-largest rail network in the world — see the Indian Railways page
- Roads The 2nd-largest road network — see Roads & Highways
- Metros Rapidly expanding across cities — see Metro Rail
- Bullet train India's first high-speed line (Mumbai–Ahmedabad) is under construction
- Aviation One of the world's fastest-growing, 3rd-largest domestic air markets
- Ports A long coastline handling the bulk of the country's trade by volume
The Nation
The World's Largest Democracy
Bharat is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic — and the world's largest democracy, bound by one Constitution across its many languages and faiths.
- A Republic A sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic with a parliamentary system
- 26 Jan 1950 The Constitution came into force — the longest written constitution of any sovereign nation
- President & PM The President is head of state; the Prime Minister leads the government
- Parliament Two houses — the Lok Sabha (people) and the Rajya Sabha (states)
- Supreme Court An independent judiciary, with the Supreme Court at its apex
- 28 + 8 Twenty-eight states and eight Union Territories, down to elected village panchayats
- 22 languages Twenty-two languages in the Eighth Schedule; Hindi & English are the Union's official languages
- Cradle of faiths The birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism — and home to many more
- Armed forces The Army, Navy and Air Force — among the world's largest, an all-volunteer force
- A nuclear power A nuclear-weapon state since the Pokhran tests of 1974 and 1998
- A sporting nation Cricket-mad, with eight Olympic hockey golds and chess champions like Viswanathan Anand
Identity
The National Symbols
The marks of the Republic, each drawn from India's own civilisational heritage.
- The Tiranga The tricolour — saffron, white & green — with the 24-spoke Ashoka Chakra; adopted 22 July 1947
- National emblem The Lion Capital of Ashoka, from Sarnath, with the motto Satyameva Jayate ("Truth alone triumphs")
- Jana Gana Mana The national anthem, composed by Rabindranath Tagore
- Vande Mataram The national song, by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
- Tiger & elephant The Royal Bengal Tiger is the national animal; the elephant, the national heritage animal
- The peacock The Indian peacock is the national bird
- Lotus, banyan & mango The national flower, tree and fruit
- The Ganga The Ganga is the national river; the Gangetic dolphin, the national aquatic animal
- The Rupee (₹) India's currency; the ₹ symbol was adopted in 2010
- Saka calendar The national calendar, used alongside the Gregorian
Through the Ages
A Short History of India
From one of the world's earliest civilisations to a modern republic. A few of the milestones along the way:
| When | Milestone |
|---|---|
| ~2600 BCE | The Indus Valley Civilisation (Harappa & Mohenjo-daro) — one of the world's earliest urban cultures |
| ~1500 BCE | The Vedic age begins; the Vedas are composed |
| ~6th c BCE | Buddhism & Jainism arise — the Buddha and Mahavira |
| ~322 BCE | The Mauryan Empire; Ashoka embraces Buddhism after the Kalinga war |
| ~320 CE | The Gupta golden age — the decimal system & zero, astronomy and art |
| ~9th–13th c | The Chola Empire — a great South Indian maritime power |
| 1206 | The Delhi Sultanate is established |
| 1498 | Vasco da Gama opens the European sea route to India |
| 1526 | Babur founds the Mughal Empire at Panipat (the Taj Mahal, Red Fort & more) |
| 1757 | The Battle of Plassey — East India Company rule begins in Bengal |
| 1857 | The Revolt of 1857 — the first war of independence |
| 1858 | British Crown rule (the Raj) begins |
| 1885 | The Indian National Congress is founded |
| 1930 | Gandhi's Dandi Salt March galvanises the freedom movement |
| 15 Aug 1947 | Independence from British rule — and the Partition |
| 26 Jan 1950 | India becomes a Republic — the Constitution comes into force |
| 1991 | Economic liberalisation opens up the economy |
| 2023 | Becomes the world's most populous country; Chandrayaan-3 lands near the Moon's south pole |
The Map of Bharat
Akhand Bharat — One Civilisation, Many Nations
For millennia the subcontinent was known as Bharatvarsha — a single civilisational land bound by shared culture, faith and trade. "Akhand Bharat" (undivided Bharat) is the idea of that greater, unified land. Over the centuries the map was redrawn — by Partition, and by the merger of hundreds of princely states and colonial enclaves into the modern Republic.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| Antiquity | Bharatvarsha — great empires such as the Maurya and Gupta united much of the subcontinent under one rule |
| Across the ages | Bharat's Dharmic culture reached from Gandhara (today's Afghanistan) to Sri Lanka, Nepal and South-East Asia — lands that are separate nations today |
| 15 Aug 1947 | Partition — at independence, the land was divided and Pakistan (West & East) was carved out of Bharat |
| 1947 | Jammu & Kashmir accedes to India |
| 1947–1949 | Sardar Patel and V. P. Menon integrate 500+ princely states into the Union |
| 1948 | Junagadh and Hyderabad accede to the Union |
| 1961 | Goa, Daman & Diu are liberated from Portuguese rule (Operation Vijay) |
| 1962 | The French enclaves of Puducherry formally merge with India |
| 1971 | East Pakistan becomes the independent nation of Bangladesh |
| 1975 | Sikkim joins India as its 22nd state |
- "Akhand Bharat" is a civilisational and cultural idea of an undivided greater Bharat — a shared Dharmic heritage across the subcontinent, not a claim on today's sovereign neighbours.
