India is the largest country in South Asia. It is the second-most populous country after China and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the bay of Bengal on the east; and it is bordered by Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Burma to the east. India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. The name India is derived from Indus, which is derived from the old Persian word Hindu, from Sanskrit Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River. India's climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the monsoons. Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montane.

India is home to two major linguistic families: Indo-Aryan (spoken by about 74% of the population) and Dravidian (spoken by about 24%). Other languages spoken in India come from the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman linguistic families. Neither the Constitution of India nor any Indian law defines any national language. Hindi, with the largest number of speakers, is the official language of the union. English is used extensively in business and administration and has the status of a 'subsidiary official language. it is also important in education, especially as a medium of higher education. In addition, every state and union territory has its own official languages, and the constitution also recognizes in particular 21 "scheduled languages".As per the 2001 census, over 800 million Indians (80.5%) were Hindu. Other religious groups include Muslims (13.4%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%), Buddhists (0.8%), Jains (0.4%), Jews, Zoroastrians, and Baha is Tribals constitute 8.1% of the population. India has the third-highest Muslim population in the world and has the highest population of Muslims for a non-Muslim majority country.

Traditional Indian dress varies across the regions in its colors and styles and depends on various factors, including climate. Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as sari for women and dhoti or lungi for men; in addition, stitched clothes such as salwar kameez for women and kurta-pajama and European-style trousers and shirts for men, are also Indian notable monuments such as the Taj Mahal and other examples of Mughal architecture and South Indian architecture comprises a blend of ancient and varied local traditions from several parts of the country and abroad. Vernacular architecture also displays notable regional variation. It is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site considered to be of "outstanding universal value".