Coordinates	19°39′0″N155°59′39″N
Native name	भारत गणराज्य*''''
Conventional long name	Republic of India
Common name	India
Alt flag	Horizontal tricolour flag (deep saffron, white, and green). In the centre of the white is a navy blue wheel with 24 spokes.
Image coat	Emblem of India.svg
Alt coat	Three lions facing left, right,and toward viewer, atop a frieze containing a galloping horse, a 24-spoke wheel, and an elephant. Underneath is a motto "सत्यमेव जयते".
Symbol type	Emblem
National motto	''"Satyameva Jayate" ''(Sanskrit)   (Devanāgarī)"Truth Alone Triumphs"
National anthem	File:Jana Gana Mana instrumental.ogg''Jana Gana Mana''Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Other symbol type	National Song
Other symbol	''Vande Mataram''I bow to thee, Mother
Alt map	Image of globe centred on India, with India highlighted.
Map caption	Area controlled by India in dark green;Claimed but uncontrolled territories in light green
Map width	220px
Image map2
Alt map2
Map caption2
Capital	New Delhi
Largest city	Mumbai
Official languages	}}

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India (), officially the Republic of India ( ''''; see also official names of India), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 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; Bhutan, the People's Republic of China and Nepal to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Burma 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 Civilization 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. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by the British East India Company from the early 18th century and colonized by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence which was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.

The Indian economy is the world's tenth-largest economy by nominal GDP and fourth largest economy by purchasing power parity (PPP). Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India has become one of the fastest growing major economies, and is considered a newly industrialized country; however, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, illiteracy, corruption and inadequate public health. A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the third-largest standing army in the world and ranks tenth in military expenditure among nations.

India is a federal constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system consisting of 28 states and 7 union territories. It is one of the 5 BRICS nations. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, and multiethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

Etymology

The name ''India'' is derived from ''Indus'', which is derived from the Old Persian word ''Hindu'', from Sanskrit सिन्धु ''Sindhu'', the historic local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as ''Indoi'' (Ινδοί), the people of the Indus. The Constitution of India and usage in many Indian languages also recognises ''Bharat'' (pronounced ) as an official name of equal status. The name Bharat is derived from the name of the legendary king Bharata in Hindu scriptures. ''Hindustan'' (), originally a Persian word for “Land of the Hindus” referring to northern India and Pakistan before 1947, is also occasionally used as a synonym for all of India.

History

Ancient India

The earliest anatomically modern human remains found in South Asia are from approximately 30,000 years ago. Near contemporaneous Mesolithic rock art sites have been found in many parts of the Indian subcontinent, including at the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh. Around 7000 BCE, the first known neolithic settlements appeared on the subcontinent in Mehrgarh and other sites in western Pakistan. These gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, the first urban culture in South Asia, which flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India. Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, and Kalibangan, and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilisation engaged robustly in crafts production and wide-ranging trade.

During the period 2000–500 BCE, many regions of the subcontinent evolved from copper age to iron age cultures. The Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed during this period, and historians have analyzed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Ganges Plain. Most historians also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent from the northwest. The caste system, creating a social hierarchy, appeared during this period. In the Deccan, archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organization. In South India, the large number of megalithic monuments found from this period, and nearby evidence of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and craft traditions suggest progression to sedentary life.

By the fifth century BCE, the small chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the northwest regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies called ''Mahajanapadas''. The emerging urbanization as well as the orthodoxies of the late Vedic age created the religious reform movements of Buddhism and Jainism. Buddhism, based on the teachings of India's first historical figure, Gautam Buddha, attracted followers from all social classes; Jainism came into prominence around the same time during the life of its exemplar, Mahavira. In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal, and both established long-lasting monasteries. Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire. The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent excepting the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas. The Maurya kings are known as much for their empire building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka the Great's renunciation of militarism and his far flung advocacy of the Buddhist ''dhamma''.

The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that during the period 200 BCE–200 CE, the southern peninsula was being ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas, dynasties that traded extensively with the Roman Empire and with west and south-east Asia. In north India during the same time, Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family. By the fourth and fifth centuries CE, the Gupta Empire had created a complex administrative and taxation system in the greater Ganges Plain that became a model for later Indian kingdoms. Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion rather than the management of ritual began to assert itself and was reflected in a flowering of sculpture and architecture, which found patrons among an urban elite. Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian science, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics made significant advances,

Medieval India

The Indian early medieval age (600 CE to 1200 CE) is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity. When Harsha of Kannauj, who ruled much of the Ganges plain from 606 to 647 CE, attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by the Chalukya ruler of the Deccan. When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal. When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south. No ruler of this period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond his core region. During this time, pastoral peoples whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agriculture economy were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes. The caste system consequently began to show regional differences.

In the sixth and seventh centuries CE, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tamil language. These were imitated all over India and led both to the resurgence of Hinduism and to the development of all the modern languages of the subcontinent. Indian royalty, big and small, and the temples they patronized drew citizens in great numbers to the capital cities, which became economic hubs as well. Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another urbanisation. By the eight and ninth centuries, the effects were evident elsewhere as well as South Indian culture and political systems were being exported to Southeast Asia, in particular to what today are Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Java. Indian merchants, scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission, and south-east Asians took the initiative as well with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and Hindu texts into their languages.

After the tenth century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift horse cavalry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains, and led eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206. The Sultanate was to control much of North India, and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disruptive for the Indian elites, the Sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs. By repeatedly repulsing the Mongol raiders in the thirteenth century, the Sultanate saved India from the destruction seen in west and central Asia, and set the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region into India, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north. The Sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India, paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire. Embracing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the military technology of the Sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India, and to influence the society and culture of South India for long afterwards.

Early modern India

In the early sixteenth century, northern India, being ruled then mainly by Muslim rulers, fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors. The Mughal empire, which resulted, did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule, but rather balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices, and diverse and inclusive ruling elites, leading to more systematic, centralized and uniform rule. Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar, the Mughals united their far flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianized culture, to an emperor who had near divine status. The Mughal state's economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture, and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency, caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets. The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the seventeenth century was a factor in India's economic expansion, and resulted in greater patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture. Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajputs, and the Sikhs gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience. Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites in the southern and eastern coastal India. As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs.

By the early 18th century, with the lines between commercial and political dominance being increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, including the English East India Company, had established outposts on the coast of India. The East India Company's control of the seas, its greater resources, and its army's more advanced training methods and technology, led it to increasingly flex its military muscle and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; both these factors were crucial in the Company becoming the ruler of the Bengal region by 1765, and sidelining the other European companies. Its further access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annex or subdue most of India by the 1820s. India was now no longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instead supplying the British empire with raw materials, and most historians consider this to be the true onset of India's colonial period. By this time also, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and effectively now an arm of British administration, the Company began to more consciously enter non-economic arenas such as education, social reform, and culture.

Modern India

Depending upon the historian, India's modern age begins variously in 1848, when with the appointment of Lord Dalhousie as Governor General of the Company rule in India, changes essential to a modern state, including the consolidation and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the population, and the education of citizens, were put in place, and technological changes, among them, railways, canals, and telegraph were introduced not long after being introduced in Europe; 1857, when disaffection with the Company's rule, set off by diverse resentments, which included British social reforms, harshness of land taxes, and the humiliation of landed and princely aristocracy, led to the Indian rebellion of 1857 in many parts of northern India; 1858, when after the suppression of the rebellion, the British government took over the direct administration of India, and proclaimed a unitary state, which on the one hand envisaged a limited and gradual British-style parliamentary system, but on the other hand protected India's princes and large landlords as a feudal safeguard; and 1885, when the founding of the Indian National Congress marked the beginning of a period in which public life emerged at an all-India level.

Although the rush of technology and the commercialization of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacks—many small farmers became dependent on the whims of far away markets, there was an increase in the number of large-scale famines, and, despite the Indian taxpayers enduring the risks of infrastructure development, little industrial employment was generated for Indians,—there were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in the newly canalled Punjab, increased food production for internal consumption, the railway network provided critical famine relief, reduced notably the cost of moving goods, and helped the nascent Indian owned industry. After the first world war, in which some one million Indians served, a new period began, which was marked by British reforms, but also repressive legislation, by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, and by the beginnings of a nonviolent movement of non-cooperation, of which Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would become the leader and enduring symbol. During the 1930s, slow legislative reform was enacted by the British and the Indian National Congress won victories in the resulting elections. However, the next decade would be beset with crises, which included, the second world war, the Congress's final push of non-cooperation, and the upsurge of Muslim nationalism—all capped by the independence of India in 1947, but tempered by the bloody partition of the subcontinent into two states.

Vital to India's self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, completed in 1950, which put in place a sovereign, secular, democratic republic. In the 60 years since, India has had a mixed bag of successes and failures. On the positive side, it has remained a democracy with many civil liberties, an activist Supreme Court, and an independent press; economic liberalization in the 1990s, has created a large urban middle-class, transformed India into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and increased its global clout; and Indian movies, new music, and spiritual teachings, have increasingly contributed to global culture. However, on the negative side, India has been weighed down with seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban; by religious and caste-related violence, by the insurgencies of Maoist inspired Naxalites, and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir; India has unresolved territorial disputes with the People's Republic of China, which escalated into the Sino-Indian War of 1962, with Pakistan which resulted in wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999, and nuclear rivalry which came to a head in 1998. India's sustained democratic freedoms, for over 60 years, are unique among the world's new nations; however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged population, remains a goal yet to be achieved.

