Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad () is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the seventh largest city and eighth largest metropolitan area of India, with a city population of approximately 3.96 million and metropolitan population of 5.41 million. Located on the banks of the River Sabarmati, the city is the administrative centre of Ahmedabad district and was the capital of Gujarat from 1960 to 1970; the capital was shifted to Gandhinagar thereafter. In the middle of 1990's it was the fifth largest city in India.In colloquial Gujarati, the city is commonly called Amdavad.
http://wn.com/Ahmedabad
Aksai Chin
Aksai Chin, also Aksayqin, Akesaiqin or Akesai Qin (Urdu: اکسائی چن, Simplified Chinese: 阿克赛钦), is a disputed region located in the northwestern region of the Tibetan Plateau north of the western Kunlun Mountains. It is entirely administered by the People's Republic of China as a part of Hotan County in the Hotan Prefecture of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. It is, however, claimed by India as a part of its state of Jammu and Kashmir.
http://wn.com/Aksai_Chin
Armenia
Armenia (, transliterated : Hayastan, ), officially the Republic of Armenia (, Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun, ), is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.
http://wn.com/Armenia
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan ( ; ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (), is one of the six independent Turkic states in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south.
http://wn.com/Azerbaijan
Bangalore
Bangalore , known as Bengaluru (), is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and fifth-most populous urban agglomeration. As of 2009, Bangalore was inducted in the list of Global cities and ranked as a "Beta World City" alongside Geneva, Copenhagen, Boston, Cairo, Riyadh, Berlin, to name a few, in the studies performed by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network in 2008.
http://wn.com/Bangalore
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (; , '), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali: গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ ') is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma (Myanmar) to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south. Together with the Indian state of West Bengal, it makes up the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. The name Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal" in the official Bengali language.
http://wn.com/Bangladesh
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal (; ), the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered by Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal down to the state of Tamil Nadu, India and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma (Myanmar) and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the east.
http://wn.com/Bay_of_Bengal
Bhutan
The Kingdom of Bhutan () (Dzongkha: ; Wylie: '' 'drug yul; Tibetan pinyin: ''), is a small landlocked country in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China . Bhutan is separated from the nearby state of Nepal to the west by the Indian state of Sikkim, and from Bangladesh to the south by West Bengal.
http://wn.com/Bhutan
Brandeis University
Brandeis University () is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles (14 km) west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2010, it was ranked by the U.S. News and World Report as the number 34 national university in the United States. Forbes listed Brandeis University as number 57 among all national universities and liberal arts colleges combined in 2010.
http://wn.com/Brandeis_University
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1922 the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-quarter of the world's population at the time, and covered more than 13 million square miles (34 million km2), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its political, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire" because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories.
http://wn.com/British_Empire
Burma
Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the second largest country by geographical area in Southeast Asia. The country is bordered by People's Republic of China on the north-east, Laos on the east, Thailand on the south-east, Bangladesh on the west, India on the north-west and the Bay of Bengal to the south-west with the Andaman Sea defining its southern periphery. One-third of Burma's total perimeter, 1,930 kilometers (1,199 mi), forms an uninterrupted coastline.
http://wn.com/Burma
Cambodia
The "Kingdom of Cambodia" "Royaume du Cambodge" (official name), also known as Cambodia, derived from Sanskrit Kambujadesa ()), is a country in Southeast Asia that borders Thailand to the west and northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. The geography of Cambodia is dominated by rivers and a lake namely: The Mekong River (Upper and Lower) (Khmer: ទន្លេមេគង្គ Tonlé Mékong Pronounced: Tonlé Mékung = Mother Water River), Sab River Tonlé Sap (Khmer: ទន្លេសាប Pronounced: Tonlé Sab = Fresh Water River), Bassac River Tonlé Bassac (Khmer: ទន្លេបាសាក់ Pronounced: Tonlé Bassuck = ?)
http://wn.com/Cambodia
Chennai
Chennai (Tamil: ), formerly known as Madras (Tamil: AKA ), is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the fifth most populous city in India. Located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, Chennai city had a population of 4.34 million in the 2001 census within the area administered by the Corporation of Chennai and an extended Metropolitan Population of 6.5 million. The urban agglomeration of metropolitan Chennai has an estimated population over 8.2 million people.
http://wn.com/Chennai
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh (Chhattisgarhi/Hindi: छत्तीसगढ़, ) is a state in central India, formed when the sixteen Chhattisgarhi-speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained statehood on 1 November 2000.
http://wn.com/Chhattisgarh
Chittagong
Chittagong (Bengali: চট্টগ্রাম, Chôţţogram) (formerly Port Grande and Islamabad) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 2.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.
http://wn.com/Chittagong
Colombo
Colombo (Sinhala: කොළඹ, pronounced ; ) is the largest city and former capital of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings and ruins and a city population of 647,100. The Colombo Metropolitan Region, defined by the districts of Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara, has an estimated population of 5,648,000, and covers an area of 3,694.20 km².
http://wn.com/Colombo
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York (Columbia University) is a private research university in New York City and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution. It was founded in 1754 as King's College by royal charter of George II of Great Britain, and is one of only three United States universities to have been founded under such authority.
http://wn.com/Columbia_University
Delhi
Delhi, known locally as Dilli (, , {{Lang-ur| '), and by the official name National Capital Territory of Delhi''' (NCT), is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest metropolis by population in India. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with more than 12.25 million inhabitants in the territory and with nearly 22.2 million residents in the National Capital Region urban area (which also includes Noida, Gurgaon, Greater Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad). The name Delhi is often also used to include some urban areas near the NCT, as well as to refer to New Delhi, the capital of India, which lies within the metropolis. The NCT is a federally administered union territory.
http://wn.com/Delhi
Dhaka
Dhaka (Bangla: ঢাকা, pronounced ; formerly known as Dacca and Jahangir Nagar, under Mughal rule), is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka District. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, has a population of over 15 million, making it the largest city in Bangladesh. It is the 8th largest city in the world and also among the most densely populated cities in the world. Dhaka is known as the City of Mosques and renowned for producing the world's finest muslin. Dhaka is also known as the Rickshaw Capital of the World. Approximately 400,000 cycle rickshaws run each day. Today it serves as one of the prime centres for culture, education and business in the region.