Battles & Valour
Wars Through the Ages
The land of Bharat has been defended and contested across millennia — from ancient battlefields to the wars of the modern Republic. A few of the decisive ones.
Before the East India Company
| When | Battle |
|---|---|
| 326 BCE | The Battle of the Hydaspes — Porus resists Alexander on the Jhelum |
| ~261 BCE | The Kalinga War — Ashoka's bloody conquest turns him to peace and Buddhism |
| 1191 & 1192 | The Battles of Tarain — Prithviraj Chauhan against Muhammad of Ghor |
| 1526 | The First Battle of Panipat — Babur founds the Mughal Empire |
| 1556 | The Second Battle of Panipat — Akbar's forces defeat Hemu |
| 1565 | The Battle of Talikota — the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire |
| 1576 | Haldighati — Maharana Pratap's defiant stand against the Mughals |
| 1674 | Shivaji is crowned Chhatrapati — the Maratha Empire rises |
| 1761 | The Third Battle of Panipat — Marathas against Ahmad Shah Abdali |
The Company & colonial era
| When | War |
|---|---|
| 1757 | The Battle of Plassey — the East India Company seizes Bengal |
| 1764 | The Battle of Buxar — the Company's grip on the east tightens |
| 1767–1799 | The Anglo-Mysore Wars — Hyder Ali & Tipu Sultan; Tipu falls at Seringapatam, 1799 |
| 1775–1818 | The Anglo-Maratha Wars — ending Maratha power |
| 1845–1849 | The Anglo-Sikh Wars — the annexation of Punjab |
| 1857 | The First War of Independence — Mangal Pandey, Rani Lakshmibai and Bahadur Shah Zafar |
After Independence
| When | Conflict |
|---|---|
| 1947–48 | The first war over Jammu & Kashmir with Pakistan |
| 1961 | Goa is liberated from Portuguese rule |
| 1962 | War with China along the northern Himalayan frontier |
| 1965 | War with Pakistan |
| 1971 | War with Pakistan — India's victory gives birth to Bangladesh |
| 1984 | Siachen (Operation Meghdoot) — India secures the glacier heights |
| 1999 | The Kargil War — India reclaims the heights along the Line of Control |
Strength & Security
The Armed Forces
India fields one of the world's largest militaries — and one of the few that is entirely volunteer, with no conscription. Three services, a full nuclear triad, and a fast-growing base of home-built weapons stand behind it.
- ~1.4 million Active personnel — among the world's largest forces, and all-volunteer
- Three services Army, Navy & Air Force — under a Chief of Defence Staff since 2020
- Nuclear triad Land, air & sea — INS Arihant submarine; a No First Use doctrine
- Two carriers INS Vikramaditya and the home-built INS Vikrant (2022)
- Agni-V Long-range ballistic missile — a range of over 5,000 km
- Mission Shakti Anti-satellite (ASAT) capability demonstrated by DRDO in 2019
- 42 squadrons The Air Force's sanctioned combat strength
- ₹7.85 lakh cr Defence budget (FY 2026-27) — among the largest in the world
Made in India — Atmanirbhar Bharat
- BrahMos One of the world's fastest supersonic cruise missiles
- HAL Tejas Indigenous light combat aircraft
- INS Vikrant India's first home-built aircraft carrier
- Arjun & Akash Indigenous main battle tank and air-defence missile system
- ₹23,622 cr Record defence exports (FY 2024-25) — and rising
- Higher command: a Chief of Defence Staff (since January 2020) and the Department of Military Affairs drive jointness across the three services; integrated theatre commands are being developed.
- On the world stage: India is among the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping — and the largest in its history, with over 2,90,000 peacekeepers across 50+ missions.
- Internal security: separate from the armed forces, the Central Armed Police Forces under the Home Ministry — BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP, SSB and the Assam Rifles — guard the borders and keep internal peace.
On the World Stage
India in the World
Guided by Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — "the world is one family" — India is a founding voice of the post-war order, a rising power, and home to the world's largest diaspora.
