India

The Republic of India is a country in South Asia which comprises most of the Indian subcontinent. India has a coastline which stretches over seven thousand kilometres,{{inote|see Indian embassy|i-1}} and shares its borders with Pakistan to the west, the People's Republic of China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, and Bangladesh and Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) on the east. On the Indian Ocean, it is adjacent to the island nations of the Maldives on the southwest, Sri Lanka on the south, and Indonesia on the southeast. India also claims a border with Afghanistan to the northwest.{{mn|afgh|1}}

Sports and games

Main article: Sports in India

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India's national sport is field hockey, although cricket is now the de facto national game due to its success and popularity in recent times, with the Indian cricket team (World Champions in 1983) one of the top contenders around. Though cricket's popularity is widespread, it is not the most popular sport in quite a few Indian states, particularly in India's northeast. Another international sport in which India has a fair degree of parity with other nations is chess, in which Indian Viswanathan Anand has been FIDE World Champion and several players have made significant inroads, in recent years, well past Grandmaster level.

Related Topics:
Field hockey - Cricket - Chess - Viswanathan Anand - FIDE - Grandmaster

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India has had relatively little success in other international events like the Olympics, where it garnered a total of just one silver medal and two bronze medals in the previous three Olympics. However, it has won eight field hockey golds. India has done rather well in Davis Cup tennis tournaments, having reached the finals on three occasions. Its players have secured several individual titles and Grand Slam doubles wins, but an Indian is yet to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Related Topics:
Olympics - Field hockey - Davis Cup - Tennis - Grand Slam

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Some traditional indigenous sports are kabaddi, Kho Kho and gilli-danda, which are played in most parts of the country. Chess, carrom, polo, snooker and badminton are some other games and sports that are said to have originated in India. The last two mentioned have seen Indians achieve some international success. Football (soccer) also finds a large viewership in almost the entire country, and is the most popular sport in many states of India. Formula 1 and Basketball are also increasing in popularity, though their reach is largely limited to urban areas.

Related Topics:
Kabaddi - Kho Kho - Gilli-danda - Chess - Carrom - Polo - Snooker - Badminton - Football (soccer) - Formula 1 - Basketball

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