http://wn.com/Dhaka
Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia is a tropical, footprint-shaped coral atoll located south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean at seven degrees, twenty six minutes south latitude (south of the equator). It is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory [BIOT] and is positioned at 72°23' east longitude. The atoll is approximately east of the African coast and south of the southern tip of India (Figure 2.3). Diego Garcia lies at the southernmost tip of a long chain of coral reefs, atolls, and islands comprising the Laccadives, Maldives, and the Chagos Archipelago, in which Diego Garcia is geographically situated. Local time is GMT + 6 hours year-round (no daylight time change).
http://wn.com/Diego_Garcia
Dushanbe
Dushanbe (, Dushanbe; Dyushambe until 1929, Stalinabad until 1961), population 679,400 people (2008 est.), is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. Dushanbe means "Monday" in Tajik, and the name reflects the fact that the city grew on the site of a village that originally was a popular Monday marketplace.
http://wn.com/Dushanbe
Faisalabad
(Punjabi, {{lang-ur|) is a city in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. It was formerly known as Lyallpur. Faisalabad is the third largest city in Pakistan after Karachi and Lahore. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has risen from 9,171 in 1901 to 179,000 in 1951 and to 2,009,000 in 1998. The larger Faisalabad district had a population of about 5.4 million in 1998.
http://wn.com/Faisalabad
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 60.0 million people in mid-2009, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets. The island of Ireland lies to its west. Politically, Great Britain may also refer to the island itself together with a number of surrounding islands which comprise the territory of England, Scotland and Wales.
http://wn.com/Great_Britain
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range (Sanskrit: literally, "abode of snow", Hindi/Sanskrit: , IPA: ), the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. By extension, it is also the name of a massive mountain system that includes the Karakoram, the Hindu Kush, and other, lesser, ranges that extend out from the Pamir Knot.
http://wn.com/Himalayas
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is a 500-mile mountain range stretching between north-western Pakistan and eastern and central Afghanistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir (7,708 m or 25,289 ft) in the Chitral region of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan.
http://wn.com/Hindu_Kush
Hong Kong
Hong Kong () is one of two special administrative regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. Situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 95 percent ethnic Chinese and 5 percent from other groups. Hong Kong's Han Chinese majority originate mainly from the cities of Guangzhou and Taishan in the neighbouring Guangdong province.
http://wn.com/Hong_Kong
Hyderabad State
Hyderābād state (, ) was the largest princely state in the erstwhile British Indian Empire. It was located in the south-central region of the Indian subcontinent, and was ruled, from 1724 until 1948, by a hereditary Nizam. The Berar region of the state was merged with the Central Provinces of British India in 1903, to form the Central Provinces and Berar.
http://wn.com/Hyderabad_State
Hyderabad, India
Hyderabad ( [], {{lang-ur|, []), is the capital of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It also goes by its sobriquet City of Pearls. It is the largest city in Andhra Pradesh and the sixth largest city in India with a population of 4.07 million in 2010. Hyderabad was founded by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in 1591 on the banks of Musi. Today the city covers an area of approximately 650 km². The city has been classified as an A-1 city in terms of development priorities, due to its size, population and impact. The twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad come under the ambit of a single municipal unit, The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
http://wn.com/Hyderabad_India
India
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 1.18 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Mainland India is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east; and it is bordered by Pakistan to the west; Bhutan, the People's Republic of China and Nepal to the north; and Bangladesh and Burma to the east. In the Indian Ocean, mainland India and the Lakshadweep Islands are in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share maritime border with Thailand and the Indonesian island of Sumatra in the Andaman Sea. India has a coastline of .
http://wn.com/India
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian subcontinent; on the west by East Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, by Antarctica). It is the only ocean to be named after a country, i.e., India.
http://wn.com/Indian_Ocean
Indonesia
Indonesia ( or ), officially the Republic of Indonesia (), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With a population of around 238 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, and has the world's largest population of Muslims. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies.
http://wn.com/Indonesia
Indus River
The Indus River (Sanskrit: सिन्धुSindhu; Sindhi: Sindhu; Abāsin "The Father River"; Punjabi: سندھ '; Hindko: سندھ '; Avestan: Harahuti; Al-Sind; "Lion River"; ; Greek: Ινδός Indós; Turki: Nilab) is a major river which flows through the northern Indian Subcontinent.
http://wn.com/Indus_River
Iran
Iran ( ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Central Eurasia and Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was also known to the western world as Persia. Both Persia and Iran are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, Iran is the name used officially in political contexts.
http://wn.com/Iran
Islamabad
(Punjabi, Pashto, {{lang-ur|) Islām ābād (Meaning "Abode of Islam") is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. The population of the city has increased from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.21 million in 2009. The Rawalpindi/Islamabad Metropolitan Area is the third largest in Pakistan with a population of over 4.5 million inhabitants.
http://wn.com/Islamabad
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (, pronounced ) is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east. It has an area of 28,833 sq mi (74,677 km²).
http://wn.com/Jharkhand
Kabul
Kabul ( Kābol ; Kābul ; archaic Caubul), is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, located in the Kabul Province. According to the 2008 official estimates, the population of Kabul metropolitan area is 2.8 million people.
http://wn.com/Kabul
Kandahar
Kandahār or Qandahār (Pashto/Persian: کندهار or قندهار) (Greek: Alexandria Arachosia) is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 450,000. It is the capital of Kandahar province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m (3,297 feet) above sea level. The Arghandab River runs along the west of the city. "Kandahar" is the latest modified form of the ancient name Gandhara.
http://wn.com/Kandahar
Kanpur
Kanpur (, {{lang-ur|), spelled as Cawnpore before 1948, is the tenth most populous city in India and the largest within the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the second largest city of the Hindi-speaking belt after Delhi. It remains one of the oldest industrial townships of North India, although it has not kept pace with IT industry growth in the rest of India due to political indifference. It has a metropolitan area of over and a city area of around 829 km2 with a population of approximately 5 million,. With this huge population city also has lot of problems with traffic
http://wn.com/Kanpur
Karachi
Karachi (: , {{lang-ur|) is the largest city, main seaport and financial centre of Pakistan, and the capital of the province of Sindh. With an estimated population of about 18 million, Karachi is one of the world's largest cities in terms of population, the 13th largest urban agglomeration, the 4th largest metropolitan area in the world, and the 2nd largest city within the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. It is Pakistan's premier centre of banking, industry, and trade and is home to Pakistan's largest corporations, including those involved in textiles, shipping, automotive industry, entertainment, the arts, fashion, advertising, publishing, software development and medical research. The city is a major hub of higher education in South Asia and the wider Islamic world.
