India is a country in south Asia. It is the seventh largest country by
geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2
billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded
by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west,
and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with
Pakistan to the west; china, Nepal and Bhutan to the north-east; and
Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the
vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives in addition, India's Andaman
and Nicobar Islands time border with Thailand and Indonesia. Home to
the ancient Indus Valley Civilization 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.