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India (in green at left) is the second-largest country—in both size and population— in the crowded area of the world known as Southern Asia.

India is located in Southern Asia, part of a geographical area known as the Indian subcontinent . It is a peninsula, bounded on three sides by water: the Bay of Bengal to the southeast, the Arabian Sea to the south- west, and the Laccadive Sea to the south. All three of these seas belong to the vast Indian Ocean that lies below Asia. India shares borders with six different countries: Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; andMyanmar and Bangladesh to the east. Its northern borders are dominated by the great chain of mountains known as the Himalayas, home to some of the highest peaks on Earth.

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