http://wn.com/Karachi
Karakoram
Karakoram (or Karakorum) is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan), Ladakh (India), and Xinjiang region, (China). It is one of the Greater Ranges of Asia, a part of the greater Himalaya while north of the actual Himalaya Range.
http://wn.com/Karakoram
Kathmandu
Kathmandu (, pronounced: ; ) is the capital and largest metropolitan city of Nepal. The city is the urban core of the Kathmandu Valley in the Himalayas, which also contains two sister cities namely Patan or Lalitpur, to its southeast (an ancient city of fine arts and crafts) and Bhaktapur, to its east (city of devotees). It is also acronymed as 'KTM' and named 'tri-city'. Kathmandu valley is only slightly smaller than Singapore in terms of area.
http://wn.com/Kathmandu
Kerala
Kerala (Malayalam: , {{audio|Ml-Kerala.ogg|) is a state in India. It is located on the south-western region of the country. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act bringing together the areas where Malayalam was the dominant language.
http://wn.com/Kerala
Kolkata
Kolkata (Bengali: ; ), is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Kolkata is the cultural capital of India and the commercial capital of Eastern India. It is located in eastern India on the east bank of the Hooghly River. The Kolkata metropolitan area including suburbs has a population exceeding 15 million, making it the third most populous metropolitan area in India and one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The city is also classified as the eighth largest urban agglomeration in the world.
http://wn.com/Kolkata
Ladakh
Ladakh (, Ladakhi , , , ; "land of high passes") is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent. It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Kashmir.
http://wn.com/Ladakh
Lahore
Lahore ({{lang-pa|, {{lang-ur|, ) is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. The city lies along the Ravi River and is situated approximately from Wagah (the only road border crossing between India and Pakistan). Historically the main city of the undivided Punjab, Lahore has been a center of Muslim heritage since the Data Durbar is located here. It is often called the Garden of Mughals because of its rich Mughal heritage. It successively served as provincial/regional capital of the empires of the Shahi kingdoms in the 11th century, the Ghaznavids in the 12th century, the Ghurid State in the 12th and 13th century, the Mughal Empire in the 16th century, the Sikh Empire in the early 19th century, and it was the capital of the Punjab region under the British Raj in the mid 19th and early 20th century. Mughal structures such as the Badshahi Mosque, the Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens, and the mausolea of Jehangir and Nur Jehan are popular tourist attractions for the city. Lahore is also home to many British colonial structures built in the Mughal-Gothic style, such as the Lahore High Court, the General Post Office (GPO), the Lahore Museum, and many older universities including the University of the Punjab. Lahore is often referred to as the cultural heart of Pakistan, as it is the center of Pakistani arts, films and intelligentsia.
http://wn.com/Lahore
Laos
Laos (, , or ), officially the '''Lao People's Democratic Republic''', is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west.
http://wn.com/Laos
Lhasa
Lhasa ( in English, Tibetan: ལྷ་ས་, pronounced or ; and sometimes spelled Lasa) is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world. It is the birthplace of Tibetan Buddhism and contain many religious sites such as the Jokhang, Potala and Norbulingka palaces.
http://wn.com/Lhasa
Lucknow
Lucknow (; , {{Lang-ur|, , ) is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division. It is named after Lakshman the brother of Lord Rama, the Prince of Ayodhya and hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana.
http://wn.com/Lucknow
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (Hindī: मध्य प्रदेश, pronounced "Central Province"; abbreviated MP), often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal.
http://wn.com/Madhya_Pradesh
Malaysia
Malaysia (pronounced or ) is a federal constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of . The country is separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo (also known as West and East Malaysia respectively). Malaysia shares land borders with Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei and has maritime boundaries with Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population as of 2009 stood at over 28 million.
http://wn.com/Malaysia
Maldives
The Maldives ( or ), (Dhivehi: ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ ''Dhivehi Raa'je'') or Maldive Islands, officially Republic of Maldives, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls stretching in a north-south direction off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and Chagos Archipelago. It stands in the Laccadive Sea, about seven hundred kilometers (435 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka.
http://wn.com/Maldives
Mashhad
Mashhad ( from , ‹Mašhad›, literally the place of martyrdom) is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its population was 2,427,316 at the 2006 population census.
http://wn.com/Mashhad
Mumbai
Mumbai (; , ', ), previously known as Bombay' (), is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the second most populous city in the world, with a population of approximately 14 million. The official language of Mumbai is Marathi. But many other languages are also widely used, particularly the Mumbaiian Hindi''. Along with the neighbouring urban areas, including the cities of Navi Mumbai and Thane, it is one of the most populous urban regions in the world. Mumbai lies on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. As of 2009, Mumbai was named an Alpha world city. Mumbai is also the richest city in India, and has the highest GDP of any city in South or Central Asia.
http://wn.com/Mumbai
Naypyidaw
Naypyidaw (, officially spelled Nay Pyi Taw and Naypyitaw; ) is the capital of Myanmar, also known as Burma. It is administered as a Union Territory, as per the 2008 Constitution. On 6 November 2005, the administrative capital of Burma was officially moved to a greenfield site west of Pyinmana, and approximately north of Yangon (Rangoon), the previous capital. The capital's official name was announced on 27 March 2006, Burmese Armed Forces Day. Much of the city is still under construction, which is set to be completed by around 2012. As of 2009, the population was 925,000, which makes it Burma's third largest city, behind Yangon and Mandalay.
http://wn.com/Naypyidaw
New Delhi
New Delhi (, naī dillī) is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
http://wn.com/New_Delhi
Orissa
Odisha (), or Orissa, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Odisha was established on 1 April 1936 at Kanika Palace, Cuttack, as a province in India, and consists predominantly of Odia speakers. 1 April is therefore celebrated as Utkal Divas (Odisha Day).