Geography

India, the major portion of the Indian subcontinent, lies atop the Indian tectonic plate, a minor plate within the Indo-Australian Plate. India's defining geological processes commenced seventy-five million years ago when the Indian subcontinent, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a northeastwards drift—lasting fifty million years—across the then unformed Indian Ocean. The subcontinent's subsequent collision with the Eurasian Plate and subduction under it gave rise to the Himalayas, the planet's highest mountains, which abut India in the north and the north-east. The Kanchenjunga is the highest mountain bordering India and Nepal. The Nanda Devi is the second highest peak and the highest mountain located entirely within India. The former seabed immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast trough which, having gradually been filled with river-borne sediment, now forms the Indo-Gangetic Plain. To the west lies the Thar Desert, which is cut off by the Aravalli Range.

The original Indian plate survives as peninsular India, the oldest and geologically most stable part of India and extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel ranges run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the east. To the south the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the west and east by the coastal ranges, Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats respectively; the plateau contains the oldest rock formations in India, some over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6°44' and 35°30' north latitude and 68°7' and 97°25' east longitude.

India's coast is long; of this distance, belong to peninsular India and to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Islands. According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coast consists of the following: 43% sandy beaches, 11% rocky coast including cliffs, and 46% mudflats or marshy coast.

Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges (Ganga) and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal. Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi; the latter's extremely low gradient causes disastrous floods every year. Major peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding, include the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also drain into the Bay of Bengal; and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea. Among notable coastal features of India are the marshy Rann of Kutch in western India, and the alluvial Sundarbans delta, which India shares with Bangladesh. India has two archipelagos: the Lakshadweep, coral atolls off India's south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea.

India's climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the monsoons. The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes. The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden southwest summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall. Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montane.

Biodiversity

Lying within the Indomalaya ecozone with three hotspots located within its area, India displays significant biodiversity. As one of the 17 megadiverse countries, it is home to 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of all avian, 6.2% of all reptilian, 4.4% of all amphibian, 11.7% of all fish, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species. Many ecoregions such as the ''shola'' forests exhibit high rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indian plant species are endemic. India's forest cover ranges from the tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and northeastern India to the coniferous forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the sal-dominated moist deciduous forest of eastern India; the teak-dominated dry deciduous forest of central and southern India; and the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain. Under 12% of India's landmass is covered by dense forests. Important Indian trees include the medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies. The pipal fig tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, shaded Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment.

Many Indian species are descendants of taxa originating in Gondwana, from which the Indian plate separated a long time ago. Peninsular India's subsequent movement towards and collision with the Laurasian landmass set off a mass exchange of species. However, volcanism and climatic changes 20 million years ago caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms. Soon thereafter, mammals entered India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes on either side of the emerging Himalaya. Consequently, among Indian species only 12.6% of mammals and 4.5% of birds are endemic, contrasting with 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians. Notable endemics are the Nilgiri leaf monkey and Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172, or 2.9%, of IUCN-designated threatened species. These include the Asiatic Lion, the Bengal Tiger, and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which nearly became extinct by ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle.

In recent decades, human encroachment has posed a threat to India's wildlife; in response, the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial habitat; in addition, the Forest Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments added in 1988. Along with more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries, India hosts thirteen biosphere reserves, four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; twenty-five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.

Politics

India is the most populous democracy in the world. A parliamentary republic with a multi-party system, it has six recognised national parties, including the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 40 regional parties. The Congress is considered centre-left or "liberal" in Indian political culture, and the BJP centre-right or "conservative". For most of the period between 1950 – when India first became a republic – and the late 1980s, the Congress held a majority in the parliament. Since then, however, it has increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP, as well as with powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party coalitions at the Centre.

In the Republic of India's first three general elections, in 1951, 1957 and 1962, the Jawaharlal Nehru-led Congress won easy victories. On Nehru's death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri briefly became prime minister; he was succeeded, after his own unexpected death in 1966, by Indira Gandhi, who went on to lead the Congress to election victories in 1967 and 1971. Following public discontent with the state of emergency she declared in 1975, the Congress was voted out of power in 1977, and a new party, the Janata Party which had opposed the emergency was voted in. Its government proved short-lived, lasting just over three years. Back in power in 1980, the Congress saw a change in leadership in 1984, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated and succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi, who won an easy victory in the general elections later that year. The Congress was voted out again in 1989 when a National Front coalition, led by the newly formed Janata Dal in alliance with the Left Front, won the elections; that government too proved short-lived lasting just under two years. Elections were held again in 1991 in which no party won an absolute majority, but the Congress as the largest single party was able to form a minority government, led by P.V. Narasimha Rao.

The two years after the general election of 1996 were years of political turmoil, with several short-lived alliances sharing power at the centre. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996; it was followed by two relatively longer-lasting United Front coalitions, which depended on external support. In 1998, the BJP was able to form a successful coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, became the first non-Congress government to complete a full five-year term. In the 2004 Indian general elections, again no party won an absolute majority, but the Congress emerged as the largest single party, forming a successful coalition, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), with the support of left-leaning parties and MPs opposed to the BJP. The UPA coalition was returned to power in the 2009 general election, with increased numbers that ensured it no longer required external support from India's Communist parties. That year, Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957 and 1962 to be re-elected to a second consecutive five-year term.

Government

India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, in which "majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law." Federalism in India defines the power distribution between the federal government and the states. The government is regulated by checks and balances defined by Indian Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document. The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950, states in its preamble that India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. India's form of government, traditionally described as 'quasi-federal' with a strong centre and weak states, has grown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic and social changes.

The federal government is composed of three branches: Executive: The President of India is the head of state elected indirectly by an electoral college for a five-year term. The Prime Minister of India is the head of government and exercises most executive power. Appointed by the president, the prime minister is by convention supported by the party or political alliance holding the majority of seats in the lower house of parliament. The executive branch of the Indian government consists of the president, the vice-president, and the council of ministers (the cabinet being its executive committee) headed by the prime minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of one of the houses of parliament. In the Indian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature, with the prime minister and his council directly responsible to the lower house of the parliament.

Legislative: The legislature of India is the bicameral parliament, operating under a Westminster-style parliamentary system, and comprising the upper house called the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the lower called the Lok Sabha (House of People). The Rajya Sabha, a permanent body, has 245 members serving staggered six-year terms. Most are elected indirectly by the state and territorial legislatures, their numbers in proportion to their state's population. All but two of the Lok Sabha's 545 members are directly elected by popular vote to represent individual constituencies for five-year terms. The remaining two members are nominated by the president from among the Anglo-Indian community, in case the president decides that the community is not adequately represented.

Judicial: India has a unitary three-tier judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India, 21 High Courts, and a large number of trial courts. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over cases involving fundamental rights and over disputes between states and the Centre and appellate jurisdiction over the High Courts. It is judicially independent and has the power both to declare the law and to strike down union or state laws which contravene the constitution. The Supreme Court is also the ultimate interpreter of the constitution.

Administrative divisions

India is a federation composed of 28 states and 7 union territories. All states, as well as the union territories of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and governments, both patterned on the Westminster model. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the Centre through appointed administrators. In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act, states were reorganised on a linguistic basis. Since then, their structure has remained largely unchanged. Each state or union territory is further divided into administrative districts. The districts in turn are further divided into tehsils and ultimately into villages.

Foreign relations and military

Since its independence in 1947, India has maintained cordial relations with most nations. In the 1950s, it strongly supported the independence of European colonies in Africa and Asia and played a pioneering role in the Non-Aligned Movement. In the late 1980s, India made two brief military interventions at the invitation of neighbouring countries, one by the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka and the other, Operation Cactus, in the Maldives. However, India has had a tense relationship with neighbouring Pakistan, and the two countries have gone to war four times, in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. The Kashmir dispute was the predominant cause of these wars, except in 1971 which followed the civil unrest in erstwhile East Pakistan. After the India-China War of 1962 and the 1965 war with Pakistan, India proceeded to develop close military and economic ties with the Soviet Union; by late 1960s, the Soviet Union had emerged as India's largest arms supplier.

Today, in addition to the continuing strategic relations with Russia, India has wide ranging defence relations with Israel and France. In recent years, India has played an influential role in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the World Trade Organization. The nation has provided 100,000 military and police personnel to serve in thirty-five UN peacekeeping operations across four continents. India is also an active participant in various multilateral forums, most notably the East Asia Summit and the G8+5. In the economic sphere, India has close relationships with the developing nations of South America, Asia and Africa. For about a decade now, India has also pursued a "Look East" policy which has helped it strengthen its partnerships with the ASEAN nations, Japan and South Korea on a wide range of issues but especially economic investment and regional security.

China's nuclear test of 1964 as well as its repeated threats to intervene in support of Pakistan in the 1965 war convinced India to develop nuclear weapons of its own. India conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1974 and carried out further underground testing in 1998. Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has signed neither the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) nor the NPT, considering both to be flawed and discriminatory. India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy and is developing a nuclear triad capability as a part of its "minimum credible deterrence" doctrine. It is also developing a ballistic missile defence shield and, in collaboration with Russia, a fifth generation fighter jet. Other major indigenous military development projects include ''Vikrant'' class aircraft carriers and ''Arihant'' class nuclear submarines.

