India

More people live in India than in any other country in the world except China. India’s culture is one of the oldest and richest in the world. The capital is New Delhi.

Geography

Much of India’s territory is a peninsula that extends into the Indian Ocean. To the west of the peninsula is the Arabian Sea, and to the east is the Bay of Bengal. India shares borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

The high Himalayas rise in the north. South of the mountains is a plain of soil left behind by the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra rivers. The Indus River gave the country its name. The Ganges is sacred to followers of Hinduism. In the north west is the Thar Desert. Most of the south is fairly flat. Along the coasts are low mountains called the Western and Eastern Ghats.

India’s climate is controlled by monsoons, or winds that change direction each season. Most of the country has three seasons: a hot, dry spring; a hot, wet summer; and a cool, dry winter.

Plants and Animals Tropical evergreen forests grow in rainy areas. In less rainy regions trees lose their leaves during the cool, dry season. Dry regions have thorny shrubs and grasses. Some 100 types of palm tree also grow in the country.

India’s wildlife includes tigers, lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceroses, bears, and deer. Monkeys and cows are common even in cities. The peacock is the national bird. The best-known reptile is the cobra.

People

India has a mixture of peoples who have blended together since ancient times. They speak many languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, and Assamese. Many Indians speak Hindi or English as a second language. About three fourths of Indians are Hindus. Muslims form the next-largest religious group. Others follow Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, or other religions.

Most Indians live in villages. Indian cities are generally very crowded.

Indians are divided into social groups known as castes. People are born into these groups, each of which has its own traditional occupations, diet, and customs.

Economy

Services including computer work, communications, transportation, and tourism are India’s most valuable economic activities. Industry is also important.

Factories produce textiles, chemicals, processed foods, iron and steel, electronics, automobiles, and cement. Mining provides coal, oil, iron ore, and limestone.

Agriculture employs the most Indian workers. Crops include grains, sugarcane, fruits, beans, cotton, jute, tea, coffee, rubber, and spices. India raises more cattle and water buffalo than any other country in the world. Because cows are holy to Hindus, Indians often use cattle as work animals instead of killing them for their meat.

History

India’s history goes back to ancient times. By about 2500 BC the Indus Valley civilization had extended from what is now Pakistan into north western India.

Between 1500 and 1200 BC tribes of people known as Aryans invaded north western India and spread eastward. The Mauryan Empire, which lasted from about 321 to 185 BC, united most of what is now India. The Hindu Gupta Dynasty ruled from about AD 320 to 540. The Guptas encouraged literature, music, drama, painting, and sculpture.

Muslim Rule

Muslims began invading India in the 700s. In 1206 they set up a sultanate, or kingdom, centered in Delhi. The greatest of all the Muslim states in India was the Mughal Empire, which defeated the Delhi sultanate in 1526. By the late 1600s it had spread over almost all of India.

See Also:Brazil

British Rule

Meanwhile, in 1498 the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama sailed to India.

The Dutch, the British, and the French soon challenged Portugal for trade with India. By 1849 Great Britain’s East India Company ruled almost all of India. After a rebellion by Indian soldiers, the government of Britain took direct control of India in 1858.

British rule brought peace and some economic growth. However, many Indians wanted their own government. In 1885 some of the people formed a political party called the Indian National Congress. In 1920 Mahatma Gandhi, a leader of the Congress party, began urging Indians to resist British rule. He asked them to protest British laws peacefully, not violently.

Independence

India won full independence in 1947. However, some of its land was set aside to create the Muslim country of Pakistan. Fighting soon broke out between India and Pakistan. After a war in 1971, East Pakistan became the new country of Bangladesh. India and Pakistan continued to fight over the territory called Kashmir into the 21st century.

Within India, ethnic and religious conflicts led to the assassinations of two prime ministers, Indira Gandhi in 1984 and her son Rajiv in 1991. India also faced a growing population and widespread poverty. Despite those problems, the country maintained a democratic government. It also developed nuclear technology and a strong computer industry. In 2004 Manmohan Singh became the first Sikh to serve as India’s prime minister.