http://wn.com/Orissa
Pamir Mountains
The Pamir Mountains (; Kyrgyz Памир тоолору; Persian: رشته کوه های پامیر Reshte Kūh-hāye Pāmīr; Tajik: Кӯҳҳои Помир; Urdu: پامیر کوهستان; Uyghur: پامىر ئېگىزلىكى) are a mountain range in Central Asia formed by the junction or knot of the Himalayas, Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and Hindu Kush ranges. They are among the world’s highest mountains and since Victorian times they have been known as the "Roof of the World", translated from "Pamir". They are also known by the Chinese name of Congling (cōnglǐng 葱嶺), (Wade-Giles: Ts'ung-ling) or "Onion Range" (from the wild onions growing in the region).
http://wn.com/Pamir_Mountains
Patna
Paṭnā () () is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in eastern India after Kolkata.
http://wn.com/Patna
Peshawar
( Pekhawar/Peshawar, Hindko: Pishor, {{lang-ur|), is the capital of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative centre (but not the capital) for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. The Kushan king Kanishka, moved the capital from Pushkalavati (now called Charsadda in the Peshawar valley) to Purushapura in the 2nd century AD. The current name "Peshawar" may derive from the Sanskrit Purushapura (meaning "city of men") and is known as Pekhawar or Peshawar in Pashto and Pishor in Hindko. The area originally belonged to Gandhara and the eastern Iranian tribes of Scythian origin and later became part of the Kushan Empire empire. It gave its name to the Peshwari naan bread, one of the diverse genres of naan common in the curry houses of Great Britain. Briefly it also witnessed some Greek influence after which it saw the Arab conquest and rise of [[Islam]. Today it is one of the prime cities of Pakistan west of the river Indus.
http://wn.com/Peshawar
Philippines
The Philippines ( ), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (), is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila.
http://wn.com/Philippines
Quetta
( {{lang-ur|, Hazaragi: کویته ,Brahui: Koŧá) is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. It is known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan", due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife. Situated at an average elevation of 1,654 metres (5,429 feet) above sea level, the city is a major stronghold along the western frontier of the country. The city is also home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the world and to a research institute, the Geological Survey of Pakistan.
http://wn.com/Quetta
Rajasthan
Rājasthān (, ) is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert (Thar Desert), which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan. The state borders Pakistan to the west, Gujarat to the southwest, Madhya Pradesh to the southeast, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to the northeast and Punjab to the north. Rajasthan covers an area of 132,150 sq mi or 342,239 km². The proportion of the state's total area to the total area of the country is 10.41 per cent.
http://wn.com/Rajasthan
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (usually referred to as Rutgers University or just Rutgers), is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey. It was originally chartered as ''Queen's College'' in 1766 and is the eighth-oldest college in the United States. Rutgers was originally a private university affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church and admitted only male students, but evolved into a coeducational public research university. Rutgers is one of only two colonial colleges that later became public universities, the other being The College of William and Mary.
http://wn.com/Rutgers_University
Sikkim
Sikkim (Lepcha: ; Limbu: , one of the fortified place; Standard Tibetan: , bras ljongs; Denzong; Demojongs; Nepali: , i.e. the Goodly Region, or Shikim, Shikimpati or Sikkim of the English and Indians…) is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayas. It is the least populous state in India and the second-smallest state after Goa. This thumb-shaped state borders Nepal in the west, the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China to the north and the east and Bhutan in the southeast. The Indian state of West Bengal borders Sikkim to its south. Despite its small area of , Sikkim is geographically diverse due to its location in the Himalayas. The climate ranges from subtropical to high alpine. Kangchenjunga, the world's third-highest peak, is located on the border of Sikkim with Nepal. Sikkim is a popular tourist destination owing to its culture, scenic beauty and biodiversity.
http://wn.com/Sikkim
Sindh
Sindh (pronounced : , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran" (مهران) and "Bab-ul-Islam" (باب الاسلام) ("The Door to Islam"), (This title has never become a public phrases in Pakistan especially in Sindh. Historically it was used by the Arab conquers of Sindh for their entrance in South Asia, which later on used in the official curriculum and history readings by the government schools, madersahs and by Muslim clerics in Pakistan. ) Different cultural and ethnic groups also reside in Sindh, including Urdu-speaking Muslim refugees who migrated to Pakistan from India upon independence, as well as immigrants from other provinces after independence. The neighbouring regions of Sindh are Balochistan to the west and north, Punjab to the north, Gujarat and Rajasthan to the southeast and east, and the Arabian Sea to the south. The main language spoken is Sindhi. The name is derived from the Indus River that courses through it, and was known to the Assyrians (as early as the seventh century BCE) as Sinda, to the Greeks as Sinthus, to the Romans as Sindus, to the Persians as Abisind, to the Arabs as Al-Sind, and to the Chinese as Sintow. To the Javanese the Sindhis have long been known as the Santri.
http://wn.com/Sindh
Sri Lanka
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (commonly known as Sri Lanka (, , or ); ; , ) is a country and a sovereign state off souther coast of the Indian subcontinent. A island nation in South Asia, it was till 1972 known as Ceylon (, , or ). Sri Lanka is surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait.
http://wn.com/Sri_Lanka
Sukkur
Sukkur, or Sakharu (Urdu:سکھر, Sindhi:سکر, IPA: ), formerly Aror (Sanskrit: अरोड, Urdu: اروڑ, IPA: ), is the third largest city of Sindh province, situated on the west bank of Indus River in Pakistan in Sukkur District. One conjecture is that when Arabs invaded Sukkur (Sindh) in the 8th century, they found an extreme climate (hot and cold), and called it Saqar, which means intense. However, the word Sakharu in Sindhi means "superior", which the spelling of the city's name in Sindhi suggests is the origin of the name. Sukkur is nicknamed Darya Dino (درياءَ ڏنو, meaning the gift of river), as without the Indus the city would be a desert.people of sukkur are sindhis(70%),urdu (17.5%),punjabi(8%),pushto (1.5%),baloch(1%),and others 2%
http://wn.com/Sukkur
Surat
Surat () is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative capital of Surat district. As of 2010 Surat is the fifth most populous city and seventh largest metropolitan area of india. Surat with its twin city navsari has a population of over 6.3 million. Surat Metropolitan Region is widely regarded as one of the cleanest Metropolitan Regions in the country with the city proper being the third cleanest city in India after Chandigarh and Mysore.
