India
India
India
It is the seventh-largest country by area, thesecond-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bound 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;[d] 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 theMaldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia. Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation 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.[8] Four of the world's major religionsHinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhismoriginated here, whereas