About India

India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Located in Asia, India is the seventh largest country in the world. Bounded by the Himalayas in the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. India is a sovereign socialist democratic republic with a parliamentary system of government. New Delhi is the capital of India.

India is a diverse country. All the five major racial types - Australoid, Mongoloid, Europoid, Caucasian, and Negroid find representation among the people of India. A total of 22 national languages have been recognized by the constitution of India and Hindi is the official union language. Besides these languages, 844 different dialects are practiced in various parts of the country. According to the 2001 census, Hindus constitute the majority of the population at 80.5% and Muslims are at13.4%. Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and others constitute the remaining 7.9%. (Source: Government of India)

For more information about India, browse through these pages.
Government of India (GOI)
Tourism information
Indian cities
Government of India departments
CIA
US Department of State
Library of Congress Technology Development of Indian Languages

Indian National Anthem
Audio link (817 KB, 0:52 Sec.)

National song
Audio link (1.06 MB, 1:09 Sec.).