http://wn.com/Surat
Tajikistan
Tajikistan ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Tajikistan (, Jumhurii Tojikiston; , Respublika Tadzhikistan; Jomhuri-ye Tajikestan), is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east. Tajikistan also lies adjacent to Pakistan and the Gilgit-Baltistan region, separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor.
http://wn.com/Tajikistan
Tehran
Tehran (Persian: تهران Tehrān ), is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With a population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the 21st largest city in the world.
http://wn.com/Tehran
Thailand
Thailand ( or ; Ratcha Anachak Thai, ), formerly Siam (, ), is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast and Indonesia and India in the Andaman Sea to the southwest.
http://wn.com/Thailand
Thimphu
Thimphu ( , Dzongkha :ཐིམ་ཕུ ) also spelt Thimpu, is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan and the name of the surrounding valley is dzongkhag, the Thimphu District. The city became the capital of Bhutan in 1961. As of 2005 it had a population of 79,185, with 98,676 people living in the entire Thimphu district.
http://wn.com/Thimphu
Turkey
Turkey (), known officially as the Republic of Turkey (), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between Eastern Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
http://wn.com/Turkey
Turkmenistan
The Turkmenistan (), also known as Turkmenia () is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR). Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, Uzbekistan to the east and northeast, Kazakhstan to the north and northwest and the Caspian Sea to the west.
http://wn.com/Turkmenistan
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (, {{Lang-ur|), pronounced , "Northern Province"), often referred to as U.P., is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 190 million people,
http://wn.com/Uttar_Pradesh
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (‘zbekiston Respublikasi'' or Ўзбекистон Республикаси) is one of the six independent Turkic states. It is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south.
http://wn.com/Uzbekistan
Vadodara
Vadodara (Gujarati: Vaḍodǎrā), formerly Baroda ( Baroḍā),(, ) is the third most-populated city in the Indian state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad and Surat. It is one of four cities in the state with a population of over 1 million, the other being Rajkot and the two cities listed above, although it has a massive population of over 3 million. It is also known as the Sayaji Nagari (''Sayaji's City after its famous ruler, Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III) or Sanskari Nagari (The City of Culture, a reference to its status as the Cultural Capital of Gujarat''). Vadodara or Baroda, formerly the capital city of the Gaekwar State, is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri, a river whose name derived from the great saint Rishi Vishwamitra. It is located southeast of Ahmedabad. It is the administrative headquarters of Vadodara District.
http://wn.com/Vadodara
Vietnam
Vietnam ( ; , ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (, ), is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China (PRC) to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea, referred to as East Sea (), to the east. With a population of over 86 million, Vietnam is the 13th most populous country in the world.
http://wn.com/Vietnam
Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam ( ) (also Vizag, shortened and anglicised: Visakha/Vizag or Vasaka) is a major port and the second largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh on the east coast of India with a population of approximately 1.3 million. The city is nestled among the hills of the Eastern Ghats and faces the Bay of Bengal to the east. It is the administrative headquarters of Visakhapatnam district and is also home to the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy. Visakhapatnam is often referred to as The Jewel of The East Coast or The City of Destiny.
http://wn.com/Visakhapatnam
West Bengal
West Bengal (Bengali: Poshchim Bônggo, ) is a state in eastern regions of India and is the nation's fourth most populous. It is also the seventh most populous sub-national entity in the world. West Bengal is the third largest contributor to India's GDP and has the second-largest voters in India. West Bengal, together with Bangladesh lying on its east, forms the historical and geographical region of Bengal. To its northeast lie the states of Assam and Sikkim and the country Bhutan, and to its southwest lies the state of Orissa. To the west it borders the states of Jharkhand and Bihar, and to the northwest, Nepal.
http://wn.com/West_Bengal
Yangon
Yangon (, ; also known as Rangoon, literally: "End of Strife") is a former capital of Myanmar (Burma) and the capital of Yangon Region (formerly Yangon Division). Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial center.
http://wn.com/Yangon
Aksai Chin
Aksai Chin, also Aksayqin, Akesaiqin or Akesai Qin (Urdu: اکسائی چن, Simplified Chinese: 阿克赛钦), is a disputed region located in the northwestern region of the Tibetan Plateau north of the western Kunlun Mountains. It is entirely administered by the People's Republic of China as a part of Hotan County in the Hotan Prefecture of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. It is, however, claimed by India as a part of its state of Jammu and Kashmir.
http://wn.com/Aksai_Chin
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese opposition politician and a former General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 80% (392 of 492) of the seats in Parliament. Some people claim that this implies Suu Kyi was elected Prime Minister. She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She has remained under house arrest in Myanmar for almost 14 out of the past 20 years.
http://wn.com/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi
Ayesha Jalal
Ayesha Jalal () is a Pakistani-American sociologist and historian. She is a professor of history at Tufts University and a 1998 MacArthur Fellow. The bulk of her work deals with the creation of Muslim identities in modern South Asia.
http://wn.com/Ayesha_Jalal
British people
The British (also known as Britons, informally Brits, or archaically Britishers) are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, one of the Channel Islands, or of one of the British overseas territories, and their descendants.: In a historical context, the term refers to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the Forth. British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which are acquired, for instance, by birth in the UK or by descent from British nationals.
http://wn.com/British_people
Buddhism
Buddhism (Pali/Sanskrit: बौद्ध धर्म Buddha Dharma) is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha (Pāli/Sanskrit "the awakened one"). The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by adherents as an awakened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end suffering (or dukkha), achieve nirvana, and escape what is seen as a cycle of suffering and rebirth.
http://wn.com/Buddhism
Faisalabad
(Punjabi, lang-ur|) is a city in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. It was formerly known as Lyallpur. Faisalabad is the third largest city in Pakistan after Karachi and Lahore. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has risen from 9,171 in 1901 to 179,000 in 1951 and to 2,009,000 in 1998. The larger Faisalabad district had a population of about 5.4 million in 1998.
