bounded by the indian ocean on the south, the arabian sea on the south-west, and the bay of bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with pakistan to the west;^[d] china, nepal,
and bhutan to the north-east; and burma
and bangladesh 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.

home to the ancient indus valley civilisation
and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the indian subcontinent was
identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history.^[14] four world religions—hinduism, buddhism, jainism, and sikhism—originated here, whereas judaism, zoroastrianism, christianity, and islam arrived in the 1st millennium ce and also helped shape the region’s diverse culture. gradually annexed by and brought under the
administration of the british east india company
from the early 18th century and administered directly by the united kingdom from the mid-19th
century, india became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence
that was marked by n