Republic of India: Map & History
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia.
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the world's seventh-largest country by area and its most populous. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north, and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is near Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
Modern Countries Once Part of Republic of India
At its mapped extent, Republic of India covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Republic of India's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Republic of India in Depth
History
Based on coalescence of Mitochondrial DNA and Y Chromosome data, the earliest extant lineages of modern humans on the Indian subcontinent had reached there from Africa between 80,000 and 50,000 years ago, and with high likelihood by 55,000 years ago. Neolithic and chalcolithic cultures arose in the western margins of the Indus river basin around Mehrgarh in Balochistan, Pakistan after 7000 BCE. These gradually evolved into the Indus Valley Civilisation, which flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India. Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and Dholavira, its characteristic features included steatite seals, a written script, urban planning, terracotta human figures and animal statuettes.
Government and politics
Constitution: The Constitution of India was drafted by the Constituent Assembly of India between 1946 and 1949, despite the political disruptions of the Partition. The Government of India Act 1935 was used as a model and framework. Long passages from the Act are included. The Indian Constitution merges the opposing principles of federalism, which disperses political authority, and parliamentarianism, which centralises legislative power. The federal structure features a strong central government that controls defence, foreign affairs, railways, ports, and currency. The President, the constitutional head of state, has reserve powers for taking over the administration of a state. The Constitution also includes features not found in the 1935 Act.
Economy
After independence in 1947, India shifted from the colonial economic model to a focus on industrialisation and poverty reduction. This transition brought a large expansion of government authority. Government spending as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) increased from 3 to 5 per cent in 1931 to 22 per cent by 1981. Public administration and state-owned enterprises became major employers. To manage this market intervention, India developed—during the 1950s—a comprehensive, federally managed statistical system to conduct large-scale sample surveys for monitoring and assessing living standards or effects of interventions.
Culture
Although sometimes applied to other cultures and religions, caste is a fundamental social institution of India, most fully developed among Hindus. All Hindus fall broadly into four castes, or varnas: Brahmin, or priests, at the top; below them Kshatriya, or warriors; further below, Vaishya, or merchants and farmers; and at the bottom, Shudra, or the service class. Outside the caste system, and of traditional Hinduism, lie people formerly called "outcastes" or "untouchables," and now scheduled caste (a term used in India's constitution) or Dalit, a later self-description of pride, meaning "broken" or "downtrodden".
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: India (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Republic of India: Key Facts
| Capital | New Delhi |
|---|---|
| Official languages | Hindi, English |
| Religions | Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism |
| Form of government | republic, constitutional republic |
| Currency | Indian rupee |
| Founded | 15 August 1947 |
Preceded by
- British Raj
- Patiala State
- Changbhakar
- Panna State
- Junagadh State
- Kingdom of Jhalavad
Facts from Wikidata Q668 (CC0).
Republic of India: Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Republic of India exist?
The Republic of India is dated to 1947 CE – 2024 CE, in the Industrial era.
What was the capital of the Republic of India?
The capital of the Republic of India was New Delhi.
How large was the Republic of India at its peak?
At its peak in 2024 the Republic of India covered about 3,182,469 km².
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