Recently, India has also increased its economic, strategic and military cooperation with the United States and the European Union. In 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement was signed between India and the United States. Although India possessed nuclear weapons at the time and was not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it received waivers from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), ending earlier restrictions on India's nuclear technology and commerce. As a consequence, India has become the world's sixth ''de facto'' nuclear weapons state. Following the NSG waiver, India was also able to sign civilian nuclear energy cooperation agreements with other nations, including Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

With 1.3 million active troops, the Indian military is the third largest in the world. India's armed forces consists of an Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, and auxiliary forces such as the Paramilitary Forces, the Coast Guard, and the Strategic Forces Command. The President of India is the supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces. The official Indian defence budget for 2011 stands at US$36.03 billion (or 1.83% of GDP). According to a 2008 SIPRI report, India's annual military expenditure in terms of purchasing power stood at US$72.7 billion, In 2011 the annual defence budget increased by 11.6 per cent, although this does not include money that goes to the military through other branches of government. India has become the world's largest arms importer, receiving 9% of all international arms transfers during the period from 2006 to 2010. Much of the military expenditure is focused on defence against Pakistan and countering growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean.

Economy

According to the International Monetary Fund, India is the world's tenth largest economy by market exchange rates with US$1.53 trillion and fourth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) with US$4.06 trillion. With its average annual GDP growing at 5.8% for the past two decades, and at 10.4% during 2010, India is also one of the fastest growing economies in the world. However, the country ranks 138th in the world in nominal GDP per capita and 129th in GDP per capita at PPP.

Until 1991, all Indian governments followed protectionist policies that were influenced by socialist economics. Widespread state intervention and regulation caused the Indian economy to be largely closed to the outside world. After an acute balance of payments crisis in 1991, the nation liberalised its economy and has since continued to move towards a free-market system, emphasizing both foreign trade and investment. Consequently, India's economic model is now being described overall as capitalist.

With 467 million workers, India has the world's second largest labour force. The service sector makes up 54% of the GDP, the agricultural sector 28%, and the industrial sector 18%. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes. Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery and software. By 2006, India's external trade had reached a relatively moderate proportion of GDP at 24%, up from 6% in 1985. In 2008, India's share of world trade was 1.68%; India was the world's fifteenth largest importer in 2009 and the eighteenth largest exporter. Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, jewelry, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and leather manufactures. Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, chemicals.

Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% during the last few years, India has more than doubled its hourly wage rates during the last decade. Moreover, since 1985, India has moved 431 million of its citizens out of poverty, and by 2030, India's middle class numbers will grow to more than 580 million. Although ranking 51st in global competitiveness, India ranks 17th in financial market sophistication, 24th in the banking sector, 44th in business sophistication and 39th in innovation, ahead of several advanced economies. With 7 of the world's top 15 technology outsourcing companies based in India, the country is viewed as the second most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States. India's consumer market, currently the world's thirteenth largest, is expected to become fifth largest by 2030. Its telecommunication industry, the world's fastest growing, added 227 million subscribers during 2010–11. Its automobile industry, the world's second-fastest growing, increased domestic sales by 26% during 2009–10, and exports by 36% during 2008–09.

Despite impressive economic growth during recent decades, India continues to face socio-economic challenges. India contains the largest concentration of people living below the World Bank's international poverty line of $1.25/day, the proportion having decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005. Half of the children in India are underweight, and 46% of children under the age of three suffer from malnutrition. Since 1991, economic inequality between India's states has consistently grown: the per capita net state domestic product of the richest states in 2007 was 3.2 times that of the poorest. Corruption in India is perceived to have increased significantly, with one report estimating the illegal capital flows since independence to be US$462 billion. Driven by growth, India's nominal GDP per capita has steadily increased from U$329 in 1991, when economic liberalization began, to US$1,265 in 2010, and is estimated to increase to US$2,110 by 2016; however, it has always remained lower than those of other Asian developing countries such as Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is expected to remain so in the near future.

According to a 2011 PwC report, India's GDP at purchasing power parity will overtake Japan's during 2011 and the United States by 2045. Moreover, during the next four decades, India's economy is expected to grow at an average of 8%, making the nation potentially the world's fastest growing major economy until 2050. The report also highlights some of the key factors behind high economic growth – a young and rapidly growing working age population; the growth of the manufacturing sector due to rising levels of education and engineering skills; and sustained growth of the consumer market because of a rapidly growing middle class. However, the World Bank cautions that for India to achieve its economic potential, it must continue to focus on public sector reform, transport infrastructure, agricultural and rural development, removal of labour regulations, education, energy security, and public health and nutrition.

Demographics

With 1,210,193,422 citizens reported in the 2011 provisional Census, India is the world's second most populous country. India's population grew at 1.76% per annum during the last decade, down from 2.13% per annum in the previous decade (1991–2001). The human sex ratio in India, according to the 2011 census, is 940 females per 1,000 males, the lowest since independence. India's median age was 24.9 in the 2001 census. Medical advances of the last 50 years as well increased agricultural productivity brought about by the "green revolution" have caused India's population to grow rapidly. The percentage of Indian population living in urban areas has grown as well, increasing by 31.2% from 1991 to 2001. Despite this, in 2001 over 70% of India's population continued to live in rural areas. According to the 2001 census, there are 27 million-plus cities in India, with Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata being the largest.

India's overall literacy rate in 2011 is 74.04%, its female literacy rate standing at 65.46% and its male at 82.14%. The state of Kerala has the highest literacy rate, whereas Bihar has the lowest. India continues to face several public health-related challenges. According to the World Health Organization, 900,000 Indians die each year from drinking contaminated water or breathing polluted air. There are about 60 physicians per 100,000 people in India.

The Indian Constitution recognises 212 scheduled tribal groups which together constitute about 7.5% of the country's population. The 2001 census reported the religion in India with the largest number of followers was Hinduism, with over 800 million (80.5%) of the population recording it as their religion. Other religious groups include Muslims (13.4%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%), Buddhists (0.8%), Jains (0.4%), Jews, Zoroastrians and Bahá'ís. India has the world's third-largest Muslim population and the largest Muslim population for a non-Muslim majority country.

India is home to two major language families: Indo-Aryan (spoken by about 74% of the population) and Dravidian (spoken by about 24%). Other languages spoken in India come from the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman language families. India has no national language. Hindi, with the largest number of speakers, is the official language of the union. English is used extensively in business and administration and has the status of a 'subsidiary official language;' it is also important in education, especially as a medium of higher education. Every state and union territory has its own official languages, and the constitution recognises in particular 21 "scheduled languages".

Culture

thumb|left|The Taj Mahal in Agra was built by [[Mughal Empire|Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his deceased wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site considered to be of "outstanding universal value".]] Formative in India's 4,500 years old culture is the Vedic age in which were laid the foundation of Hindu philosophy, mythology, literary traditions, beliefs and practices, such as dhárma, kárma, yóga and mokṣa; distinctive in this culture are its diverse religions, which include Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity and Jainism. The predominant religion, Hinduism, has been shaped by the various schools of thought including those of the ''Upanishads'', the ''Yoga Sutras'', the ''Bhakti'' movement, and by Buddhist philosophy

Indian architecture represents the diversity of Indian culture. Much of it, including notable monuments such as the Taj Mahal and other examples of Mughal architecture and South Indian architecture, comprises a blend of ancient and varied local traditions from several parts of the country and abroad. Vernacular architecture also displays notable regional variation.

Indian cuisine is best known for its delicate use of herbs and spices and for its tandoori grilling techniques. The tandoor, a clay oven in use for almost 5,000 years in India, is known for its ability to grill meats to an 'uncommon succulence' and for the puffy flatbread known as the naan. The staple foods in the region are rice (especially in the south and the east), wheat (predominantly in the north) and lentils. Many spices which are consumed world wide are originally native to the Indian subcontinent. Chili pepper which was introduced by the Portuguese is widely used in Indian cuisine.

The earliest literary writings in India, composed between 1,400 BCE and 1,200 AD, were in the Sanskrit language. Prominent works of this Sanskrit literature include epics such as Mahābhārata and Ramayana, the dramas of Kalidasa such as the ''Abhijñānaśākuntalam'' (The Recognition of Śakuntalā), and poetry such as the ''Mahākāvya''. Developed between 600 BCE and 300 AD in Southern India, the ''Sangam'' literature consisting of 2,381 poems is regarded as a predecessor of Tamil literature. From the 14th century AD to 18th century AD, India's literary traditions went through a period of drastic change because of the emergence of devotional poets such as Kabīr, Tulsīdās and Guru Nānak. This period was characterised by varied and wide spectrum of thought and expression and as a consequence, medieval Indian literary works differed significantly from classical traditions. In the 19th century, Indian writers took a new interest in social questions and psychological descriptions. During the 20th century, Indian literature was heavily influenced by the works of universally acclaimed Bengali poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore.

Society and traditions

Traditional Indian society is defined by relatively strict social hierarchy. The Indian caste system describes the social stratification and social restrictions in the Indian subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as ''jātis'' or castes. Several influential social reform movements, such as the Brahmo Samaj, the Arya Samaj and the Ramakrishna Mission, have played a pivotal role in the emancipation of Dalits (or "untouchables") and other lower-caste communities in India. However, the majority of Dalits continue to live in segregation and are often persecuted and discriminated against.

Traditional Indian family values are highly valued, and multi-generational patriarchal joint families have been the norm in India, though nuclear families are becoming common in urban areas. An overwhelming majority of Indians, with their consent, have their marriages arranged by their parents or other family members. Marriage is thought to be for life, and the divorce rate is extremely low. Child marriage is still a common practice, more so in rural India, with more than half of women in India marrying before the legal age of 18.

Many Indian festivals are religious in origin. The best known include Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Thai Pongal, Holi, Durga Puja, Eid ul-Fitr, Bakr-Id, Christmas, and Vaisakhi. India has three national holidays which are observed in all states and union territories – Republic Day, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanti. Other sets of holidays, varying between nine and twelve, are officially observed in individual states.

