Know your country. Love its story.

India has 28 states and 8 union territories. New Delhi is the national capital.

India is the seventh-largest country by area; Rajasthan is the largest state and Goa the smallest.

India’s neighbours include Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar; Sri Lanka and the Maldives are across the sea. The Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean surround the peninsula.

The Ganga is India’s longest river within the country; the Brahmaputra, Godavari, Krishna and Narmada are other major rivers.

The Himalayas form the north; Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), on the India–Nepal border, is India’s highest peak.

The Himalayas, the northern plains, the Thar Desert, the Deccan Plateau, the coastal plains and the islands.

Seasonal winds bring most of India’s rain from June to September; Mawsynram and Cherrapunji in Meghalaya are among the wettest places on Earth.

India is the world’s most populous country, with over 1.4 billion people; Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state.

Each state has a capital, such as Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Jaipur.

Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai are among the largest cities.

The national flag (adopted July 22, 1947) has saffron, white and green bands with a navy-blue Ashoka Chakra of 24 spokes.

Adapted from the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath, adopted on January 26, 1950, with the motto “Truth alone triumphs.”

“Jana Gana Mana,” written by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted on January 24, 1950; it takes about 52 seconds to sing.

Tiger (national animal), peacock (bird), lotus (flower), banyan (tree), mango (fruit), Ganga (river), Ganges river dolphin (aquatic animal) and elephant (heritage animal).

The Indian rupee (₹) is issued by the Reserve Bank of India (1935); the ₹ symbol was adopted in 2010.

India has more than 40 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Taj Mahal, Hampi, Jantar Mantar and Kaziranga.

The Red Fort, Amber Fort, Golconda, Mysore Palace and Hawa Mahal show India’s royal architecture.

The Statue of Unity (182 m, 2018) is the world’s tallest statue; the Chenab Rail Bridge (2025) is the world’s highest railway arch bridge.

India has over 100 national parks and over 50 tiger reserves; Jim Corbett (1936) was India’s first national park.

India is home to about 75% of the world’s wild tigers, the only wild Asiatic lions (Gir) and most of the world’s one-horned rhinos.

The Western Ghats, the Himalayas, the Indo-Burma region and the Sundarbans are rich in species.

The Constitution lists 22 scheduled languages; Hindi is the most spoken, and English is widely used.

Dosa and idli, biryani, dal and roti, fish curry and rice, dhokla and more show India’s regional cuisines.

Scheduled Tribes make up about 8.6% of the population, with distinct languages, arts and traditions.

India is the world’s largest producer of milk and pulses and a top producer of rice, wheat, tea and spices.

Bengaluru is called India’s Silicon Valley; India has one of the world’s largest startup ecosystems.

India is among the world’s five largest economies and one of the fastest-growing major economies.

Mumbai is the financial capital; the Bombay Stock Exchange (1875) is Asia’s oldest stock exchange.

Indian mathematicians developed the decimal place-value system with zero; Srinivasa Ramanujan made famous discoveries.

ISRO (1969) launched Aryabhata (1975), reached Mars on its first try (2014) and landed Chandrayaan-3 near the Moon’s south pole (2023).

C. V. Raman won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics; Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai and A. P. J. Abdul Kalam shaped Indian science.

UPI (2016) lets people pay instantly by phone and handles billions of payments a month.

India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983 and 2011 and the T20 World Cup in 2007 and 2024.

India won eight Olympic hockey golds; Abhinav Bindra (2008) and Neeraj Chopra (2021) won individual golds.

Chess may trace back to an Indian game called chaturanga; Viswanathan Anand and D. Gukesh became world champions.

India makes more films than any other country; Satyajit Ray received an honorary Oscar (1992), and “Naatu Naatu” won an Oscar (2023).

Rabindranath Tagore won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature; R. K. Narayan and Ruskin Bond wrote beloved stories.

Folk arts like Madhubani and Warli, classical music and many dance forms are part of India’s heritage.