Civilization in the subcontinent of India is one of the oldest in the world. Archaeological evidence traces human history there back 5,000 years. Subsequent immigrants, traders and conquerors brought Aryan tribes, Mongols, Dravidians, Turks and Europeans. By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism led by Mohandas Gandhi brought independence in 1947. The subcontinent was divided into the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim state of Pakistan, which was subdivided to create Bangladesh. India boasts the most highly populated democracy on the world, with a massive 1,095,351,995 inhabitants.

Capital: New Delhi
Official Language: Hindi
Population: 1,095,351,995
Currency: Indian Rupee
What's Popular: Himesh Reshammiya: India's young popular 'sufi-rock' and film star