GeodlyAsia
India
India occupies most of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia, bordered by the Himalayas to the north and the Indian Ocean to the south. With more than 1.4 billion people, it became the most populous country in the world in 2023. India is a federal republic of states and union territories, and its capital is New Delhi.
The subcontinent was home to the Indus Valley Civilisation, one of the earliest urban cultures, and it is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. After a long period of British rule, India became independent on 15 August 1947, and its constitution came into force on 26 January 1950, now celebrated as Republic Day. With hundreds of millions of voters, India is often described as the world’s largest democracy. Hindi and English are used by the central government, and the constitution recognises 22 languages.
The flag of India
The flag has three horizontal stripes of saffron, white and green, with a navy blue wheel of 24 spokes in the centre of the white stripe.
The flag was adopted on 22 July 1947, shortly before independence. Saffron is usually described as standing for courage and sacrifice, white for truth and peace, and green for faith, fertility and growth. The wheel is the Ashoka Chakra, taken from the Lion Capital that the emperor Ashoka set up at Sarnath in the third century BC. It replaced the spinning wheel that had appeared on the flag of the independence movement.
Landscape and geography
The Himalayas form India’s northern edge, and Kangchenjunga, on the border with Nepal, is the highest mountain in India and the third-highest in the world. South of the mountains lies the broad, fertile plain of the Ganges and other rivers, one of the most densely populated regions on Earth. The Thar Desert spreads across the north-west, while the south is a large plateau, the Deccan, framed by the Western and Eastern Ghats.
Life in India follows the monsoon. Most of the year’s rain falls in a few summer months, brought by moist winds from the Indian Ocean, and the hills of Meghalaya in the north-east are among the wettest places in the world.
Did you know?
- The Taj Mahal in Agra was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
- The whole of India uses a single time zone, five and a half hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time.
- Chess developed from chaturanga, a game played in India around 1,500 years ago.
- India has one of the world’s largest railway networks, carrying millions of passengers every day.
Key facts
- Capital
- New Delhi
- Continent
- Asia
- Population
- About 1.43 billion
- Land neighbours
- 6
- Coast
- Has a coastline
- European Union
- Not a member
- NATO
- Not a member
- Language in GeoLingo
- Hindi
Land neighbours
India in numbers
| Population | 1,428,627,663 people |
|---|---|
| Land area | 2,973,190 km² |
| Population density | 435 people/km² |
| Total GDP | $3,570,000,000,000 |
| GDP per capita | $2,500 |
| Life expectancy | 67.2 years |
| Unemployment rate | 7.1% |
| Coastline | 7,000 km |
| Forest coverage | 24.3% |
| Human Development Index | 0.644 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites | 42 sites |
| Airports | 346 airports |
These are the figures used in GeoDecide. They are rounded and can lag behind the latest official statistics.
World rankings
Geo Sort asks you to place countries by rank. A lower number means a higher place in that category.
| Land Area | #7 |
|---|---|
| Coastline | #18 |
| FIFA Ranking (M) | #117 |
| Military Strength | #4 |
| Avg Annual Temperature | #37 |
| UNESCO Sites | #6 |
| Population Density | #28 |
| Highest Point | #3 |
Say it in Hindi
GeoLingo shows these four phrases and asks which country they belong to.
- Hello
- नमस्ते (Namaste)
- Thank you
- धन्यवाद (Dhanyavad)
- Yes
- हाँ (Haan)
- Goodbye
- अलविदा (Alvidaa)
Practise India on Geodly
- Flag Drawing: The flag of India is in the Easy set. Draw it from memory and compare your drawing with the real design.
- Border Clash: Draw the border between India and Pakistan on a blank map.
- Geo Click: Find India on the map, or locate its capital, New Delhi, in the capital modes.
- Geo Chain: Link countries through shared land borders. Knowing the 6 neighbours of India gives you more routes.
- GeoDecide: Compare India with other countries on the statistics listed above.
- Geo Sort: Place India in the category where its world rank is strongest.
- GeoLingo: Recognise Hindi from four short phrases and match it to India.
- Terra Tac Toe: Use India as an answer when its facts fit both the row and the column of a square.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica: India · CIA World Factbook: India