india (hindi: ), officially the republic of india (hindi: ) and also known as hindustan or bhārat within the country, is a country in south asia. it is the second largest country by number of people and seventh largest country by land area. it also has the most people of any democracy in the world. india is a peninsula, bounded by the indian ocean on the south, the arabian sea on the southwest, and the bay of bengal on the southeast. it has six neighbors: pakistan in the north-west, china, nepal, and bhutan in the north, and bangladesh and myanmar in the east. sri lanka is nearby to the south.