India, officially the Republic of India, is a South Asian nation that stands as the world's largest by population and seventh-largest by area, bordered by Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Human habitation dates back 55,000 years, giving rise to the Indus Valley Civilisation by the third millennium BCE, followed by the emergence of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and the flourishing of empires like the Maurya and Gupta. After the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire, British Crown rule began in 1858, culminating in a nonviolent nationalist movement and the partition of 1947 into India and Pakistan, which triggered unprecedented migration and loss of life. Since 1950, India has operated as a federal parliamentary republic, growing from 361 million people in 1951 to over 1.4 billion in 2023, with a fast-expanding economy centered on information technology and a rising middle class. However, it grapples with significant challenges like gender inequality, child malnutrition, and severe air pollution, while also being a nuclear-armed state with unresolved disputes over Kashmir and possessing four biodiversity hotspots supported by culturally tolerant wildlife practices.