Citizens of the Republic of India are referred to as Indians or Indians. India had 1.4 billion people living there in 2022. According to UN predictions, India will surpass China as the world's most populated nation in 2023. 17.50% of the world's population may be found in [20]. Together with the Indian population, there is a sizable Indian diaspora, mainly in the Arab nations of the Persian Gulf and the West. [4] When British India was divided in 1947, the term "Indian," which today refers to persons who are from the Republic of India, was also used to refer to people who were born in what is now Pakistan and Bangladesh. [21] [22]
Although indigenous Americans were mistakenly labelled as Indians during the European colonisation of the Americas, the term "Indian" is still used to identify indigenous populations in North America and the Caribbean today, although it is used much less frequently than it once did. Instead, these populations are now referred to as indigenous, Amerindian, and specifically "Asian Indian" and "East indian."

India has one of the oldest civilisations in the world. [64] The Indian subcontinent is home to a variety of cultures that have impacted and created the Indian culture, which is frequently described as a synthesis of multiple different cultures. [65] [66] Dharmic faiths have had a significant impact on Indian culture throughout its history. They are recognised with influencing a large portion of Indian philosophy, literature, architecture, art, and music. [68] In the past, Indian culture extended beyond the Indian subcontinent. This is known as Greater India. This is especially relevant to the spread of Hinduism, Buddhism, architecture, government, and writing systems from India to other regions of Asia via the Silk Road during the first centuries of the Common Era. 

The geographic distribution of religious groups also has remained relatively stable since Partition. The largest numbers of Christians are still concentrated in the Southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and their largest population shares are in the smaller Northeastern states that border China, Bhutan, Myanmar (also called Burma) and Bangladesh. Jammu and Kashmir, adjacent to Pakistan, is the only place in which the majority of the population is Muslim, except for the sparsely populated archipelago of Lakshadweep. Buddhists and Jains are most often found in Maharashtra, and Sikhs in the Northwestern state of Punjab, where they make up a majority. Nearly every other state and territory has a large Hindu majority.