Traditional Indian dress varies across the regions in its colours and styles and depends on various factors, including climate. Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as sari for women and dhoti or lungi for men; in addition, stitched clothes such as salwar kameez for women and kurta-pyjama and European-style trousers and shirts for men, are also popular. The wearing of delicate jewellery, modelled on real flowers worn in ancient India, is part of a tradition dating back some 5,000 years; gemstones are also worn in India as talismans.

Music, dance, theatre and cinema

Indian music covers a wide range of traditions and regional styles. Classical music largely encompasses the two genres – North Indian Hindustani, South Indian Carnatic traditions and their various offshoots in the form of regional folk music. Regionalised forms of popular music include filmi and folk music; the syncretic tradition of the ''bauls'' is a well-known form of the latter.

Indian dance too has diverse ''folk'' and ''classical'' forms. Among the well-known folk dances are the ''bhangra'' of the Punjab, the ''bihu'' of Assam, the ''chhau'' of West Bengal, Jharkhand, ''sambalpuri'' of Orissa, the ''ghoomar'' of Rajasthan and the ''Lavani'' of Maharashtra. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms and mythological elements, have been accorded classical dance status by India's ''National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama''. These are: ''bharatanatyam'' of the state of Tamil Nadu, ''kathak'' of Uttar Pradesh, ''kathakali'' and ''mohiniyattam'' of Kerala, ''kuchipudi'' of Andhra Pradesh, ''manipuri'' of Manipur, ''odissi'' of Orissa and the ''sattriya'' of Assam.

Theatre in India often incorporates music, dance, and improvised or written dialogue. Often based on Hindu mythology, but also borrowing from medieval romances, and news of social and political events, Indian theatre includes the ''bhavai'' of state of Gujarat, the ''jatra'' of West Bengal, the ''nautanki'' and ''ramlila'' of North India, the ''tamasha'' of Maharashtra, the ''burrakatha'' of Andhra Pradesh, the ''terukkuttu'' of Tamil Nadu, and the ''yakshagana'' of Karnataka. The Indian film industry is the most watched film industry in the world. Established traditions exist in Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil, and Telugu language cinemas. South India's cinema industries account for more than 75% of total film revenues.

Sport

India's official national sport is field hockey, administered by Hockey India. The Indian hockey team won the 1975 Hockey World Cup and 8 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals at the Olympic games, making it one of the world's most successful national hockey teams ever. Cricket, however, is by far the most popular sport; the India cricket team won the 1983 and the 2011 World Cups, 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Cricket in India is administered by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and domestic competitions include the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy, the Irani Trophy and the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy. In addition, BCCI conducts the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 competition.

India is home to several traditional sports which originated in the country and continue to remain fairly popular. These include kabaddi, kho kho, pehlwani and gilli-danda. Some of the earliest forms of Asian martial arts, such as ''Kalarippayattu'', ''Yuddha'', ''Silambam'' and ''Varma Kalai'', originated in India. The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award are India's highest awards for achievements in sports, while the Dronacharya Award is awarded for excellence in coaching.

Chess, commonly held to have originated in India, is regaining widespread popularity with the rise in the number of Indian Grandmasters. Tennis has also become increasingly popular, owing to the victories of the India Davis Cup team and the success of Indian tennis players. India has a strong presence in shooting sports, winning several medals at the Olympics, the World Shooting Championships and the Commonwealth Games. Other sports in which Indian sports-persons have won numerous awards or medals at international sporting events include badminton, boxing and wrestling. Football is a popular sport in northeastern India, West Bengal, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

India has hosted or co-hosted several international sporting events, such as the 1951 and the 1982 Asian Games, the 1987, 1996, 2011 Cricket World Cups, the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, the 2010 Hockey World Cup and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Major international sporting events annually held in India include the Chennai Open, Mumbai Marathon, Delhi Half Marathon and the Indian Masters.

See also

Notes

Cited References

;History . . .

;Geography

;Biodiversity

;Culture

External links

Government of India – Official government portal (in English)

India at ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''

Category:Countries of the Indian Ocean Category:Federal countries Category:Former British colonies Category:G15 nations Category:G20 nations Category:Liberal democracies Category:Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Category:Member states of the United Nations Category:Socialist states Category:South Asian countries Category:States and territories established in 1947

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Coordinates	19°39′0″N155°59′39″N
Group	Lakota
Poptime	55,000 of Lakota on reservations,103,255 Sioux on census
Popplace	United States( North Dakota South Dakota)
Rels	traditional tribal religion, Sun Dance,Native American Church, Christianity
Langs	Lakota, English
Related	other members of Oceti Sakohowin (Santee, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, Yankton, Yanktonai) }}

The Lakota (pronounced ; also known as , Teton, Tetonwan ("dwellers of the prairie"), Teton Sioux) are a Native American tribe. They are part of a confederation of seven related Sioux tribes (the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ or seven council fires) and speak Lakȟóta, one of the three major dialects of the Sioux language.

The Lakota are the western-most of the three Sioux-language groups, occupying lands in both North and South Dakota. The seven bands or "sub-tribes" of the Lakota are:

Sičháŋǧu (a.k.a. Brulé, Burned Thighs)

Oglála (a.k.a. Scatters their own)

Itázipčho (a.k.a. Sans Arc, Without Bows)

Húŋkpapȟa

Mnikȟówožu (a.k.a. Mnicoujou)

Sihásapa (a.k.a. Blackfoot Sioux)

Oóhenuŋpa (a.k.a. Two Kettles)

Notable persons include Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (Sitting Bull) from the Hunkpapa band; and Tȟašúŋke Witkó (Crazy Horse) from the Oglala band, Maȟpíya Lúta (Red Cloud), Heȟáka Sápa (Black Elk), Sinte Gleška (Spotted Tail), Billy Mills and Touch the Clouds from the Oglala band.

History

The Lakota were originally referred to as the Dakota when they lived by the Great Lakes. Encroaching European-American settlement led them to migrate west from the Great Lakes region. They later called themselves the Lakota, and were also called Sioux. They were introduced to horse culture by the Cheyenne about 1730.

After their adoption of the horse, ''šúŋkawakȟáŋ'' () ('dog [of] power/mystery/wonder') their society centered on the buffalo hunt with the horse. There were estimated to be 20,000 Lakota in the mid-18th century. The number has now increased to about 70,000, of whom about 20,500 speak the Lakota language.

After 1720, the Lakota branch of the Seven Council Fires split into two major sects, the Saône who moved to the Lake Traverse area on the South Dakota–North Dakota–Minnesota border, and the Oglala-Sicangu who occupied the James River valley. By about 1750, however, the Saône had moved to the east bank of the Missouri River, followed 10 years later by the Oglala and Brulé (Sičangu).

The large and powerful Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa villages had prevented the Lakota from crossing the Missouri for an extended period. After smallpox and other infectious diseases nearly destroyed these tribes, the way was open for the first Lakota to cross the Missouri into the drier, short-grass prairies of the High Plains. These Saône, well-mounted and increasingly confident, spread out quickly. In 1765, a Saône exploring and raiding party led by Chief Standing Bear discovered the Black Hills (which they call the ''Paha Sapa''), first the territory of the Cheyenne. Just a decade later, in 1775, the Oglala and Brulé also crossed the river. The great smallpox epidemic of 1772–1780 destroyed three-quarters of the American Indian populations in the Missouri Valley. In 1776, the Lakota defeated the Cheyenne, as the Cheyenne had earlier defeated the Kiowa. The Cheyenne moved west into the Powder River Country, and the Lakota gained control of the land which became the center of the Lakota universe.

Initial contacts between the Lakota and the United States, during the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806 was marked by a standoff. When Lakota bands refused to allow the explorers to continue upstream, the Expedition prepared to do battle. More than half a century later, after US forces built Fort Laramie on Lakota land, officials negotiated the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 with the Lakota and other numerous Plains tribes to protect emigrant travelers on the Oregon Trail, which crossed their territory. The Cheyenne and Lakota had raided emigrant parties in part due to competition for resources, and because of settler encroachment on their lands. Formally, the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 acknowledged native sovereignty over the Great Plains in exchange for free passage along the Oregon Trail, for "as long as the river flows and the eagle flies".

The government did not enforce the treaty against European-American encroachment. When the Lakota and other bands attacked settlers and emigrant trains, there was public pressure for the US Army to punish the tribes. In Nebraska on September 3, 1855, 700 soldiers under American General William S. Harney avenged the Grattan Massacre by attacking a Lakota village, killing 100 men, women, and children. Other wars followed; and in 1862–1864, as refugees from the "Dakota War of 1862" in Minnesota fled west to their allies in Montana and Dakota Territory. With increasing settler expansion, war found the tribes again.

Because the Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota, they objected to mining in the area, which had been attempted since the early years of the 19th century. In 1868, the U.S. government signed the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, exempting the Black Hills from all white settlement forever. 'Forever' lasted only four years; when gold was publicly discovered there, an influx of prospectors descended upon the area.

Again, the US reacted to attacks on settlers and miners with military force, abetted by army commanders such as like Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer. The latter tried to administer a lesson of noninterference with white policies, resulting in the Great Sioux War of 1876-77. General Philip Sheridan encouraged troops to hunt and kill buffalo as a means of "destroying the Indians' commissary."

