Friday - 15th August 1947. (Mid night of 14th August 1947)

Thursday - 26th January 1950

Asia. Northern Hemisphere with reference to North and South and Eastern Hemisphere with reference to East and West.

32,87,263 SQKM - (12,69,219 SQMi) - Seventh largest in the world - covers 2.5% of the total landmass of the earth.

Second - Approximately 132+ Crores as of 2016 July representing nearly 17-18% of the world population. Of which nearly 30% live in cities and towns.

Between parallels of latitude 8 degree 4' N and 37 degree 6'N and Meridians of Longitudes 68 degree 7'E and 97 degree 25'E.

15200 Kms.

7577 Kms ( 5483 peninsular and 2094 external - which includes Anadaman Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands).

3214 Kms.

2933 Kms.

The peninsular table land is about 1600 Kms in length into the Indian ocean covered on either side by Arabian Sea on the West and Bay of Bengal on the East. Nearly half of India is on the peninsular portion.

PALK STRAIT - Between India and Sri Lanka connecting two large water bodies - Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.

Robert Palk, Governor of Madras Presidency during British Rule.

1. Gulf of Mannar - Between India and Sri Lanka.
2. Gulf of Kachch     and    
3. Gulf of Kumbhat both in Gujarat of Arabian Sea. (for more details see under Gulfs)

1. Himalayas - North East to Northwest.
2. Vindhyas
3. Satpura
4. Aravalli - Central India.
5. Sahyadri - Western Ghats - West Coast of India.
6. Eastern Ghats - East Coast of India. (for more details of them see under Mountains)

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands - Indian Ocean.
2. Lakshadweep Islands - Arabian Sea. ( for more details see under Union Territories)

ALLUVIAL - One fourth of Indian soil is Alluvial - Found in Gangetic plains, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and coastal south Indian river beds.
BLACK - Maharashtra, West Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu.
RED: Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and North Eastern Hill states.
LATERITE : Deccan, Andhra, Eastern Ghats, Mysore, Tamilnadu, Odisha and Meghalaya.
SALINE/ALKALINE - Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.
PEAT/MARSHY - Kerala, Coastal Orissa, Sunderbans, Parts of Bengal, and South East Tamilnadu.
DESERTS - Rajasthan, parts of Gujarat and Haryana ( see under deserts).

TROPICAL DRY MOIST FORESTS - Found in Hilly regions of Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Sub Himalayan Tract, Coorg (Karnataka), West and Eastern Ghats. The total forest area in India is about 24% to 25% of the total area - roughly 778229 Sqft.

Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Mahanadi, Damodar, Narmada, Tapti (for more details see Indian rivers -Hydrosphere)

Fourteen - Gangetic is the largest one.

Tropical - Monsoonal type.

South West and North East (see under monsoons)

End of May to end of July along the western coasts.

Andamans, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, and North west regions including Delhi.

November and December - Eastern Coastal regions/states.

Arunachal Pradesh.

Haryana.

Madhya Pradesh (7.64 m hec).,

Arunachal Pradesh (6.8 m hec);

Chhatisgarh (5.6 m hec) Odisha (4.83 m hec)

Maharashtra (4.68 m hec).

Besides them, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Goa also have substantial forest cover.

Rajasthan.

Himalayas, Vindhya, Satpura, Sahyadri.

Twenty Eight and Seven. (for more details see under states and Union Territories)

National Capital Territory since 1991. Also having a state legislature.

As of 2016 July  it is estimated to be 132+ crores . 

79.8% --- Hindus,

14.23% --- Muslims,

2.3%   --- Christians    and

3.7%   --- representing Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains etc.,

16.2% as of 2001 census. 

1652

22 - Assamese,  Bengali,  Bodo, Dogri,  Gujarati,  Hindi,  Kannada,  Kashmiri,  Konkani,  Malayalam, Maithili, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali. Oriya, Punjabi, Santali, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. (Incorporated in the VIII Schedule of the Constitution. The last addition was made in 2003 by 92nd Amendment including Bodo, Maithili, Dogri and Santali.)

Fifteen.

262 

Approximately 6.5 lakhs. 

2000 plus 

Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Mumbai and Pune.

A small stretch of land lying between India's Sikkim state and China.

Tropic of Cancer.

1872

10 years.

1881

1951

2011 

Seven ( 2011 census is included).

121,01,93,422 - One hundred and twenty one crores Ninetythree thousand four hundred and twenty two. 

17.5%

382 persons per square kilometer.

944 females per thousand male.

Birth 19.3 per 1000 and death 7.3 per thousand as of July 2016.

74.03% 

Uttar Pradesh.

Sikkim

Delhi.

Lakshadweep.

West Bengal.

Delhi.

Arunachal Pradesh.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Kerala

Haryana.

Kerala.

Uttar Pradesh.

Madhya Pradesh.

Kerala.

Bihar.

Gulf of Mannar (Mannar is a district of Sri Lanka)

Any one above age 7 who can read and write in any language with an ability to understand was considered as literate. In censuses before 1991, children below the age of 5 were treated as illiterates. The literacy rate taking the entire population into account is termed as &#quot;Crude Literacy Rate&#quot; and taking the population from age 7 and above into account is termed as &#quot;Effective Literacy Rate&#quot;.

According to the provisional data, the population detail is as follows:

Population	Male	62,37,24,248
	Female	58,64,69,174
	Total	121,01,93,422
Literacy	Male	82.14%
	Female	65.46%
	Average	74.04%
Density	Male:Female	1000:940

A term used to describe an impoverished region in East India that experiences considerable Naxalite insurgency. These are also areas that suffer from the greatest illiteracy, poverty and overpopulation in modern India and the region is spread across - Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.