http://wn.com/Faisalabad
Hong Kong
Hong Kong () is one of two special administrative regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. Situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 95 percent ethnic Chinese and 5 percent from other groups. Hong Kong's Han Chinese majority originate mainly from the cities of Guangzhou and Taishan in the neighbouring Guangdong province.
http://wn.com/Hong_Kong
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic pastoral people who, appearing from beyond the Volga, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and built up an enormous empire in Europe. Since De Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years earlier to the emergence of Huns, considerable scholarly effort has been devoted in investigating such a connection. However, there is no evidence for a direct connection between the dominant element of the Xiongnu and that of the Huns. A contemporary mentions that the Huns had a language of their own; very little of it has survived and its relationships have been the subject of debate for centuries. According to some theories, it was a Turkic language. Numerous other languages were spoken within the Hun pax including East Germanic. Their main military technique was mounted archery.
http://wn.com/Huns
Iranian languages
The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and its subfamily, Indo-Iranian. They are spoken by the Iranian peoples. Old Persian and Avestan are the oldest recorded Iranian languages.
http://wn.com/Iranian_languages
Iranian peoples
The Iranian people or Iranic peoples are a historical ethnic-linguistic group, forming a branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly on the Iranian plateau and beyond in central, southern, and southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe. As a group of people, they are predominantly defined along linguistic lines as speaking the Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family. They are spread across the Iranian plateau, stretching from the Hindu Kush to the Armenian Highlands and central Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf - a region that is sometimes termed Greater Iran. Speakers of Iranian languages, however, were once found throughout Eurasia, from the Balkans to western China. As Iranian people are not confined to the borders of the current state of Iran, the term Iranic peoples is sometimes used to avoid confusion with the citizens of Iran.
http://wn.com/Iranian_peoples
Kashmiri people
The Kashmiri people () are an Aryan not Dardic ethnic group living in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistani territory of Azad Kashmir who speak the Kashmiri language. Kashmiri is "a Northwestern Dardic language of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of the Indo-European language family." which is also known as Koshur and hence are classified as a Dardic people.
http://wn.com/Kashmiri_people
Mahajanapadas
Mahajanapadas (Sanskrit: महाजनपद, Mahājanapadas), literally "Great realms", (from Maha, "great", and Janapada "foothold of a tribe", "country") were ancient Indian kingdoms or countries. Ancient Buddhist texts like Anguttara Nikaya make frequent reference to sixteen great kingdoms and republics (Solas Mahajanapadas) which had evolved and flourished in a belt stretching from Gandhara in the northwest to Anga in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent and included parts of the trans-Vindhyan region, prior to the rise of Buddhism in India.
http://wn.com/Mahajanapadas
Mughal (tribe)
The term Mughal () is simply the Persian form of the word Mongol, and many groups in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and India use the term Mughal to describe themselves. In theory, the Mughal's of South Asia and Iran are descended from the various Mongol armies that at one point or other conquered or settled in the region.
http://wn.com/Mughal_(tribe)
Pashtun people
Pashtuns ( , , also rendered as Pushtuns, Pakhtuns, Pukhtuns), also called Pathans (in and Hindi: पठान ) or (ethnic) Afghans (in ; see also origin and history of the term), are an Eastern Iranian ethno-linguistic group with populations primarily in Afghanistan and western Pakistan, which includes Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan. The Pashtuns are typically characterized by their usage of the Pashto language and practice of Pashtunwali, a traditional set of rules and ethics guiding individual and communal conduct.
http://wn.com/Pashtun_people
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are the majority ethnic group of Sri Lanka, constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population. They speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language, and number approximately 14 million in the world. They live mainly in central, south and west Sri Lanka. According to legend they are the descendants of the exiled Prince Vijaya who arrived from North-East India to Sri Lanka in 543 BCE. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The vast majority of Sinhalese are Theravada Buddhists.
http://wn.com/Sinhalese_people
Sugata Bose
Sugata Bose is the Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs at Harvard University. He is the author of several books on the economic, social and political history of modern South Asia, and has pioneered work in historical studies emphasizing the centrality of the Indian Ocean. Previously he taught at Tufts University. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge under Eric Stokes.
http://wn.com/Sugata_Bose
Turkic peoples
The Turks (or Turkics) are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, Mongolia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds. The term Turkic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people including existing societies such as the Chuvashes, Kazakhs, Tatars, Kyrgyzs, Turkish, Turkmen, Uyghur, Uzbeks, Bashkirs, Qashqai, Gagauzs, Yakuts, Crimean Karaites, Krymchaks, Karakalpaks, Karachays, Krymchaks, Nogais and as well as past civilizations such as the Kumans, Kipchaks, Avars, Turgeshs, Seljuks, Khazars, Ottomans, Mamluks, Timurids, and possibly the Xiongnu and Huns.
http://wn.com/Turkic_peoples
Xinjiang
Xinjiang (; ; ; Postal map spelling: Sinkiang) is an autonomous region (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2. Xinjiang borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region.
http://wn.com/Xinjiang
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Along with a number of core countries, South Asia differs in inclusion by different clubbing of countries, though essentially it mostly encompasses countries that were part of the former British Empire in the region, including the current territories of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh at the core, but also including Sri Lanka, Burma and Sikkim (now a state of India). The Aden Colony, British Somaliland and Singapore, though administered at various times under the Raj have not been proposed as any part of South Asia.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), a contiguous block of countries, started in with seven countries — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — when it was established in 1985, but was extended to include Afghanistan as an eighth member in 2006. The World Bank grouping includes only the original seven members of SAARC, and leaves Afghanistan out. This bloc of countries include three independent countries that were not under the British rule - Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan. The South Asia Free Trade Agreement endorsed by SAARC has been signed by the seven original members of the organization, though it has a special provision for the Maldives.
The United Nations Population Information Network (POPIN) includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as part of South Asia, while Maldives, in view of its characteristics, was admitted as a member country of the Pacific POPIN subregional network in principle. The British Indian Ocean Territory is connected to the region by a publication of Jane's for security considerations. The United Nations scheme of sub-regions include all eight members of the SAARC as part of Southern Asia, along with Iran, while the Hirschmann-Herfindahl Index of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific for the region includes only the original seven signatories of SAARC.
