Bordered by seven countries with a coastline exceeding 7,500 km India is the second most populous country on the planet having just tipped the billion mark and is also the seventh largest in land area. Religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism and Islam can trace their roots to the sub-continent, as it is known. Until 1947 India was colonised by the British Empire and since independence it has achieved astounding economic and military growth in spite of the partitioning of the Islamic State of Pakistan.

With English ranked alongside Hindi as the official language it is not a difficult place to navigate from either a tourism of business perspective. Whilst New Delhi is the capital, India's largest city is Mumbai.

The 18 States of India off an incredible diversity in tourism, from beach to rain forest to mountain retreats and almost everything in between.

India abounds with historic monuments one of the most famous of which is the Taj Mahal located in Agra and built between 1631 and 1653 by Emperor Shah Jahan in honour of his wife.

Although the major Indian cities are relatively densely populated most than 70% of the population live in over six million villages throughout this vast nation.

There exists a plethora of magnificent large mammals including the famed Bengal Tiger, the Indian Rhinoceros, the Asian Elephant and the Asiatic Lion to name just a few of the 350 or so mammals which reside there. Bird life is also abundant having over 1200 species many of which are unique to the subcontinent.