ABSTRACT
India is the seventh largest country in the world and, with over a billion people, accounts for 16% of the world’s population. Located in South Asia, the Indian peninsula shares its borders with China and Nepal in the north, Pakistan in the northwest, Myanmar in the east, and Sri Lanka in the south. Th e country is divided into 28 states and seven union territories. Each state acts as a small country by itself, with its own language, cultural systems, and ethnic groups. India also is characterized by a vast urban-rural divide, with about 70% of the people living in rural areas.
