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Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan

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Area: 1.3 million square miles (slightly larger than one-third the size of the United States)

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Climate: Varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north

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Population: About 1.2 billion people, the second largest population in the world after China

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Religion: 81 percent Hindu, 13 percent Muslim, 2 percent Christian, 2 percent Sikh, 2 percent other/unspecified

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Government: Federal republic; India declared independence from the United Kingdom in 1947

Source: The CIA World Fact Book