Know India

India, officially the Republic of India (Bharat Ganrajya), 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. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization 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.^[12] Four world religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.

The Indian economy is the world's tenth-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).^[13] Following market-based economic reformism 1991, India became one of the fastest-growing major economies; it is considered a newly industrialized country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, inadequate public healthcare, and terrorism. A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the third-largest standing army in the world and ranks seventh in military expenditure among nations. India is a federal constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system consisting of 28 states and 7 union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, and multi-ethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

States and union territories

India is composed of 28 states and 7 union territories (including a national capital territory). The union territories are governed by administrators, appointed by the President of India. Two of the territories (Delhi and Puducherry) have been given partial statehood, with elected legislatures and executive councils of ministers, but limited powers.

States

Number	State	Code	Capital
1	Andhra Pradesh	AP	Hyderabad
2	Arunachal Pradesh	AR	Itanagar
3	Assam	AS	Dispur
4	Bihar	BR	Patna
5	Chhattisgarh	CG	Raipur
6	Goa	GA	Panaji
7	Gujarat	GJ	Gandhinagar
8	Haryana	HR	Chandigarh
9	Himachal Pradesh	HP	Shimla
10	Jammu and Kashmir	JK	Srinagar
11	Jharkhand	JH	Ranchi
12	Karnataka	KA	Bengalooru
13	Kerala	KL	Thiruvananthapuram
14	Madhya Pradesh	MP	Bhopal
15	Maharashtra	MH	Mumbai
16	Manipur	MN	Imphal
17	Meghalaya	ML	Shillong
18	Mizoram	MZ	Aizawl
19	Nagaland	NL	Kohima
20	Odisha	OD	Bhubaneswar
21	Punjab	PB	Chandigarh
22	Rajasthan	RJ	Jaipur
23	Sikkim	SK	Gangtok
24	Tamil Nadu	TN	Chennai
25	Tripura	TR	Agartala
26	Uttar Pradesh	UP	Lucknow
27	Uttarakhand	UK	Dehradun
28	West Bengal	WB	Kolkata

Union territories

Number	Union territory	Code	Capital
A	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	AN	Port Blair
B	Chandigarh	CH	Chandigarh
C	Dadra and Nagar Haveli	DN	Silvassa
D	Daman and Diu	DD	Daman
E	Lakshadweep	LD	Kavaratti
F	National Capital Territory	ND	New Delhi
G	Puducherry	PY	Pondicherry

National Symbols of INDIA 
The Republic of India has several official national symbols including a flag, an emblem, an anthem, a calendar as well as several other symbols. All the symbols were picked up at various times. The design of the national flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly just before independence, on July 22, 1947. There are also several other symbols including the national animal, bird, flower and tree. 

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Evolution of India's National Flag

It is really amazing to see the various changes that our National Flag went through since its first inception. It was discovered or recognised during our national struggle for freedom. The evolution of the Indian National Flag sailed through many vicissitudes to arrive at what it is today. For complete detail, click here.

History of Indian Cinema - World's Largest Film Producer

India is the largest producer of films in the world. Indian film industry is multi-lingual and the largest in the world in terms of ticket sales and number of films produced. The industry is supported mainly by a vast film-going Indian public, and Indian films have been gaining increasing popularity in the rest of the world—notably in countries with large numbers of expatriate Indians.

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