Geographical Location : Southern Asia

Border countries : Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, Nepal, Pakistan

Climate : Varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north.
India has three primary seasons:
Winter: October to March.
Summer: April to June.
Rainy: July to September.
The best time to visit India is between late September and March.
Terrain : Upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north

Natural Resources : Coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land.

Religions : Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (based on 2001 census)

Languages : Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people. English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication. There are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit.

Government
Government type : Federal Republic

Capital : New Delhi, time difference: (GMT +5:30 )

Administrative Divisions : 28 states and 7 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh*, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli*, Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Puducherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal

Independence : 15 August 1947 (from Great Britain)

Legal system : Based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; separate personal law codes apply to Muslims, Christians, and Hindus

Executive Branch : Chief of state: President , Vice President

Head of government : Prime Minister

Cabinet : Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister

Elections : President elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of the states for a five-year term (no term limits). Vice president elected by both houses of Parliament for a five-year term. Prime minister chosen by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections.

Legislative Branch : Bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of the Council of States or Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of not more than 250 members up to 12 of whom are appointed by the president, the remainder are chosen by the elected members of the state and territorial assemblies; members serve six-year terms) and the People's Assembly or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 elected by popular vote, 2 appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms)

Elections : People's Assembly

Judicial Branch : Supreme Court (one chief justice and 25 associate justices are appointed by the president and remain in office until they reach the age of 65 or are removed for "proved misbehavior")

Flag Description : Three equal horizontal bands of saffron (subdued orange) (top), white, and green with a blue chakra (24-spoked wheel) centered in the white band; similar to the flag of Niger, which has a small orange disk centered in the white band