The unified Northern Cheyenne led much of the warfare after 1860 on the Plains, along with allied Lakota and Arapaho bands, which operated independently. They fought a successful delaying action against General George Crook's army at the Battle of the Rosebud, preventing Crook from locating and attacking their camp, and a week later defeated the U.S. 7th Cavalry in 1876 at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Lakota call it the Greasy Grass Fight. Custer attacked a camp of several tribes, much larger than he realized. Their combined forces killed 258 soldiers, wiping out the entire Custer battalion, and inflicting more than 50% casualties on the regiment.

Their victory over the U.S. Army would not last, however. The US Congress authorized funds to expand the army by 2500 men. The reinforced US Army defeated the Lakota bands in a series of battles, finally ending the Great Sioux War in 1877. The Lakota were eventually confined onto reservations, prevented from hunting buffalo and forced to accept government food distribution.

In 1877 some of the Lakota bands signed a treaty ceding the Black Hills to the United States. Low-intensity conflicts continued. Fourteen years later, Sitting Bull was killed at Standing Rock reservation on December 15, 1890. The US Army attacked Spotted Elk (aka Bigfoot), Mnicoujou band of Lakota at the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890 at Pine Ridge.

Today, the Lakota are found mostly in the five reservations of western South Dakota: Rosebud Indian Reservation (home of the Upper Sičangu or Brulé), Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (home of the Oglala), Lower Brule Indian Reservation (home of the Lower Sičangu), Cheyenne River Indian Reservation (home of several other of the seven Lakota bands, including the Mnicoujou, Itazipco, Sihasapa and Oohenumpa), and Standing Rock Indian Reservation (home of the Hunkpapa), also home to people from many bands. Lakota also live on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana, the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation of northwestern North Dakota, and several small reserves in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Their ancestors fled to "Grandmother's [i.e. Queen Victoria's] Land" (Canada) during the Minnesota or Black Hills War.

Large numbers of Lakota live in Rapid City and other towns in the Black Hills, and in metro Denver. Lakota elders joined the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) to seek protection and recognition for their cultural and land rights.It is a little known fact that some of the American Sign Language came from the Lakota Sioux.

Government

United States of America

Legally and by treaty a semi-autonomous "nation" within the United States, the Lakota Sioux are represented locally by officials elected to councils for the several reservations and communities in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska. They are represented on the state and national level by the elected officials from the political districts of their respective states and Congressional Districts. Band or reservation members living both on and off the individual reservations are eligible to vote in periodic elections for that reservation. Each reservation has a unique local government style and election cycle based on its own constitution or articles of incorporation. Most follow a multi-member tribal council model with a chairman or president elected directly by the voters.

The current President of the Oglala Sioux, the majority tribe of the Lakota located primarily on the Pine Ridge reservation, is Theresa Two Bulls.

The President of the Sicangu Lakota at the Rosebud reservation is Rodney M. Bordeaux.

The Chairman of the Standing Rock reservation, which includes peoples from several Lakota subgroups including the Hunkpapa, is Charles W. Murphy.

The Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe at the Cheyenne River reservation, comprising the Mniconjou, Izipaco, Siha Sapa, and Ooinunpa bands of the Lakota, is Kevin Keckler.

The Chairman of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, which is home to the Lower Sicangu Lakota, is Michael Jandreau.

Tribal governments have significant leeway, as semi-autonomous political entities, in deviating from state law (e.g. Indian gaming.) They are ultimately subject to supervisory oversight by the United States Congress and executive regulation through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The nature and legitimacy of those relationships continue to be a matter of dispute.

Canada

There are nine bands of Dakota and Lakota in Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan, with a total of 6,000 registered members. They are recognized as First Nations but are not considered "treaty Indians". As First Nations they receive rights and entitlements through the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada department. However as they are not recognized as treaty Indians, they did not participate in the land settlement and natural resource revenues. The Dakota rejected a $60 million land rights settlement in 2008.

Independence movement

Beginning in 1974, some Lakota activists have taken steps to become independent from the United States, in an attempt to form their own fully independent nation. These steps have included drafting their own "declaration of continuing independence" and using Constitutional and International Law to solidify their legal standing.

A 1980 U.S. Supreme Court decision awarded $122 million to eight bands of Sioux Indians as compensation for land claims, but the court did not award land. The Lakota have refused the settlement.

In September 2007, the United Nations passed a non-binding Resolution on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand refused to sign.

On December 20, 2007, a group of Lakota under the name Lakota Freedom Delegation traveled to Washington D.C. to announce a withdrawal of the Lakota Sioux from all treaties with the United States government. These activists had no standing under any elected BIA tribal government. The group claimed official standing under the traditional Lakota Treaty Councils, representing the traditional ''Tiospayes '' (matriarchal family units). These have been the traditional form of Lakota governance.

Longtime political activist Russell Means said, "We have 33 treaties with the United States that they have not lived by." He was part of the delegation's declaring the Lakota a sovereign nation with property rights over thousands of square miles in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana. The group stated that they do not act for or represent the tribal governments set up by the BIA or those Lakota who support the BIA system of government.

The Lakota Freedom Delegation did not include any elected leaders from any of the tribes. Russell Means had previously run for president of the Oglala Sioux tribe and twice been defeated. Several elected BIA tribal governments issued statements distancing themselves from the independence declaration, with some saying they were watching the independent movement closely. Although some Indigenous nations and groups around the world made statements in support, no elected Lakota tribal governments endorsed the declaration.

In January 2008, the Lakota Freedom Delegation split into two groups. One group was led by ''Canupa Gluha Mani'' (Duane Martin Sr.). He is a leader of ''Cante Tenza'', the traditional Strongheart Warrior Society, that has included leaders such as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. This group is called ''Lakota Oyate''. The other group is called the "Republic of Lakotah" and is led by Russell Means. In December 2008, Lakota Oyate received the support and standing of the traditional treaty council of the Oglala Tiospayes.

Ethnonyms

The name ''Lakota'' comes from the Lakota autonym, '''' "feeling affection, friendly, united, allied". The early French historic documents did not distinguish a separate Teton division, instead grouping them with other "Sioux of the West", Santee and Yankton bands.

The names ''Teton'' and ''Tetuwan'' come from the Lakota name ''thíthuŋwaŋ'' , the meaning of which is obscure. This term was used to refer to the Lakota by non-Lakota Sioux groups. Other derivations include: ti tanka, Tintonyanyan, Titon, Tintonha, Thintohas, Tinthenha, Tinton, Thuntotas, Tintones, Tintoner, Tintinhos, Ten-ton-ha, Thinthonha, Tinthonha, Tentouha, Tintonwans, Tindaw, Tinthow, Atintons, Anthontans, Atentons, Atintans, Atrutons, Titoba, Tetongues, Teton Sioux, Teeton, Ti toan, Teetwawn, Teetwans, Ti-t’-wawn, Ti-twans, Tit’wan, Tetans, Tieton, and Teetonwan.

Early French sources call the Lakota ''Sioux'' with an additional modifier, such as Scioux of the West, West Schious, Sioux des prairies, Sioux occidentaux, Sioux of the Meadows, Nadooessis of the Plains, Prairie Indians, Sioux of the Plain, Maskoutens-Nadouessians, Mascouteins Nadouessi, and Sioux nomades.

Today many of the tribes continue to officially call themselves ''Sioux''. In the 19th and 20th centuries, this was the name which the US government applied to all Dakota/Lakota people. However, some of the tribes have formally or informally adopted traditional names: the Rosebud Sioux Tribe is also known as the Sičangu Oyate (Brulé Nation), and the Oglala often use the name Oglala Lakota Oyate, rather than the English "Oglala Sioux Tribe" or OST. (The alternate English spelling of Ogallala is deprecated, even though it is closer to the correct pronunciation.) The Lakota have names for their own subdivisions. The Lakota also are Western of the three Sioux groups, occupying lands in both North and South Dakota.

Notable Lakota

Arthur Amiotte, Oglala artist, educator, curator, and author

Black Elk (Heȟáka Sápa)

Black Hawk, Sans Arc artist, medicine man

Mary Brave Bird, Brulé author

Nathan Chasing His Horse, actor, medicine man

Chris Chavis (Tȟatȟáŋka), WWE wrestler

Crazy Horse (Tȟašúŋke Witkó)

Lame Deer (Tȟáȟča Hušté), Heyoka

Kevin Locke (Tȟokéya Inážiŋ), Hunkpapa hoop dancer and flute player

Billy Mills, Oglala Olympic Gold Medalist

Rain-in-the-Face (Ité Omáǧažu), Hunkpapa war chief who fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn

Red Cloud (Maȟpíya Lúta)

Sitting Bull (Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake), Hunkpapa chief

Michael Spears, Lower Brulé actor

Eddie Spears, Lower Brulé actor

Moses Stranger Horse, Brulé artist

Touch the Clouds (Maȟpíya Ičaȟtagye)

John Two-Hawks, musician

Reservations

Today, one half of all enrolled Sioux live off the Reservation.

Lakota reservations recognized by the U.S. government include:

Oglala (Pine Ridge Indian Reservation)

Sicangu (Rosebud Indian Reservation)

Hunkpapa (Standing Rock Reservation)

Mniconjou (Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation)

Izipaco (Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation)

Siha Sapa (Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation)

Ooinunpa (Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation)

Some Lakota also live on other Sioux reservations in eastern South Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska:

Santee Indian Reservation, in Nebraska

Crow Creek Indian Reservation in Central South Dakota

Yankton Indian Reservation in Central South Dakota

Flandreau Indian Reservation in Eastern South Dakota

Lake Traverse Indian Reservation in Northeastern South Dakota and Southeastern North Dakota

Lower Sioux Indian Reservation in Minnesota

Upper Sioux Indian Reservation in Minnesota

Shakopee-Mdewakanton Indian Reservation in Minnesota

Prairie Island Indian Reservation in Minnesota

Bill Warren In addition several Lakota live on Wood Mountain Indian Reserve often Wood Mountain First Nation northwest of Wood Mountain Post now a Saskatchewan historic site.

