India - IN - IND - IND - South Asia

droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes

volcanism: Barren Island (354 m) in the Andaman Sea has been active in recent years

The Indus Valley civilization, one of the world's oldest, flourished during the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C. and extended into northwestern India. Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated the Indian subcontinent about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. The Maurya Empire of the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. -- which reached its zenith under ASHOKA -- united much of South Asia. The Gupta dynasty (4th to 6th centuries A.D.) ushered in The Golden Age, which saw a flowering of Indian science, art, and culture. Islam spread across the subcontinent over a period of 700 years. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established the Delhi Sultanate. In the early 16th century, the Emperor BABUR established the Mughal Dynasty, which ruled large sections of India for more than three centuries. European explorers began establishing footholds in India during the 16th century.

By the 19th century, Great Britain had become the dominant political power on the subcontinent, and India was seen as the "Jewel in the Crown" of the British Empire. The British Indian Army played a vital role in both World Wars. Years of nonviolent resistance to British rule, led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU, eventually resulted in Indian independence in 1947. Large-scale communal violence took place before and after the subcontinent partition into two separate states -- India and Pakistan. The neighboring countries have fought three wars since independence, the last of which was in 1971 and resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. India's nuclear weapons tests in 1998 emboldened Pakistan to conduct its own tests that same year. In 2008, terrorists originating from Pakistan conducted a series of coordinated attacks in Mumbai, India's financial capital. India's economic growth after economic reforms in 1991, a massive youth population, and a strategic geographic location have contributed to the country's emergence as a regional and global power. However, India still faces pressing problems such as extensive poverty, widespread corruption, and environmental degradation, and its restrictive business climate challenges economic growth expectations.

India is a source, transit, and destination for illicit narcotics and precursor chemicals; drug abuse in India growing, facilitated by illicit narcotics and the availability of over-the-counter medicines; commonly abused substances in India include heroin, cannabis, and cocaine, with growing use of pharmaceutical drugs in recent years including tramadol, opioids, and MDMA (ecstasy) analogues; largest producer of generic drugs in the world which is also used to produce illicit synthetic drugs such as pharmaceutical opioids, methamphetamine, heroin, MDMA, and ketamine

largest South Asian economy; strong, sustained GDP growth led by technology and service sectors, foreign investment, and improved regulatory framework; high poverty rate and income inequality; initiatives on infrastructure development, digitization, manufacturing, and financial access

विश्व फ़ैक्टबुक, आधारभूत जानकारी का एक अनिवार्य स्रोत (Hindi)

Taj Mahal (c); Red Fort Complex (c); Elphanta Caves (c); Hill Forts of Rajasthan (c); Sundarbans National Park (n); Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (c); Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park (c); Dholavira: A Harappan City (c); Jaipur (c); Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya (c); Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (n); Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks (n); Khangchendzonga National Park (m); Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram (c); Sun Temple, Konârak (c); Kaziranga National Park (n); Keoladeo National Park (n); Churches and Convents of Goa (c); Fatehpur Sikri (c); Group of Monuments at Hampi (c); Khajuraho Group of Monuments (c); Great Living Chola Temples (c); Group of Monuments at Pattadakal (c); Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi (c); Humayun's Tomb, Delhi (c); Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi (c); Mountain Railways of India (c); Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) (c); The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur (c); Western Ghats (n); Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area (n); Rani-ki-Vav (the Queen’s Stepwell) at Patan, Gujarat (c); Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara at Nalanda, Bihar (c); The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement (c); Historic City of Ahmadabad (c); Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai (c); Jaipur City, Rajasthan (c); Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Telangana (c); Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas (c); Santiniketan (c);  Moidams – the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty (c)