halaman awal 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.[12] Four world religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed oleh and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly oleh the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked oleh non-violent resistance led oleh Mahatma Gandhi.
The Indian economy is the world's tenth-largest oleh nominal GDP and third-largest oleh purchasing power parity (PPP).[13] Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the fastest-growing major economies; it is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, inadequate public healthcare, and terrorism. A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the third-largest standing army in the world and ranks seventh in military expenditure among nations. India is a federal constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system consisting of 28 states and 7 union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, and multi-ethnic society. It is also halaman awal to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.