See also

Lakota language

Lakota mythology

Native American tribes in Nebraska

Notes

References

Christafferson, Dennis M. (2001). Sioux, 1930–2000. In R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), ''Handbook of North American Indians: Plains'' (Vol. 13, Part 2, pp. 821–839). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-050400-7.

DeMallie, Raymond J. (2001a). Sioux until 1850. In R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), ''Handbook of North American Indians: Plains'' (Vol. 13, Part 2, pp. 718–760). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-050400-7.

DeMallie, Raymond J. (2001b). Teton. In R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), ''Handbook of North American Indians: Plains'' (Vol. 13, Part 2, pp. 794–820). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-050400-7.

Hein, David (Advent 2002). "Episcopalianism among the Lakota / Dakota Indians of South Dakota." ''The Historiographer'', vol. 40, pp. 14–16. [''The Historiographer'' is a publication of the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church and the National Episcopal Historians and Archivists.]

Hein, David (1997). "Christianity and Traditional Lakota / Dakota Spirituality: A Jamesian Interpretation." ''The McNeese Review'', vol. 35, pp. 128–38.

Matson, William and Frethem, Mark (2006). Producers. "The Authorized Biography of Crazy Horse and His Family Part One: Creation, Spirituality, and the Family Tree". The Crazy Horse family tells their oral history and with explanations of Lakota spirituality and culture on DVD. (Publisher is Reelcontact.com)

Parks, Douglas R.; & Rankin, Robert L. (2001). The Siouan languages. In R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), ''Handbook of North American Indians: Plains'' (Vol. 13, Part 1, pp. 94–114). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-050400 5.

Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0195138771.

Ullrich, Jan. New Lakota Dictionary. (Lakota Language Consortium). ISBN 0-9761082-9-1. (The most comprehensive dictionary of the language, the only dictionary reliable in terms of spelling and defining words). Available at http://www.lakhota.org/html/DictionaryPrint.html

External links

NAHA – The Official Charity Helping The People Of The Lakota Sioux Tribes & Reservations on South Dakota

The Official Lakota Language Forum

Dakota Blues: The History of The Great Sioux Nation

Lakota Freedom Delegation, Lakota Oyate Group

Lakota Freedom Delegation, Republic of Lakotah Group

Lakota declaration of independence and related documents

Lakota Language Consortium

Lakota Freedom Delegation to Withdraw from Treaties in DC 2007/12/14

The Lakota Sioux Indians Declare Independence, Ibrahim Sediyani

The Teton Sioux (Edward S. Curtis)

Lakota Winter Counts a Smithsonian exhibit of the annual icon chosen to represent the major event of the past year

Official Website-Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

Category:People from South Dakota

be-x-old:Лакота ca:Lakota cy:Lakota (pobl) da:Lakota de:Lakota es:Lakota eo:Lakotoj fa:لاکوتا fr:Lakotas fy:Lakota hr:Teton Indijanci id:Suku Lakota it:Lakota lt:Lakotai mg:Lakota (mponina) nl:Lakota (volk) ja:ラコタ no:Lakota nds:Lakota ru:Лакота (народ) fi:Lakotat sv:Lakota tr:Lakotalar uk:Лакота (плем'я) zh:拉科塔

Coordinates	19°39′0″N155°59′39″N
name	India.Arie
background	solo_singer
landscape	yes
birth name	India Arie Simpson
born	October 03, 1975Denver, Colorado.
instrument	Vocals, guitar, flute, keyboard
genre	Soul, R&B;, neo soul, blues, folk, pop
occupation	Musician, songwriter, record producer
years active	2000–present
label	Motown (1999–2007)SoulBird / Universal Republic (2007–present)
website	www.indiaarie.com www.soulbird.com }}

India.Arie (born India Arie Simpson; October 3, 1975) is a Grammy Award-winning American soul, R&B;, and neo soul musician, songwriter, and producer. She has sold over 3.3 million records in the U.S. and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards and received 18 nominations, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist.

Background

Simpson was born in Denver, Colorado. She absorbed musical skills early in life as she was encouraged by both parents. Her mother Joyce is a former singer (she was signed to Motown as a teenager and opened for Stevie Wonder and Al Green) and is now her stylist. She has an older brother named J'On. After her parents divorced, Simpson's mother moved the family to Atlanta, Georgia when she was thirteen. Simpson had taken up a succession of musical instruments throughout her schooling in Denver, but her interest in the guitar while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, led to a personal revelation about songwriting and performing. "When I started tapping into my own sensitivity, I started to understand people better. It was a direct result of writing songs", she said at the press release of her debut album, ''Acoustic Soul''.

Co-founding the Atlanta-based independent music collective Groovement EarthShare (Groovement was the collective artists' name and EarthShare was their independent label name), her one-song turn on a locally-released compilation led to a second-stage gig at the 1998 Lilith Fair. In 1999, a Universal/Motown music scout spotted her and made an introduction to former Motown CEO Kedar Massenberg. Arie currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Musical career

''Acoustic Soul'' (2001)

''Acoustic Soul'' was released on March 27, 2001 and debuted at number ten on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and number three on the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums. Within months, without the concentrated radio airplay that typically powers pop and rap albums, ''Acoustic Soul'' was certified double platinum, selling 2,180,000 copies in the U.S. and 3,000,000 copies worldwide. While Arie and the album were nominated for seven Grammy awards in 2002, they won no awards, losing in five of seven categories to Alicia Keys. She closed the ceremony with a performance of her song "Video".

''Voyage to India'' (2002)

Arie followed the success of her debut on 24 September 2002 with the release of ''Voyage to India''. It debuted at number six on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number one on the R&B; chart. In 2003 it won her two Grammy Awards in 2003—"Best R&B; Album" and Best Urban/Alternative Performance" for the song "Little Things". Soon after its release, ''Voyage to India'' was certified platinum selling 1,400,000 copies in the U.S. and 2,300,000 worldwide .

''Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship'' (2006)

Arie's third studio album, ''Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship'', was released on June 27, 2006. It gave Arie her first number-one spot on the ''Billboard'' 200 and was her second chart-topper on the R&B; chart. This album was also the first number-one album for Motown in twelve years . Its first-week sales of 161,000 copies are Arie's best sales week to date and was certified gold in August 2006, selling 730,000 in US and 1,300,000 worldwide. "I Am Not My Hair" was the most successful release from ''Testimony: Vol. 1.'', reaching the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at #97 and the UK Singles Chart at #65.

Her cover of Don Henley's "The Heart of the Matter" from Testimony: Vol. 1 was used in 2008 as a feature in the trailers to the film ''Sex and the City: The Movie''.

''Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics'' (2009)

Her highly anticipated next album, ''Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics'' was released on Tuesday, February 10, 2009. It debuted at No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and No. 2 on the R&B; chart. Within this CD, Arie collaborated with such artists as Sezen Aksu, Keb Mo, Gramps Morgan and Musiq Soulchild to fulfill her self-proclaimed desire to "do projects with people who are making music that is meaningful, with a lot of integrity and a lot of sonic diversity". Arie, in the cited interview, also identified this CD as the first of her collection to come directly from her own point of view, without feeling any necessity to fulfill fan or media needs. Arie was able to achieve this newfound ability to write and sing songs without worrying about public opinion after a much-needed vacation to Hawaii. This CD was Arie's first CD produced after her change from Motown to Universal Records.

''Open Door''

India.Arie's new album, a work produced in collaboration with Israeli singer Idan Raichel is due to be released in October 2011.

Collaborations

Arie performed a duet with rock singer-guitarist John Mellencamp on the song "Peaceful World" for his 2001 album ''Cuttin' Heads''.

Arie performed a duet with jazz singer Cassandra Wilson on the song "Just Another Parade" for her 2002 album ''Belly of the Sun''.

On the September 12, 2005 premiere of ''The Tyra Banks Show'', Arie performed "Just 4 2day", a song she wrote especially for Tyra's show. She also performed "What About the Child", a song that did not air but was made available as a one-dollar Internet download to support child victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Arie is also featured on Stevie Wonder's album ''A Time to Love'', released on October 18, 2005. Arie and Wonder duet on the title track "A Time to Love", written by Arie, which was nominated for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Three years earlier, their rendition of Mel Tormé's 1944 classic "The Christmas Song", recorded for the holiday TV commercial for retailer Target, had been nominated for the same category, making it the first song created and financed exclusively for a commercial to be nominated for a Grammy Award.

Arie performed a duet with Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes on the title song "Timeless" for his 2006 album ''Timeless''.

Arie performed the vocals for "It Might Be You" on Dave Koz's 2007 album ''At the Movies''.

Arie collaborated with Akon for her song "I Am Not My Hair". On the April 16, 2007 episode of ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' entitled "After Imus: Now What?", Arie guest-starred as a panelist. She stated that she was not completely crazy about the duet partner, but the label suggested that it would make the album more commercial. Versions without Akon on the song were made available.

Arie performed the song "She Is" for Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, inspired by the PBS Independent Lens documentary ''Iron Ladies of Liberia''.

Arie performed a duet with singer Anthony David for his song "Words" for his 2008 album ''Acey Duecy''.

