Overview

India is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country in terms of area, and the second most populous country in the world with over 1.33 billion people. India borders the Indian Ocean in the south, the Arabian Sea in the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal in the south-east; borders Pakistan in the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan in the northeast, and Myanmar, Bangladesh in the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is adjacent to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. In addition, the Andaman and Nicobar islands of India share the sea border with Thailand and Indonesia.

India has a very special geographic position with its back lying along the majestic Himalayas, overlooking the Indian Ocean, and it owns two major rivers of Indus river and Ganges river as the two fresh milk lines feeding the vast plains and also the cradle of the agricultural civilization in ancient times. The history of Indian culture extends over 4,500 years. The Indian subcontinent is home to the ancient Indus river basin civilization with historic trade routes and vast empires, becoming commercially and culturally rich in most of its long history.

It is also the cradle of many of the world's greatest and oldest religions and philosophical schools, as well as the birthplace of great Buddhas such as Shakyamuni Buddha. It has a religious diversity, in which Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, and Jainism are among the nation's major religions.