- published: 27 Nov 2009
- views: 349430
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.
Sola is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Jæren. The old municipality of Håland was divided into Sola and Madla in 1930.
Stavanger Airport is located here. With usually ample supplies of wind and waves, the Sola sand beach is a popular place for windsurfing. Sola Municipality is situated in the Northern area of Jæren. Stavanger, Klepp and Sandnes are neighbouring municipalities. In the western part of Sola, there are 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) of long, sandy beaches facing the North Sea. Sola covers an area of 69 square kilometres (27 sq mi). The population is about 20,000. People have been living in Sola since the Stone Age.
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Sola farm (Old Norse: Sóli), since the first church was built there. The name is very old and the meaning is unknown, although it contains the Norse word sól which translates as Sun, therefore it could have some link to the sun.
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 1982. The arms show two waves which symbolize all of the sandy beaches in the municipality.