Introducing India

India, the largest democracy in the world, is a federation of states. Its population is more than 1.2 billion people - one-sixth of the world population. India is the seventh largest country in the world in terms of territory and the second largest in population size. India has 28 states and 7 union territories. While 18 official languages are spoken in it, English is the official language common in all of India. India is culturally, linguistically and religiously more diverse then Europe but it is still a great cluster controlled in its entirety by the same political and economic authority.
 
Indus Valley civilization, one of the most ancient in the world, began to flourish in the 3rd millennium BC, and spread to north - western India in the following millennium. North - west Arians tribes flowed to the Indian sub-continent around 1500 BC. The mix between them and the native Dravidian has led to the development of the classical Indian culture.
The Maori Empire which existed during the 3rd and 4th centuries BC reached its peak under the reign of Ashoka and dominated much of South Asia.

India's Golden age came with the reign of the Gupta dynasty (4th to 6th centuries AD) and was characterized by prosperity in science, art and culture. Islam spread across the sub - continent for 700 years, when in the 10th and 11th Turks and Afghans invaded India and established the Delhi Sultanate. In the early 16th century emperor Babur founded the Mughal dynasty which ruled India for more than 3 centuries.

The first European explorers arrived in India during the 16th century. But it wasn't until early 19th century that Britain became the dominant political force in the India. The British Indian Army played a major role in both World Wars.
Mainly non - violent resistance against the British, led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru eventually realized to the independence of India in 1947. However, India's independence was followed by a wave of bloody violence caused by religious tension between Hindus (the majority) and Muslims. This wave of violence led to the separation of the sub - continent and the creation of two separate states, India and Pakistan. The separation did not lead to peace and quiet. Three wars took place between the two countries. The last war, in 1971, resulted in the separation of East Pakistan from Bangladesh which became a separate state.

Over the years, the tension between Hindus and Muslims in the Indian sub-continent persists, and is expressed in waves of violence which often include casualties. This tension is reflected in events such as nuclear weapon experiments conducted by India and later by Pakistan in 1998 or the November 2008 coordinated terrorist attacks in Mumbai (Bombay), that were carried out by Pakistani terrorists.

India has a federal government, but the central government has more power than to the states that comprise it. Indian Parliament consists of two houses, the upper house (Rajya Sabha) and lower house (Lok Sabha). The executive power lay in the hand of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister of India. The president is involved in the appointment of ministers but beyond that possesses only a ceremonial role.

In 2011, India became a member of the UN Security Council.  Although it is facing serious problems and enormous challenges such as population explosion, environmental concerns, immense poverty and extreme corruption, India's rapid growth has made it a major player in the international political and economic arena.

The Indian economy is probably the most prominent among the current emerging markets. In recent years, the state economy is characterized by tremendous growth (average growth rate of 7.37%) and the practice of an open market approach. Workforce in India has half a billion people.

The following industries are the most dominant in the Indian economy:

Agriculture: employs half of the labors force and its contribution to the GDP is around 15%. Approximately 60% of India's land is arable for agriculture use, but large parts of it are not used for this purpose.

Manufacturing: employs about 15% of the labor force and its contribution to the GDP is around 30%. The automobile, textile, metal and chemicals industries are the most prominent.

Services: employs about 35% of the labor force and its contribution to the GDP is 60%. Computing and outsourcing are the most prominent fields in India's service industry.

Tourism: In 2010, about 18 million foreign tourists visited India and this number is growing. Domestic tourism is also growing with 740 million tourists in 2010. Revenues from tourism are greater than a hundred billion dollars.

India's middle class which is characterized by rapid and constant growth, include about 45 million households, more than 20% of India's population. Forecasts predict that the middle class in India will double itself within 15 years. The growth of India's middle class promotes growth in many economic areas such as: real estate market, mobile market (about 8 million new subscribers every month), purchasing power and product offering.  On average, people who are a part of the middle class earn more than $1000 per month, therefore they are able to take a mortgage and own a car. In regards to higher percentiles; over a million families in India make over $100,000 per year, 27 billionaires live in India from whom, 3 are on Forbes magazine ten richest people in the world list.

 The annual per capita income in India is about $1200 but about 40% of the population is below the poverty line.In the Last twenty years, about 400 million Indians "climbed" above the poverty line and 300 million additional people are expected to join them in the next twenty years.

The growth momentum in India is also reflected in education and professional training. For example, each year, 150,000 Indians graduate from engineering school. Indian IT professionals have great reputation throughout the world, and in recent years there is a trend of Indian scholars returning back to India from the US and UK. These scholars find their place in the Indian technology capitals such as Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad.