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India is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on December 3, 2004.

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September 16, 2004	Featured article candidate	Promoted
April 11, 2005	Featured article review	Kept
May 6, 2006	Featured article review	Kept

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This article is written in Indian English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, analysed, defence) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

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Frequently asked questions

Q1: Why is Bhārat Gaṇarājya not rendered in Devanagari script?

A1: See this discussion (from 2012) and this discussion (from 2017), which are codified in WP:INDICSCRIPT.

Q2: It's "Bengaluru", not "Bangalore"!

A2: This article uses the name that is most commonly used by English-language reliable sources. See WP:COMMONNAME.

Q3: Why was my content removed?

A3: The India page adheres to summary style, sticking to core topics and skipping excess details. To update economy figures or other content, cite credible sources. See WP:V.

Q4: Why aren't there sections on science and technology, education, media, tourism etc?

A4: New sections require talk-page consensus. In archived discussions, it was decided to keep them out. Consider expanding their respective daughter articles, such as History of India, instead. See WP:WPC.

Q5: Why was my image or external link removed?

A5: To add or remove images and links, start a thread on this page first. See WP:FP?, WP:IMAGE, and WP:EL.

Q6: The map is wrong!

A6: The map shows the official (de jure) borders in undisputed territory and the de facto borders and all related claims where there's a dispute; it cannot exclusively present the official views of India, Pakistan, or China. See WP:NPOV.

Q7: India is a superpower!

A7: Consult the archives of this talk page for discussions of India's status as a superpower before adding any content that makes the suggestion. See WP:DUE.

Q8: Delhi is a state!

A8: To create an Indian state, the Parliament of India must pass a law to that effect—see Articles 2 through 4 of the Constitution of India, full text here. The Sixty-ninth Amendment, which was enacted in 1991, added Article 239AA to the constitution. It proclaimed the National Capital Territory of Delhi, gave it a legislative assembly, and accorded it special powers that most union territories lack. But Delhi was not made a state. Several crucial powers were retained by the central government, such as responsibility for law and order. Delhi also does not have a governor; instead, a lieutenant governor presides. Unlike Himachal Pradesh, which gained statehood in 1970, and Goa, which gained it in 1987, Delhi continues to be listed as a union territory by the First Schedule.

Q9: Add Hindi as the national language/hockey as the national sport!

A9: Hindi is the official language, not national language. There is no national language, but there are constitutionally recognized languages, commonly known as Schedule 8 languages. English also serves as a subsidiary official language until the universal use of Hindi is approved by the states and parliament.

Field hockey is not the national sport as per this article "In RTI reply, Centre says India has no national game", Deccan Herald, August 2012.

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This page has archives. Sections older than 5 days may be automatically archived by .

Driving Side

Cars in India are built so that the drivers drive on the right side of the car, which contrasts with how they are built in the United States and many other nations. In America, cars are built so that drivers drive on the left side. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.27.217.251 (talk) 00:26, 12 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You might want to clarify what you said above, i.e. that you meant "drivers sit on the right side of the car". But again, what exactly is your point? --Ragib (talk) 06:04, 12 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

People in North America drive on the right side of the road. Zazaban (talk) 02:11, 21 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, Driving side on the main page has been told as Left but actually we drive on right in India like UK!!! Nishant.parashar (talk) 07:20, 9 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

GDP

The GDP numbers are too high by a factor of 1000. It should either be in billions, or $1.3 Trillion instead of $1,300 Trillion —Preceding unsigned comment added by Therealgandalf (talk • contribs) 18:52, 12 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

therealgandalf (talk) 18:54, 12 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Eastern exclave?

I've been looking for quite a while, but I have no answer yet. Why does the country have a very large exclave to the east, separated by Bangladesh? What caused this? And what is this part of the country called? Elfred (talk) 02:08, 7 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See:

Partition of India
North East India or Seven Sister States (technically, they are not an exclave, because they are physically connected to the rest of India trough West Bengal)

For future reference: such questions are best asked at the wikipedia WP:Refdesk, where responders are typically happy to go into detail. Cheers. Abecedare (talk) 03:10, 7 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Democracy in a Cast dominated society

There must be people who do not recognise India as a full democracy in view that its cast system resembles in many respects apartheid. At least the reference to the cast system should be in the opening paragraph and before any reference to the country's apparently democratic credentials. At least that is what seems right to me. Trompeta (talk) 19:26, 7 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think it is generally agreed that India is a democracy regardless of the extent to which the caste system exists in India. You will need to provide a reliable source to back up your assertion that India cannot be recognized as a full democracy because of the caste system and you will need to demonstrate that this is not a fringe view for it to be included in the opening paragraph.--RegentsPark (My narrowboat) 03:10, 8 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This is news to me!! So just becuase a few people in the US are racists , USA is not a democracy? Just who decides that a country is a "full democracy" or not? --Deepak D'Souza 04:40, 8 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ok This is a repeat telecast from the same editor:[1]. --Deepak D'Souza 05:08, 8 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Good you found it. Racism in the US is not an institution, the cast system in India is very much an institution supported by the main religion of the country, that is why I suggest including it in the first paragraph as well as keeping the fact that India is a democracy. Trompeta (talk) 18:30, 12 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