- ~35 million Overseas Indians — the world's largest diaspora, and the top recipient of remittances
- G20 2023 India hosted the G20 Summit in New Delhi; the African Union joined under its presidency
- A founding voice A founding UN member (1945) and of the Non-Aligned Movement; long seeks a permanent Security Council seat
- Many tables A member of the G20, BRICS, the SCO, the Quad and the Commonwealth
- Day of Yoga On India's proposal, the UN made 21 June the International Day of Yoga (since 2015)
- Neighbourhood First A foreign policy built on "Neighbourhood First" and "Act East", and on global soft power
Nation Builders
A Land of Icons
A few of the countless men and women who shaped Bharat — its freedom, its defence, its conscience and its genius.
Freedom fighters & founders
- Mahatma Gandhi "Father of the Nation" — led the non-violent freedom struggle
- Sardar Patel The "Iron Man" who united 500+ princely states into India
- B. R. Ambedkar Chief architect of the Constitution and champion of social justice
- B. N. Rau Constitutional adviser who prepared the first draft of the Constitution
- Dr. Rajendra Prasad President of the Constituent Assembly and independent India's first President
- Jawaharlal Nehru India's first Prime Minister
- Subhas Chandra Bose "Netaji" — raised the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj); "Give me blood and I will give you freedom"
- Bhagat Singh & comrades Revolutionary martyrs — Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, hanged together at 23 on 23 March 1931; enduring icons of the armed struggle
- Chandra Shekhar Azad Fearless leader of the revolutionary HSRA
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak "Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it"
- Lala Lajpat Rai "Punjab Kesari" — of the Lal-Bal-Pal trio with Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal
- Sarojini Naidu "Nightingale of India" — first woman Congress president and first woman governor
- Rani Lakshmibai The Queen of Jhansi — heroine of the 1857 war who died sword in hand
- Mangal Pandey The sepoy whose defiance sparked the First War of Independence (1857)
- Veer Kunwar Singh The octogenarian king of Jagdishpur who led the 1857 war in Bihar
- Bismil & Ashfaqulla Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan — martyrs of the 1925 Kakori action
Warriors & soldiers
- Chhatrapati Shivaji Founder of the Maratha Empire and pioneer of guerrilla warfare
- Maharana Pratap The Mewar king who resisted Mughal expansion at Haldighati (1576)
- Tipu Sultan The "Tiger of Mysore" who fought the East India Company; fell at Seringapatam, 1799
- F. M. K. M. Cariappa Independent India's first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Army
- F. M. Sam Manekshaw Led India to victory in 1971; the nation's first Field Marshal
- Param Vir Chakra heroes Major Somnath Sharma (1947), CQMH Abdul Hamid (1965), Capt. Vikram Batra (Kargil, 1999) and more
Reformers, thinkers & saints
- Swami Vivekananda Carried Vedanta to the world with his 1893 address in Chicago
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy "Father of the Indian Renaissance" and tireless social reformer
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Reformer and educationist who championed widow remarriage
- Jyotirao & Savitribai Phule Pioneers of girls' and lower-caste education in 19th-century India
Arts, science & letters
- Rabindranath Tagore First Asian Nobel laureate (1913); composed the anthem "Jana Gana Mana"
- C. V. Raman Nobel Prize in Physics (1930) for the Raman effect
- Srinivasa Ramanujan Self-taught mathematical genius of number theory
- Homi J. Bhabha Father of India's nuclear programme
- Vikram Sarabhai Father of the Indian space programme (ISRO)
- A. P. J. Abdul Kalam The "Missile Man" and beloved People's President
- Satyajit Ray Master filmmaker; honoured with an Academy Award
- M. S. Subbulakshmi Carnatic legend; first musician awarded the Bharat Ratna
Sport & the field
- Major Dhyan Chand Hockey wizard with three Olympic golds (1928, 1932, 1936); National Sports Day marks his birthday
- Sachin Tendulkar Cricket's "Master Blaster" — the only player with 100 international centuries; Bharat Ratna
- Kapil Dev All-rounder who captained India to its first Cricket World Cup (1983)
- Viswanathan Anand India's first chess Grandmaster and a five-time World Champion
- Milkha Singh "The Flying Sikh" — India's legendary sprinter
- P. T. Usha "Payyoli Express" — track-and-field icon of Indian athletics
- Abhinav Bindra Won India's first individual Olympic gold — 10m air rifle, 2008
- Neeraj Chopra Olympic javelin gold (2020) — India's first in track and field; World Champion 2023
- P. V. Sindhu Two-time Olympic badminton medallist and World Champion (2019)
- Mary Kom Six-time world boxing champion and Olympic medallist