A lack of coherent definition for South Asia has resulted in not only a lack of academic studies, but also in a lack interest for such studies. Identification with a South Asian identity was also found to be significantly low among respondents in a two-year survey across Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
By dictionary entries, the term subcontinent signifies "having a certain geographical or political independence" from the rest of the continent, or "a vast and more or less self-contained subdivision of a continent." The terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are used interchangeably. Due to political sensitivities, some prefer to use the terms "South Asian Subcontinent", the "Indo-Pak Subcontinent", "the Subcontinent", or simply "South Asia" over the term "Indian subcontinent". According to historians Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal, Indian Subcontinent has come to be known as South Asia "in more recent and neutral parlance." Indologist Ronald B. Inden argues that the usage of the term "South Asia" is getting more widespread since it clearly distinguishes the region from East Asia; some academics hold that the term "South Asia" is in more common use in Europe and North America, rather than the terms "Subcontinent" or the "Indian Subcontinent".
Like South Asia, the definition of the geographical extent of Indian subcontinent varies. Historically forming the whole territory of Greater India, now it generally comprises the countries of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh; prior to 1947, the three nations were historically combined and constituted British India. It almost always also includes Nepal, Bhutan, and the island country of Sri Lanka and may also include Afghanistan and the island country of Maldives. The region may also include the disputed territory of Aksai Chin, which was part of the British Indian princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, but is now administered as part of the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang. A booklet published by the United States Department of State in 1959 includes Afghanistan, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India, Nepal, and Pakistan (including East Pakistan, now Bangladesh) as part of the "Subcontinent of South Asia". When the term Indian subcontinent is used to mean South Asia, the islands countries of Sri Lanka and the Maldives may sometimes not be included, while Tibet and Nepal may be included or excluded intermittently, depending on the context.
When the Centre of South Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge established in 1964, it was primarily responsible for promoting within the University the study of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Himalayan Kingdoms (Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim), and Burma (now officially Myanmar). But, over the years it has also extended its activities to include Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong. The Centers for South Asian Studies at both University of Michigan and University of Virginia include Tibet along with seven members of SAARC in their research programs, but leave the Maldives out.
The South Asian Studies Program of Rutgers University and the University of California, Berkeley Center for South Asia Studies do the same without leaving out the Maldives, while the South Asian Studies Program of Brandeis University defines the region as comprising "India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and in certain contexts Afghanistan, Burma, Maldives and Tibet". The similar program of Columbia University also includes Tibet, but leaves out both Afghanistan and the Maldives.
While South Asia had never been a coherent geopolitical region, it has a distinct geographical identity. The boundaries of South Asia vary based on how the region is defined. South Asia's northern, eastern, and western boundaries vary based on definitions used, while the Indian Ocean is the southern periphery. Most of this region rests on the Indian Plate and is isolated from the rest of Asia by mountain barriers. The Indian Plate includes most of South Asia, forming a land mass which extends from the Himalayas into a portion of the basin under the Indian Ocean, including parts of South China and Eastern Indonesia, as well as Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, and extending up to but not including Ladakh, Kohistan, the Hindu Kush range and Balochistan. It may be noted that geophysically the Yarlung Tsangpo River river in Tibet is situated at the outside of the border of the Subcontinental structure, while the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan are situated inside that border.
Much of the region comprises a peninsula in south-central Asia, rather resembling a diamond which is delineated by the Himalayas on the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east, and which extends southward into the Indian Ocean with the Arabian Sea to the southwest and the Bay of Bengal to the southeast.
The region is home to an astounding variety of geographical features, such as glaciers, rainforests, valleys, deserts, and grasslands that are typical of much larger continents. It is surrounded by three water bodies — the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. The climate of this vast region varies considerably from area to area from tropical monsoon in the south to temperate in the north. The variety is influenced by not only the altitude, but also by factors such as proximity to the sea coast and the seasonal impact of the monsoons.
Southern parts are mostly hot in summers and receive rain during monsoon period(s). The northern belt of Indo-Gangetic plains also is hot in summer, but cooler in winter. The mountainous north is colder and receives snowfall at higher altitudes of Himalyan ranges.
As the Himalayas block the north-Asian bitter cold winds, the temperatures are considerably moderate in the plains down below. For most part, the climate of the region is called the Monsoon climate, which keeps the region humid during summer and dry during winter, and favors the cultivation of jute, tea, rice, and various vegetables in this region.
The pre-history of South Asia culminates in the Indus Valley Civilization, which is followed by the legends of ancient Vedic period and the sketchy references to the rise and fall of Mahajanapadas - the precursors of regional kingdoms and later ancient empires - ending in the historical accounts of medieval empires and the arrival of European traders who later became the rulers.
Almost all South Asian countries were under direct or indirect European Colonial subjugation at some point. Much of modern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma were gradually occupied by Great Britain - starting from 1757, reaching their zenith in 1857 and ruling till 1947. Nepal and Bhutan were to some extent protectorates of Great Britain until after World War II. In the millennia long history of South Asia, this European occupation period is rather short, but its proximity to the present and its lasting impact on the region make it prominent.
The network of means of transportation and communication as well as banking and training of requisite workforce, and also the existing rail, post, telegraph, and education facilities have evolved out of the base established in the colonial era, often called the British Raj. As an aftermath of World War II, most of the region gained independence from Europe by the late 1940s.
Since 1947, most South Asian countries have achieved tremendous progress in all spheres. Most notable achievements are in the fields of education; industry; health care; information technology and other services based on its applications; research in the fields of cutting edge sciences and technologies; defence related self-reliance projects; international/global trade and business enterprises and outsourcing of human resources. Areas of difficulty remain, however, including religious extremism, high levels of corruption, disagreements on political boundaries, and inequitable distribution of wealth.
With the core seven countries, the area covers about 4.48 million km² (1.7 million mi²), which is 10% of the Asian continent or 2.4% of the world's land surface area. They account for about 34% of Asia's population (or over 16.5% of the world's population) and are home to a vast array of peoples.