Arie performed "Self-Fulfilling" in duet with Beate S. Lech of Beady Belle on the band's 2008 album ''Belvedere''.

Arie sang the Alphabet song with Elmo on ''Sesame Street''.

Arie appeared with Leona on ''Between the Lions'' singing a song about outlaw words.

Arie performed "Video" with British singer Adele at the 2009 VH1 Divas

Arie is one of over 70 artists singing on "We Are the World: 25 for Haiti", a charity single in aid of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Arie performed a duet with Marc Cohn on the song "Make It With You" for his 2010 album ''Listening Booth: 1970''.

Arie collaborated in 2010 with Santana for the Beatles' cover, While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Arie contributed vocals to "Imagine" for the 2010 Herbie Hancock album, ''The Imagine Project'' along with Seal, P!nk, Jeff Beck, Konono N°1, Oumou Sangare and others.

Arie collaborated with Idan Raichel to create a series of different songs including a performance at the Noble Peace Prize

Discography

Studio albums

2001: ''Acoustic Soul''

2002: ''Voyage to India''

2006: ''Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship''

2009: ''Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics''

2011: ''Open Door''

Awards

;Grammy Awards

Year	Category	Genre	Recording	Result
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;BET Awards :2002 - ''Best Female R&B; Artist'' (Won) :2003 - ''Best Female R&B; Artist'' (Won) ;'''MTV Video Music Award'' :2001 - ''MTV2 Award for "Video"'' (Nominated) ;'''Soul Train Music Award'' :2003 - ''Female R&B;/Soul Single'' for "Little Things" (Nominated)

Filmography

2002: ''Soul Food - Herself "Lovers and Other Strangers"

2003: ''American Dreams'' - ....Nina Simone "Act of Contrition"

2003: ''The Bernie Mac Show'' - Herself "Raging Election"

2004: ''Tinseltown TV'' - Herself

2006: ''One on One'' - Herself "I Love L.A"

2011: ''Pastor Brown'' - Lateefah

References

External links

Official website

India.Aire interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' April 2009

India.Arie on Motown Records website

India.Arie at NPR Music

Category:1975 births Category:African American female singer-songwriters Category:American contraltos Category:American female guitarists Category:American flautists Category:American record producers Category:American songwriters Category:American rhythm and blues guitarists Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:American soul singers Category:Musicians from Colorado Category:English-language singers Category:Feminist musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Motown artists Category:Neo soul singers Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:People from Denver, Colorado Category:People from Savannah, Georgia

de:India.Arie es:India.Arie fa:ایندیا.ارای fr:India.Arie he:אינדיה ארי nl:India.Arie pl:India.Arie pt:India.Arie sv:India.Arie zh:印蒂雅·艾瑞

Coordinates	19°39′0″N155°59′39″N
Name	Parveen Sultana
Background	solo_singer
Born	July 10, 1950
Origin	Assam, India
Instrument	Vocal
Genre	Khayal, Bhajans, Thumris
Occupation	Hindustani Classical Music
Years active	1962–present
Past members	}}

Begum Parveen Sultana (born 1950) is an Assamese Hindustani classical singer of the Patiala Gharana. She is among the foremost classical vocalists in India and is known as ''Queen of Classical Vocal''.

She was conferred the Padmashri in 1976.

Personal life and background

Parveen Sultana was born at Daccapatty in Nowgong town , Assam, India to Ikramul Mazid and Maroofa Mazid. She went to Mission School .

Her father, late Ikramul Mazid was her first guru and he was very strict with her. She also received early training from her grandfather Mohammed Najeef Khan, a pathan . She later went to Kolkata to learn to learn music under the guidance of late Pandit Chinmoy Lahiri and from 1973, she became a disciple of Ustad Dilshad Khan of the Patiala Gharana.

She is married to Ustad Dilshad Khan. They have a daughter.

Career

Parveen Sultana gave her first stage performance in 1962 when she was only 12 and has been recording music since 1965.

Sultana has sung for movies like ''Gadar'', ''Kudrat'', ''Do Boond Pani,'' and ''Pakeezah''. Recently, she sang the theme song of Vikram Bhatt’s latest opus 1920. She also sang ''Humein Tumse Pyaar Kitna'' - ''Kudrat'' 1981.

Parveen Sultana has recorded for HMV, Polydor, Music India, Bharat Records, Auvidis, Magnasound, Sonodisc, Amigo.

Awards and recognition

Padmashree award - 1976

Gandharva Kalanidhi - 1980

Miyan Tansen Prize - 1986

Sangeet Samraggi conferred by the Assam Government - 1994

Filmfare Best Female Playback Award--Kudrat (1981) for the song "Hame Tumse Pyar Kitna"

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1999.

Srimant Sankardev award by Assam government

Discography

+ evergreen Assamese song: Imaan dhuniya buli nokoba..mur laaj laagi jai

Safar (Raga Maru Behag & C.)

Parveen (Raga Rageshri/Mishra Mand)

Parveen Sultana & Dilshad Khan

Dilshad Khan and Parween Sultana - Duologue in Raga - 1997

References

External links

Parveen Sultana

A profile on Parveen Sultana from The Assam Tribune

Category:Hindustani singers Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Category:1950 births Category:Indian Muslims Category:Musicians of Assam Category:Living people Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

hi:परवीन सुल्ताना kn:ಪರ್ವೀನ್ ಸುಲ್ತಾನ mr:परवीन सुलताना

Coordinates	19°39′0″N155°59′39″N
Name	Vandana Shiva
Birth name	Vandana Shiva
Birth date	November 05, 1952
Birth place	Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand, India
Occupation	Philosopher, environmentalist, writer
Nationality	india
Awards	Right Livelihood Award in 1993.
Website	}}

Vandana Shiva (Hindi: वन्दना शिवा; b. November 5, 1952, Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand, India), is a philosopher, environmental activist, and eco feminist. Shiva, currently based in Delhi, has authored more than 20 books and over 500 papers in leading scientific and technical journals. She was trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, in 1978 with the doctoral dissertation "Hidden variables and locality in quantum theory."

She is one of the leaders and board members of the International Forum on Globalization, (along with Jerry Mander, Edward Goldsmith, Ralph Nader, Jeremy Rifkin, et al.), and a figure of the global solidarity movement known as the alter-globalization movement. She has argued for the wisdom of many traditional practices, as is evident from her interview in the book ''Vedic Ecology'' (by Ranchor Prime) that draws upon India's Vedic heritage. She is a member of the scientific committee of the Fundacion IDEAS, Spain's Socialist Party's think tank.

She was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1993.

Early life and education

Vandana Shiva was born in the valley of Dehradun, to a father who was the conservator of forests and a farmer mother with a love for nature. She was educated at St Mary's School in Nainital, and at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Dehradun. After receiving her bachelors degree in physics, she pursued a M.A. in the philosophy of science at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada), with a thesis entitled "Changes in the concept of periodicity of light". In 1979, she completed and received her Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario. Her thesis, titled "Hidden Variables and locality in Quantum Theory," was about the philosophical underpinnings of quantum mechanics. She later went on to interdisciplinary research in science, technology, and environmental policy at the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore.

Career

Vandana Shiva has fought for changes in the practice and paradigms of agriculture and food. Intellectual property rights, biodiversity, biotechnology, bioethics, genetic engineering are among the fields where Shiva has contributed intellectually and through activist campaigns. She has assisted grassroots organizations of the Green movement in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Ireland, Switzerland, and Austria with campaigns against genetic engineering. In 1982, she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, which led to the creation of Navdanya in 1991, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seed, the promotion of organic farming and fair trade. For last two decades Navdanya has worked with local communities and organizations serving many men and women farmers. Navdanya’s efforts have resulted in conservation of more than 2000 rice varieties from all over the country and have established 34 seed banks in 13 states across the country. More than 70,000 farmers are primary members of Navdanya. In 2004 Dr Shiva started Bija Vidyapeeth, an international college for sustainable living in Doon Valley, in collaboration with Schumacher College, U.K.

In the area of IPRs (Intellectual Property Rights) and Biodiversity, Dr. Shiva and her team at the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology successfully challenged the biopiracy of Neem, Basmati and Wheat. Besides her activism, she has also served on expert groups of government on Biodiversity and IPR legislation.

Her first book, "Staying Alive" (1988) helped redefine perceptions of third world women. In 1990 she wrote a report for the FAO on Women and Agriculture entitled, “Most Farmers in India are Women”. She founded the gender unit at the International Centre for Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu and was a founding Board Member of the Women Environment and Development Organisation (WEDO)

Shiva has also served as an adviser to governments in India and abroad as well as non governmental organisations, including the International Forum on Globalization, the Women's Environment & Development Organization and the Third World Network. Dr. Shiva chairs the Commission on the Future of Food set up by the Region of Tuscany in Italy and is a member of the Scientific Committee which advises President Zapatero of Spain. Shiva is a member of the Steering Committee of the Indian People’s Campaign against WTO. She is a councillor of the World Future Council. Dr Shiva serves on Government of India Committees on Organic Farming. Vandana Shiva participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007.

Time Magazine identified Dr. Shiva as an environmental “hero” in 2003 and Asia Week has called her one of the five most powerful communicators of Asia.

Vandana Shiva is working on a 3 year project with the Government of Bhutan, at the invitation of the Prime Minister Jigme Thinley, advising the Government on how to achieve their objective of becoming an Organic Sovereign country (the first fully 100% organic country).

