National symbols
Flag	Tiranga (Tricolour)
Emblem	Sarnath Lion Capital
Language	None
Anthem	Jana Gana Mana
Song	Vande Mataram
Currency	₹ (Indian rupee)
Calendar	Saka
Animal	Tiger (land) River dolphin (aquatic)
Bird	Indian peafowl
Flower	Lotus
Fruit	Mango
Tree	Banyan
River	Ganga
Game	Not declared

India, officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country (with over 1.2 billion people), and the most populous democracy in the world. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Myanmar (Burma) and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia. Its capital is New Delhi; other metropolises include Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history.Four religions–Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism–originated in India, whereas Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the first millennium CE, and they also played a part in shaping the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, it became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.