South Asia, which consists of the nations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, is ethnically diverse, with more than 2,000 ethnic entities with populations ranging from hundreds of millions to small tribal groups. South Asia has been invaded and settled by many ethnic groups over the centuries - including various Dravidian, Indo-Aryan and Iranian groups - and amalgamation of Dravidian, Indo-Aryan and native societies has produced composite cultures with many common traditions and beliefs. But, the traditions of different ethnic groups in South Asia have diverged throughout earlier times, sometimes giving rise to strong local traditions such as the distinct South Indian culture.
Other ethnic groups, successively streaming in later mainly from Central Asia and Iran, e.g. Sakas, Kushans, Huns etc. influenced pre-existing South Asian cultures. Among the last of these new arrivals were the Arabs followed by the Turks, the Pashtuns and the Moghuls. However, Arab influence remained relatively limited in comparison to that of the Turks, Pashtuns and Moghuls, who brought in much cultural influence and contributed to the birth of Urdu, a syncretic language of combined Indo-Persian heritage, which is widely spoken today. Ethnic Englishmen and other Britons are now practically absent after their two centuries long colonial presence, although they have left an imprint of western culture in the elite society.
The largest spoken language in this region is now Hindustānī, its speakers numbering almost 422 million; the second largest spoken language is Bengali, with about 210 million speakers.
Urdu is also a major language spoken in the subcontinent, especially in Pakistan and India, and is similar linguistically to Hindi; Hindi and Urdu together make up Hindustānī. Hindi is spoken in some states of India, and is similar linguistically to Urdu. Many people are not aware of the fact that most of the Indians speak local languages and are not familiar with Hindi. Other languages of this region fall into a few major linguistic groups: the Dravidian languages and the Indo-Aryan languages, a sub-branch of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages.
The other great sub-branch of Indo-Iranian, the Iranian languages, also have significant minority representation in South Asia, with Pashto and Balochi being widely spoken along the northwestern fringes of the region, in modern-day Pakistan. Many Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups, who are speakers of their language-group, are found in northeast India, Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. Other small groups, speaking Austro-Asiatic languages, are also present in South Asia. English is another language which dominates South Asia, especially as a medium of advanced education and government administration.
Most of South Asia writes using various abugidas of Brāhmī origin while languages such as Urdu, Pashto, and Sindhi use derivatives of the Perso-Arabic script. Not all languages in South Asia follow this strict dichotomy though. For example, Kashmiri is written in both the Perso-Arabic script and in the Devanagari script. The same can be said for Punjabi, which is written in both Shahmukhi and Gurmukhī. Dhivehi is written in a script called Tāna that shows characteristics of both the Arabic alphabet and of an abugida.
Historically, fusion of Indo-Aryan Vedic religion with native South Asian non-Vedic Shramana traditions and other Dravidian and local tribal beliefs gave rise to the ancient religions of Hinduism and Jainism. As a consequence, these two religions share many similar cultural practices, festivals and traditions.
South Asia is the poorest region on the earth after Sub-Saharan Africa. Three South Asian nations — Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal — are characterized as least developed country. Poverty is commonly spread within this region. According to the poverty data of World Bank, more than 40% of the population in the region lived on less than the International Poverty Line of $1.25 per day in 2005, compared to 50% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa. There are 421 million poor people by Multidimensional Poverty Index standards in eight Indian states alone - Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal - while there are 410 million in the 26 poorest African countries combined.
Sri Lanka has the highest GDP per capita in the region, while Nepal has the lowest. India is the largest economy in the region (US$ 1.54 trillion) and makes up almost 82% of the South Asian economy; it is the world's 4th largest in nominal terms and 3rd largest by purchasing power adjusted exchange rates. Pakistan has the next largest economy and the 5th highest GDP per capita in the region, followed by Bangladesh. If Iran is counted, it will become the second largest in terms of region and the economy . According to a World Bank report in 2007, South Asia is the least integrated region in the world; trade between South Asian states is only 2% of the region's combined GDP, compared to 20% in East Asia. The Economist has blamed this on Indian neglect of its neighbors.
India and Pakistan are the dominant political powers in the region. India is by far the largest country in the area covering around three-fourths the land area of the subcontinent. It also has the largest population of around three times the combined population of the 6 other countries in the subcontinent. India is also the most populous democracy in the world and is a nuclear power.
The second largest country in the subcontinent in terms of area and population is Pakistan and has traditionally maintained the balance of power in the region due to its strategic relationships with nearby Arab states and neighboring China. Pakistan is the 6th most populous country in the world and is also a nuclear power.
Bangladesh is the third largest populous country in the region. The single largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations is Pakistan.
Diplomacy among the countries of South Asia has been mainly driven by populist politics, with the center stage taken by India-Pakistan conflict ever since their independence in 1947, and then the creation of Bangladesh under tense circumstances in 1971. While the elite rulers of Pakistan chose the USA led bloc during the cold war era, India formed the Non-Aligned Movement.
The political situation in Sri Lanka has been dominated by a increasingly assertive Sinhalese nationalism, and the emergence of a Tamil separatist movement under LTTE, which was suppressed recently. Burma's politics is dominated by a military Junta, which has sidelined the democratic forces led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
There are 421 million MPI-poor people in eight Indian states alone - Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal - while there are 410 million in the 26 poorest African countries combined. Roughly 42 percent of all Indian children under age 5 suffer from malnutrition.
According to the World Bank, 70% of the South Asian population and about 75% of South Asia's poor live in rural areas and most rely on agriculture for their livelihood. According to the Global Hunger Index, South Asia has one of the highest child malnutrition rates in the world. In a latest report published by UNICEF in 2008 on global hunger shows that the actual number of child deaths was around 2.1 million. As of 2008 India is ranked 66th on the global hunger index.
The 2006 report stated that "the low status of women in South Asian countries and their lack of nutritional knowledge are important determinants of high prevalence of underweight children in the region". Corruption and the lack of initiative on the part of the government has been one of the major problems associated with nutrition in India. Illiteracy in villages has been found to be one of the major issues that need more government attention. The report mentioned that, although there has been a reduction in malnutrition due to the Green Revolution in South Asia, there is concern that South Asia has "inadequate feeding and caring practices for young children".
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