India (i/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), 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 south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh 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 Civilisation 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 and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.
Eddie Palmieri (born December 15, 1936), is a Grammy Award winning Puerto Rican pianist, bandleader and musician, best known for combining jazz piano and instrumental solos with Latin rhythms.
Palmieri's parents migrated to New York from Ponce, Puerto Rico, in 1926, and settled down in the South Bronx, a largely Hispanic neighborhood. Both he and his older brother, the late Charlie Palmieri, were born in New York. When he was only 8 years old, he would musically accompany Charlie and together they entered and participated in many talent contests.
Palmieri continued his education in the city's public school system where he was constantly exposed to music, specifically jazz. He took piano lessons for and performed at Carnegie Hall when he was 11 years old. His biggest piano influences were Thelonious Monk and McCoy Tyner. He was inspired by his older brother and was determined to someday form his own band - something he achieved in 1950, when he was just 14. During the 1950s, Palmieri played in various bands, including Tito Rodríguez's.
India (born March 9, 1969), known also as "La Princesa de la Salsa" (engl. "The Princess of Salsa"), is a singer of salsa and House music. She has been nominated for both Grammy and Latin Grammy awards.
Caballero (birth name: Linda Viera Caballero) was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. Her parents moved to New York City soon after her birth, and settled down in the South Bronx area of the city. They moved in with Caballero's grandmother, a woman who served as an important influence on Caballero's life. Her stage name "India" was given to Caballero by her grandmother because of her dark features and long straight black hair.
In 1985, when Caballero was 14 years old, she was a founding member of the Latin freestyle group TKA and was featured on the cover of TKA's second single, "Come Get My Love". She left shortly thereafter.
Caballero signed a record contract with Reprise/Warner Bros. Records, which planned on marketing her as the Latin version of Madonna (who recorded for sister label Sire Records). After recording the album Breaking Night, Caballero decided that she didn't want to take that route in her career.
Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. (born October 20, 1958) is an American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner (1991), Carlito's Way (1993), Crimson Tide (1995), Daylight (1996), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), G.I. Jane (1997), A Perfect Murder (1998), and A Walk on the Moon (1999).
Mortensen made his major breakthrough in 2001 with his role as Aragorn in the epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings. In 2005, Mortensen won critical acclaim for David Cronenberg's crime thriller A History of Violence. Two years later, another Cronenberg film Eastern Promises (2007) earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Other well-received films in recent years have included Appaloosa (2008) and the 2009 film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road.
Aside from acting, his other artistic pursuits include fine arts, photography, poetry, and music. In 2002, he founded the Perceval Press to publish the works of little-known artists and authors. Mortensen is politically active. He campaigned for Dennis Kucinich in the 2008 United States presidential election, and later endorsed Barack Obama for President.