India (in Hindi, Bharat), officially Republic of India, federal democracy in southern Asia and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, comprising, with Pakistan and Bangladesh, the subcontinent of India. India is the seventh-largest nation in the world and the second most populous, after China. It geographically consists of the entire Indian peninsula and portions of the Asian mainland. India is bordered on the north by Afghanistan, Tibet, Nepal, China, and Bhutan; on the south by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar, which separate it from Sri Lanka, and the Indian Ocean; on the west by the Arabian Sea and Pakistan; on the east by Myanmar (Burma), the Bay of Bengal and Bangladesh, which almost cuts off north-east India from the rest of the nation. With Jammu and Kashmir (the definitive status of which has not been determined), India has an area of 3,287,263 sq km (1,269,219 sq mi). The capital of India is New Delhi, and the nation's largest city is Mumbai (formerly Bombay).

Population
        913,200,000
        (1996 estimate)
Population Density
        277 people/sq km
        (717 people/sq mi)
        (1996 estimate)
Urban/Rural Breakdown
        27% Urban
        73% Rural
Largest Cities
        Mumbai9,925,891
        Delhi7,206,704
        Calcutta4,309,819
        (1991 census)
Largest Metropolitan Areas
        Mumbai12,596,243
        Calcutta11,021,915
        Delhi  8,419,084
        (1991 census)
Ethnic Groups
        72% Indo-Aryans
        25% Dravidians
        3% Other
        including Mongoloids
Languages
Official Languages
        Hindi
        English
Other Languages
        16 regional languages, including Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, 
        Tamil, Urdu, Oriya, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, and Bhojpuri, 
        plus many local languages
Religions
        82% Hinduism
        12% Islam
        6%  Other
        including Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism