India is a country in South
Asia. It is the
seventh-largest country by
geographical area, the
second-most populous country
with over 1.2 billion
people, and the most
populous democracy in the
world. Bounded by the Indian
Ocean on the south, the
Arabian Sea on the
southwest, and the Bay of
Bengal on the southeast, it
shares land borders with
Pakistan to the west;
Bhutan, the People's
Republic of China and Nepal
to the northeast; and
Bangladesh and Burma to the
east. In the Indian Ocean,
India is in the vicinity of
Sri Lanka and the Maldives;
in addition, India's Andaman
and Nicobar Islands share a
maritime border with
Thailand and Indonesia. The
Indian economy is the
world's ninth-largest
economy by nominal GDP and
third largest economy by
purchasing power parity
(PPP). Following
market-based economic
reforms in 1991, India has
become one of the fastest
growing major economies, and
is considered a newly
industrialized country;
however, it continues to
face the challenges of
illiteracy, widespread
corruption and inadequate
public health.
