Information on the Himalayas: India 
A nuclear weapons state, it carried out tests in the 1970s and again in the 1990s in defiance of world opinion. However, India is still tackling huge social, economic and environmental problems.
AT-A-GLANCE
Economy: Fast-growing economy; large, skilled workforce but widespread poverty
Politics: 380m people voted in 2004 election; winning Congress party led by Sonia Gandhi
International: Ongoing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir region; nuclear weapons state; world's most prolific film industry - Bollywood
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But the subsequent partition of the sub-continent sowed the seeds for future conflict. There have been three wars between India and its arch-rival Pakistan since 1947, two of them over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
A peace process, which started in 2004, has stayed on track despite tension over Kashmir and several high-profile bombings, such as the attack on Mumbai's train network in July 2006 which police blamed on Pakistani militants and a banned Indian group.
Communal, caste and regional tensions continue to haunt Indian politics, sometimes threatening its long-standing democratic and secular ethos.
From the late 1980s India began to open up to the outside world, encouraging economic reform and foreign investment. It is now courted by the world's leading economic and political powers, including its one-time foe China.
Nuclear tests carried out by India in May 1998 and similar tests by Pakistan just weeks later provoked international condemnation and concern over the stability of the region.
The US quickly imposed sanctions on India, but more recently the two countries have improved their ties, and even agreed to share nuclear technology.
But the vast mass of the rural population remains illiterate and impoverished.
Their lives continue to be dominated by the ancient Hindu caste system, which assigns each person a fixed place in the social hierarchy.
- Full name: Republic of India
- Population: 1.1 billion (UN, 2005)
- Capital: New Delhi
- Most-populated city: Mumbai (Bombay)
- Area: 3.1 million sq km (1.2 million sq miles), excluding Indian-administered Kashmir (100,569 sq km/38,830 sq miles)
- Major languages: Hindi, English and at least 16 other official languages
- Major religions: Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism
- Life expectancy: 62 years (men), 65 years (women) (UN)
- Monetary unit: 1 Indian Rupee = 100 paise
- Main exports: Agricultural products, textile goods, gems and jewellery, software services and technology, engineering goods, chemicals, leather products
- GNI per capita: US $720 (World Bank, 2006)
- Internet domain: .in
- International dialling code: +91
India and neighbouring Pakistan sometimes engage in a war of words via their respective media, occasionally banning relays of broadcasts from the other country.
The press
Television
Radio
News agency