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 Golden Age
ushered in by the Gupta dynasty (4th to 6th centuries A.D.) saw a
flowering of Indian science, art, and culture. Arab incursions
starting in the 8th century and Turkic in the 12th were followed by
those of European traders, beginning in the late 15th century. By
the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually
all Indian lands. Indian armed forces in the British army played a
vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent resistance to British
colonialism led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU brought
independence in 1947. The subcontinent was divided into the secular
state of India and the smaller Muslim state of Pakistan. A third war
between the two countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming
the separate nation of Bangladesh. India's nuclear weapons testing
in 1998 caused Pakistan to conduct its own tests that same year. The
dispute between the countries over the state of Kashmir is ongoing,
but discussions and confidence-building measures have led to
decreased tensions since 2002. Despite impressive gains in economic
investment and output, India faces pressing problems such as
significant overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive
poverty, and ethnic and religious strife.

Geography
India

Location:

Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal,
between Burma and Pakistan

Geographic coordinates:

20 00 N, 77 00 E

Map references:

Asia

Area:

total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km
water: 314,400 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly more than one-third the size of the US

Land boundaries:

total: 14,103 km
border countries: Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463
km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km

Coastline:

7,000 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:

varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north

Terrain:

upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along
the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m

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