INDIA

India



Table of Contents

Introduction3

Map Of The Country4

Indian Sports5

India Sports Infrastructure6

Sport Education9

Conclusion10

References12

India

Introduction

In many senses, India shares significant portions of ancient history with the other cultures and people of the Indian sub-continent, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Surrounding powers from as far as Greece, eastern Europe, Arabia and Persia have also played a role in India's history. The more recent history of India -- prior to independence in 1947 -- is shared with the countries of the Indian sub-continent, and it heavily influenced by the colonial power of Great Britain. Likewise, in geopolitical terms, India also shares a political legacy with the countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh(Kulke, Rothermund , 2004).

INDIA is one of the oldest civilisations in the world with a kaleidoscopic variety and rich cultural heritage. It has achieved multifaceted socio-economic progress during the last 59 years of its Independence. India has become self-sufficient in agricultural production, and is now the tenth industrialised country in the world and the sixth nation to have gone into outer space to conquer nature for the benefit of the people. It covers an area of 32,87,263 sq. km, extending from the snow-covered Himalayan heights to the tropical rain forests of the south. As the seventh largest country in the world, India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct geographical entity. Bounded by the Great Himalayas in the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. (Prasad, 2006)

Lying entirely in the northern hemisphere, the mainland extends between latitudes 8° 4' and 37° 6' north, longitudes 68° 7' and 97° 25' east, and measures about 3,214 km from north to south between the extreme latitudes and about 2,933 km from east to west between the extreme longitudes. It has a land frontier of about 15,200 km. The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is 7,516.6 km.

On Aug. 15, 1947, after nearly a century of fighting the British, India obtained independence from over two centuries of colonial rule. Congress leader and Mahatma Gandhi's close associate, Jawaharlal Nehru, took over as the first prime minister of India. India became a republic after promulgating its constitution on January 26, 1950, and the first fully democratic and free elections were held in 1952, which saw a resounding win for the Congress. (Kulke, Rothermund , 2004)

Map of the Country

Indian Sports

About 3000 years ago, India was as active as the ancient Greeks, in terms of both physical and mental sports -- chariot racing, polo, archery and wrestling to chess and cards. Much later, just a few centuries ago, the British brought hockey and cricket to India. Indians discovered new sports and their inherent talent at them. Cricket took over as the most popular sport after we gained independence, mainly due to the ...