India explained to kids

India is a country in southern Asia. It is the world's second most populous country, with over 1.3 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; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia. The name "India" is derived from the Old Persian word Hindū, which refers to the people of the Indus River Valley. The Constitution of India and common usage also recognize Bharat, which is an official name for the country. Hindi is the most widely spoken language in India, with English serving as an official language for government and higher education. India is a federal republic governed under a parliamentary system and consists of 29 states and 7 union territories. India is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Association of South Asian Nations. It is also a nuclear weapons state, having conducted its first nuclear test in 1974. India is a member of the BRICS group, the G20, the Commonwealth of Nations, the World Trade Organization, and is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The economy of India is a mixed economy, the public sector being the dominant sector in India's GDP of US$2.8 trillion as of 2020. India is the world's third-largest importer of oil and second-largest importer of refined petroleum products. It is also the world's second-largest importer of coal. India is the second-largest producer of food in the world, with an agricultural output of US$1.2 trillion in 2019. India is also the world's second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables. India is the world's largest producer of milk, jute, and pulses, and has the world's second-largest cattle population. It is the world's largest importer of live cattle and veal. India has the world's fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of per capita GDP, India ranks 140th in the world, with a per capita GDP of US$2,134. India is a member of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and is the world's largest recipient of official development assistance. India is home to two of the world's oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization and the Vedic Civilization. It also encompasses a diversity of cultures, languages, and religions. India is a secular state with no official religion. The Indian subcontinent was home to the largest number of atheists in the world in the early 1990s. Hinduism is the largest religion in India, with 14.2% of the country's population identifying as Hindus, followed by Islam (14.0%), Christianity (2.3%), Sikhism (1.7%), Buddhism (0.7%), Jainism (0.4%), and other religions (0.1%). India has the world's largest Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Zoroastrian, and Bahá'í populations, and has the third-largest Muslim population. According to the 2011 census, 79.8% of the population of India practice Hinduism, 14.2% practice Islam, 2.3% practice Christianity, and 1.7% practice Sikhism. India is one of the countries with the lowest per capita consumption of meat. Buddhism, Jainism, and other Indian religions have long advocated vegetarianism. India's Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and Jain minorities practice vegetarianism as well.