| The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. |
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| India |
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| Republic in southern Asia. Its capital is New Delhi, and its largest city is Calcutta. | 1 |
| ‡ India is the second most populous country in the world, after China. | 2 |
| ‡ British control of India began in 1757 and did not end until the dissolution of the British regime, or Raj, in 1947, when India was divided into India and Pakistan. | 3 |
| ‡ Mahatma Gandhi led the movement for Indian independence through passive resistance to British rule. He was killed by a fanatic in 1948. | 4 |
| ‡ The country is marked by conflict between the Hindu and Muslim populations and violence between castes. | 5 |
| ‡ Despite world disapproval, in 1998 India successfully conducted nuclear bomb tests. Pakistan did the same two weeks later. (See Kashmir.) | 6 |
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| | | The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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