Film

Vandana Shiva has been interviewed for a number of documentary films including the ''One Water'',, ''Deconstructing Supper: Is Your Food Safe?'', ''The Corporation'', ''Dirt! The Movie'', and ''This is What Democracy Looks Like'' (a documentary about the Seattle WTO protests of 1999).

Shiva's focus on water has seen her appear in a number of related films: "Ganga from the ground up" a documentary on water issues in the river Ganges,, ''Blue Gold: World Water Wars'' by Sam Bozzo, Irena Salina's documentary ''Flow: For Love of Water'' (in competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival).

On the topic of genetically modified crops, she is featured in the documentary "Fed up!:Genetic Engineering, Industrial Agriculture and Sustainable Alternatives." Recently, she has been featured in the documentary ''The World According to Monsanto'', a film made by a French independent journalist Marie-Monique Robin.

Vandana is also featured in the feature documentary film about the Dalai Lama, entitled ''Dalai Lama Renaissance''.

Vandana is featured on the PBS NOW documentary entitled ''On Thin Ice''.

In 2010, Vandana was interviewed in the feature documentary about honeybees and colony collapse disorder entitled, "Queen of the Sun".

Recognition

In 1993, Vandana received the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize') "...For placing women and ecology at the heart of modern development discourse." Other awards she has received include the Global 500 Award of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1993, and the Earth Day International Award of the United Nations (UN) for her dedicated commitment to the preservation of the planet as demonstrated by her actions, leadership and by setting an example for the rest of the world.

Additional awards include:

1993: Order of the Golden Ark, by his Royal Highness Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands for outstanding services to conservation and ecology;

1993: "Global 500 Roll of Honour", by UNEP for outstanding environmental work.

1993: "Earth Day International Award" by Earth Day International for her dedicated commitment to the preservation of he planet as demonstrated by her actions, leadership and the setting of examples for the rest of the world.

1993: "Right Livelihood Award" (Alternative Nobel Prize) for pioneering insights into the social and environmental costs of the dominant development process, and her ability to work with and for local people and communities in the articulation and implementation of alternatives.

1993: "VIDA SANA International Award," Spain for her contribution to Ecology and Food Security.

1995: "Pride of the Doon" Award from Doon Citizen Council, Dehra Dun, India, in recognition of distinguished contributions to the region

1997: The Golden Plant Award (International Award of Ecology), Denmark, for the remarkable contribution for Ecology and Environment;

1997: Alfonso Comin Award, Barcelona, Spain, for important contribution both scientifically and personally to the ecologist and feminist movement in India.

1998: Commemorative Medal by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand on the occasion of the Celebration of the 18th World Food Day, organised by FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok;

1998: Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic from the International Scientific Committee of the Pio Manzu Centre at Rimini, Italy during the XXIV Pio Manzu International Conference on "The Horizons of Hermes"

2000: Pellegrino Artusi Award, Italy for original contribution to reflections on relations between humans and food

2001: HORIZON 3000 Award of Austria in recognition to rendering useful service for defending Human Rights and Preservation of Peace and for the vision of a world wide fair development in the third millennium

2009: received the Save The World Award

2010: received the Sydney Peace Prize 2011: "Calgary Peace Prize" from the Consortium for Peace Studies at the University of Calgary 2011: Doshi Family Bridgebuilder Award, for cultivating mutual understanding between cultures

Also awarded the "John M. Berry Sr. Leadership Award" for dedicated vision and commitment to family farm agriculture; the Special International Literary Prize “Ken Saro Wiwa” awarded by Acquiambiente, Italy for her book Water Wars; the "Reading for the Environment Book Prize" by the German Foundation for the Environment for her book Tomorrow’s Biodiversity

Awarded the Lennon ONO grant for peace by Yoko Ono and Honourable Mayor of Reykjavik. Awarded the Yo Dona Award by Yo Dona Magazine, Spain

Ecofeminism

Vandana Shiva plays a major role in the global Ecofeminist movement. According to her article ''Empowering Women,'' Shiva suggests that a more sustainable and productive approach to agriculture can be achieved through reinstating a system of farming in India that is more centered around engaging women. She advocates against the prevalent "patriarchal logic of exclusion," claiming that a woman-focused system would change the current system in an extremely positive manner.

The view held by Vandana Shiva has been criticised as being essentialist by C. Jackson.

Publications

1981, ''Social Economic and Ecological Impact of Social Forestry in Kolar'', Vandana Shiva, H.C. Sharatchandra, J. Banyopadhyay, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

1988, ''Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Survival in India'', Zed Press, New Delhi, ISBN 0-86232-823-3

1991, ''Ecology and the Politics of Survival: Conflicts Over Natural Resources in India'', Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California, ISBN 0-8039-9672-1

1992, ''The Violence of the Green Revolution: Ecological degradation and political conflict in Punjab'', Zed Press, New Delhi

1992, ''Biodiversity: Social and Ecological Perspectives'' (editor); Zed Press, United Kingdom

1993, ''Women, Ecology and Health: Rebuilding Connections'' (editor), Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and Kali for Women, New Delhi

1993, ''Monocultures of the Mind: Biodiversity, Biotechnology and Agriculture'', Zed Press, New Delhi

1993, ''Ecofeminism'', Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, Fernwood Publications, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, ISBN 1-895686-28-8

1994, ''Close to Home: Women Reconnect Ecology, Health and Development Worldwide'', Earthscan, London, ISBN 0-86571-264-6

1995, ''Biopolitics'' (with Ingunn Moser), Zed Books, United Kingdom

1997, ''Biopiracy: the Plunder of Nature and Knowledge'', South End Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, I ISBN 1-896357-11-3

2000, ''Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply'', South End Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, ISBN 0-89608-608-9

2000, ''Tomorrow's Biodiversity'', Thames and Hudson, London, ISBN 0-500-28239-0

2001, ''Patents, Myths and Reality'', Penguin India

2002, ''Water Wars; Privatization, Pollution, and Profit'', South End Press, Cambridge Massachusetts

2005, ''India Divided'', Seven Stories Press,

2005, ''Globalization's New Wars: Seed, Water and Life Forms'' Women Unlimited, New Delhi, ISBN 81-88965-17-0

2005, ''Breakfast of Biodiversity: the Political Ecology of Rain Forest Destruction'', ISBN 0-935028-96-X

2005, ''Earth Democracy; Justice, Sustainability, and Peace'', South End Press, ISBN 0-89608-745-X

2007, ''Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed'', editor, South End Press ISBN 978-0-89608-777-4

2007, ''Democratizing Biology: Reinventing Biology from a Feminist, Ecological and Third World Perspective'', author, Paradigm Publishers ISBN 978-1594512049

2008, ''Soil Not Oil'', South End Press ISBN 978-0-89608-782-8

2010, ''Staying Alive'', South End Press ISBN 978-0-89608-793-4

See also

Biopiracy

Green Revolution in India

References

External links

Videos of Vandana Shiva: Traditional Knowledge, Biodiversity and Sustainable Living March 2011 at Navdanya, Dehradun, India

Video of Vandana Shiva with the Dalai Lama from the documentary "Dalai Lama Renaissance"

Video: "Creating Food Democracy" - 2006 Lecture at Emory University's Center for Ethics

On Air chicago public radio -rebroadcast on 3-2-08

Vandana Shiva's South End Press HomePage

Stock Exchange Of Visions: Visions of Vandana Shiva

Interview with Vandana Shiva by Paolo Scopacasa, EcoWorld, March 2004

Vandana Shiva biography, Right Livelihood Award homepage

Vandana Shiva page, Third World Traveler.

Vandana Shiva on McDonald's, Exploitation and the Global Economy, One-Off Productions, 1997.

Whose Freedom? Which Freedom?, Working TV, June 15, 1998.

Vandana Shiva. Corporate Terrorism, Resurgence Magazine, January 2002.

Vandana Shiva. Privatizing water will lead to war, Resurgence Magazine, July 2003.

Amy Goodman. An Hour With Vandana Shiva, Democracy Now, November 27, 2003.

Vandana Shiva. Gift of Food, Resurgence Magazine, January 2005.

Vandana Shiva. Celebrating Food Economies, Resurgence Magazine, March 2005.

Shiva on Coca-Cola's involvement in water depletion and contamination in India, NOW with Bill Moyers. September 5, 2003.

Video of Shiva's lecture at Michigan State University, Internet Archive, April 7, 2005.

Vandana Shiva. Two Myths That Keep The World Poor, Ode Magazine, October 2005. (accessed 19 October 2007)

Feature on Vandana Shiva's work on seed saving by the International Museum of Women.

VIDEO: The Future of Food and Seed, keynote talk by Vandana Shiva at the Organicology Conference in Portland, Oregon, February 28, 2009.

VIDEO: Whole speech "Democracy for the Earth" Basque Country, May, 2009.

Vandana Shiva's speaker booking page on the Evil Twin Booking Agency's website

Internet Archive (archive.org) audio and video

Vandana Shiva: "It Is Time for the US to Stop Seeing Itself as a Donor and Recognizing Itself as a Polluter" by ''Democracy Now!''

"The Earth is female - Interview to Vandana Shiva" by Wilma Massucco for Eugad

Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:People from Dehradun Category:20th-century philosophers Category:21st-century philosophers Category:Ecofeminists Category:Anti-globalization writers Category:Indian environmentalists Category:Indian feminists Category:Indian pacifists Category:Indian physicists Category:Hindu pacifists Category:Hindu philosophers Category:Right Livelihood Award laureates Category:Development specialists Category:Non-fiction environmental writers Category:Feminist writers Category:Sustainability advocates Category:Indian women activists Category:University of Guelph alumni Category:University of Western Ontario alumni

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