India - Holidays

The Republic of India, commonly known as India, is a country in South Asia which comprises the majority of the Indian subcontinent. India has a coastline which stretches over seven thousand kilometres, and shares a border with Pakistan to the west, the People's Republic of China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. On the Indian Ocean, it is adjacent to three island nations -- the Maldives (to the southwest), Sri Lanka (to the south), and Indonesia (to the southeast). India also claims a ...

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• India - History
• India - Government
• India - Politics
• India - States and union territories
• India - Geography
• India - Economy
• India - Demographics
• India - Culture
• India - Sports and games
• India - Holidays
• India - Notes

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Further information: List of Festivals in India India has three National Holidays. Other sets of holidays, varying between nine to twelve, pertains to festivals, religious holidays and births of leaders which are legislated by the individual states. ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human life in present-day India. The first known permanent settlements appeared over 9,000 years ago, and gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, which began around 3300 BC and peaked between 2600 BC and 1900 BC. It was followed by the Vedic Civilisation. From around 550 BC, many independent kingdoms came into being. In the north, the Maurya dynasty, which included Aşoka The Great, contributed greatly to India's cult ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human life in India. The first known permanent settlements appeared 9,000 years ago and developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, which peaked between 2600 BC and 1900 BC. It was followed by the Vedic Civilisation. From around 550 BC onwards, many independent kingdoms came into being. In the north, the Maurya dynasty, which included Ashoka, contributed greatly to India's cultural landscape. From 180 BC, a series of invasions from Centra ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. India has a quasi-federal form of government and a bicameral parliament operating under a Westminster-style parliamentary system. It has a three-branch system of governance consisting of the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. The President is the head of state, and has a largely ceremonial role, including interpreting the constitution, signing laws into action and issuing pardons. He is also the Commander-in-Chief of India's armed forces. The President and the Vice Pres ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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India's entire north and northeast states are made up of the Himalayan Range. The rest of northern, central and eastern India consists of the fertile Indo-Gangetic plain. Towards western India, bordering southeast Pakistan, lies the Thar Desert. The southern Indian peninsula is almost entirely composed of the Deccan plateau. The plateau is flanked by two hilly coastal ranges, the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats. India is home to several major rivers such as the Ganga (Ganges), the Brahmaputra, the Yamuna, the Godavari, Kaveri, and the ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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For most of its independent history, India has been ruled by the Indian National Congress Party (INC). Following its position as the largest political organisation in pre-independence India, the INC, usually led by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, dominated national politics for over four decades. In 1975, the government led by Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency Rule across the nation. After emergency was lifted in 1977, and fresh elections were called, a united opposition, under the banner of the Janata Party won the elections and f ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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India's national sport is field hockey, although cricket is now the de facto national game due to its success and popularity in recent times, with the Indian cricket team (World Champions in 1983) one of the top contenders around. Though cricket's popularity is widespread, it is not the most popular sport in quite a few Indian states, particularly in India's northeast. Another international sport in which India has a fair degree of parity with other nations is chess, in which Indian Viswanathan Anand has been FIDE World Champion and several players have made significant inroads, in ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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India's northern and northeastern states are partially situated in the Himalayan Mountain Range. The rest of northern, central and eastern India consists of the fertile Indo-Gangetic plain. In the west, bordering southeast Pakistan, lies the Thar Desert. The southern Indian Peninsula is almost entirely composed of the Deccan plateau, which is flanked by two hilly coastal ranges, the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats. India is home to several major rivers, including the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Yamuna, Godavari, Kaveri, and Krishna. India has ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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Main articles: Arts and Entertainment in India and Culture of India India has a rich and unique cultural heritage, and has managed to preserve its established traditions throughout history. It has always absorbed customs, traditions and ideas from both invaders and immigrants. Many cultural practices, languages, customs and even monuments are examples of this co-mingling over centuries. Famous monuments, such as the Taj Mahal and other examples of Islamic-inspired architecture have been inherited from the Mughal dynasty. These are the result of a syncretic tradition that combined elemen ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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India's national sport is field