First, it's caste, not cast. Second, the caste sysetm is a social structure while democracy is a political institution. How did you arrive at the conclusion that the existence of a caste system debars India from being considered a "full democracy"? Rigid social structures continue to exist to this day in many parts of the world, including England; would you suggest therefore that the UK isn't a full democracy? Are you basing your assessment on reliable sources? If so, please indicate which ones. If not, this hypothetical connection cannot be included in this or any other Wikipedia article (see WP:OR). Thanks AreJay (talk) 21:03, 12 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A good many people in India have been condemning the caste (thank you) system, as well as during the latest elections: "India's poorest and most downtrodden people do 'dirty' jobs higher castes regard as 'polluting'." [2]. We cannot compare that with England and I do not think Mayawati would. In any case there are no class murders in England [3]. Thank you for your response. Trompeta (talk) 16:24, 14 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

About freedom fighters of India

I want to say that only gandhi ji was not responsible for the freedom of india then why there are no names of other leaders as there is a list of great leaders ? I had tried posting the name of few leaders but it is getting deleted. please help me --Sandeepsp4u (talk) 09:36, 8 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Let me repeat RegentPark's edit summary[4] for you:By 'led', one refers to the leader of vast numbers of people. The others 'contributed' rather than led.

True that all of them made contributions to India's freedom struggle, but each had a different method. Tilak died in 1920, much before the critial mass movements such as Quit India took place. Bhagat Singh and Bose were leaders of revolutionary movements that worked on the fringes of the freedom struggle as compared to the massive non-violent movement led by Gandhiji. All put together the present statement is justified, in my opinion. --Deepak D'Souza 12:06, 8 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think he may have a point there; I don't think his dispute was wrt semantics. I think something to the effect that the struggle for independence included both non-violent movements (led by Gandhi) as well as more revolutionary campaigns by people like Bose, Bhagat Singh, etc. should be mentioned. I don't think the sentence as it now appears really captures the breadth of the struggle for independence. This can still be incorporated in WP:SS format. AreJay (talk) 16:48, 8 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I recall there being an extended debate about this issue some time back. May be worth looking through the archives, so that we don't have to start from scratch. Abecedare (talk) 17:25, 8 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The archive search function is great! Here is the ~400K discussion on the topic:

/Archive 14 (all of it!)
/Archive 15 (sections 5 and 14)
/Archive 16 (sections 1 and 2)
Also see this short history of IIM by F&F.

I think the conclusion last time was to expand and develop the Indian independence movement and add its summary to the History of India page, whose summary would then be added in this article. That way, (1) it would be easier to ensure due weight, and (2) we would end up developing the sub-articles where the reader can go for more detail. I know that the proposed process was started and User:Fowler&fowler and User:Rueben lys especially worked on many articles related to IIM biographies and events; but I am not sure if it was ever "completed". Abecedare (talk) 17:42, 8 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds good, wasn't aware that this had been discussed before. If there was consensus, I'm fine with it. Thanks AreJay (talk) 18:43, 12 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think it is important to keep in mind that this is a summary style article and detail should be kept to a minimum. Of the leaders mentioned, only Gandhi can be said to have 'led' the independence struggle. Bhagat Singh is a national hero but can hardly be classified as a leader. likewise, Subhas Chandra Bose's INA never really garnered the same level of popular resonance as Gandhi did. Tilak probably comes closer to being a national level leader but he was a bit early to really be credited for India's independence. I agree with Abecedare that building this into the History of India or Indian Independence Movement is the way to go. (This is regardless of the fact that neither Bhagat Singh nor S C Bose fit into the non-violent civil disobedience set - see the sentence in its entirety!) --RegentsPark (My narrowboat) 19:35, 8 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think people hear are insulting Subhas Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Tilak Ji etc. How one can prove that only gandhi Ji was resoponsible for the freedome of india. Its ok he was one among the gr8 but he was not only. I think that atleas few big heros should be given respect by keeping there name on this main page of India. Ther is picture of Gandhi Ji so i think this heroes atlest are eligable to have there name on the page of India ( its ok if we dont put there pic and it is not possible also) Tilak Ji who had initated the struggle of Independence Gandhi Ji had just fallowed it. Bhagat Singh led his life for the freedom and after that people really awaken and started fighting for the freedom. So i think that atleast there name should be there. --Sandeepsp4u (talk) 07:43, 11 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No one here is insuting anyone. Talk pages are meant to discuss "How to write the article" not to comment about the subject itself. As pointed above this issue has been debated extensively before. There is no need to go through it again. You may go through the archives reffered to above and see what consensus was achieved. --10:11, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

On the comments on Tilak Ji i would like to say that Gandhi Ji joined Tilak Ji and was influnced by his views. I chalange that Only Gandhi Ji was not responsible for the Freedom of inda as there were many factors for the freedom. I agree on the point that it is difficult to list all the names but there should be some names who are prominent equal to Gandhi Ji the the freedom sturggle. As per the comments wiritten above if the discussion was taken place then why it is still not implemented. My point of view is only that few other names also should be there on the main page of India --Sandeepsp4u (talk) 07:37, 12 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sandeepsp4u, you just have to go through the archives and see what consensus was achieved. The discussions were very extensive and the current wording is based on those discussions. Sorry to say this but there is really no point in going through it all over again just because one editor does not like it. --Deepak D'Souza 09:03, 12 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No of district in India

The article India shows that there are 610 districts, The link supporting, the claim shows only 585 districts in India, But the Government of India says thare are only 604 districts, Please check out the below link:-

http://districts.nic.in/

Please update the portal accordinlying. as all user dosen't have right to update this article.

Hope to see changes soon. --Makks2010 (talk) 01:25, 11 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]