hockey, although cricket is now the de facto national game due to its success and popularity in recent times. But cricket is not the most popular sport in quite a few states, particularly in the northeast. Chess is another international sport in which India is quite strong: Viswanathan Anand was FIDE World Champion, and several players have made significant inroads in recent years, well past the ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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India is the second-most populous country in the world, after China. Language, religion, and caste are major determinants of social and political organisation within the highly diverse population. Its biggest metropolitan agglomerations are Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Delhi, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Chennai (formerly Madras). India's literacy rate is 64.8%, 53.7% for females and 75.3% of males. The sex ratio is 933 females per 1000 males. Work Participation Rate (WPR; the percentage of workers to total popula ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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India's economy ranks tenth in the world in terms of currency conversion (GNP), and fourth in terms of Purchasing power parity (PPP). It recorded one of the fastest growth rates (8.1%) for the fourth quarter of 2005. Per-capita income (by PPP) is US$ 3,200, ranked 125th according to the World Bank. India's foreign exchange reserves amount to over US$ 145 billion. Mumbai is the financial capital and home to the headquarters of the Reserve Bank of India and the pre-eminent Bombay Stock Exchange. While a quarter of Indians still live below the poverty line, a large middle class has now eme ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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India has a rich and unique cultural heritage, and has managed to preserve its established traditions throughout history. It has always absorbed customs, traditions and ideas from both invaders and immigrants. Many cultural practices, languages, customs and even monuments are examples of this co-mingling over centuries. Famous monuments such as the Taj Mahal and other examples of Islamic-inspired architecture have been inherited from the Mughal dynasty, perhaps India's most significant. These are the result of a syncretic tradition that comb ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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India is divided into twenty-eight states (which are further subdivided into districts), six Union Territories and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. States have their own elected government, whereas Union Territories are governed by an administrator appointed by the Union Government, though some have elected governments. States: Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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India's national sport is field hockey, although cricket is now the de facto national game due to its success and popularity in recent times, with the Indian cricket team (World Champions in 1983) one of the top contenders around. Though cricket's popularity is widespread, it is not the most popular sport in quite a few Indian states, particularly in India's northeast. Another international sport in which India has a fair degree of parity with other nations is chess, in which Indian Viswanathan Anand has been FIDE World Champi ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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India has an economy ranked as the tenth largest in the world in terms of currency conversion and fourth largest in terms of purchasing power parity. It recorded one of the fastest annual growth rates of 8.2% for the year ending March 2005. India's per-capita income by purchasing power parity is US$ 3,200, ranked 125th by the World Bank. India's foreign exchange reserves amount to over US$ 145 billion. Mumbai serves as the nation's financial capital and is also home to both the headquarters of the Reserve Bank of India and the pre-eminent Bo ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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India is divided into twenty-eight states (which are further subdivided into districts), six Union Territories and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. States have their own elected government, whereas Union Territories are governed by an administrator appointed by the union government, though some have elected governments. States: Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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For most of its independent history, India's national government has been controlled by the Indian National Congress Party. Following its position as the largest political organisation in pre-independence India, Congress, usually led by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, dominated national politics for over forty years. In 1977, a united opposition, under the banner of the Janata Party, won the election and formed a non-Congress government for a short period after the unpopular 'emergency rule' imposed by Indira Gandhi in the previous Cong ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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The Constitution of India states India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. India is a federal republic, with a bicameral parliament operating under a Westminster-style parliamentary system. It has a three branch system of governance consisting of the legislature, executive and judiciary. The President, who is the head of state, has a largely ceremonial role. His roles include interpreting the constitution, signing laws into action, and issuing pardons. He is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The ...

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India, India - History, India - Government, India - Politics, India - States and union territories, India - Geography, India - Economy, India - Demographics, India - Culture, India - Sports and games, India - Holidays, India - Notes

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