• Total aid: $942m (receipts)

India does not depend on aid. The US suspended payments following nuclear tests in 1998, but restored them in late 2001. The World Bank and Japan are the largest donors. India turned down offers of debt relief after the 2004 tsunami.

The origins of an Indus Valley civilization may be traced back to the third millennium BCE. By the 3rd century BCE, the Mauryan kingdom under Ashoka encompassed most of modern India. Following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, British rule – through the East India Company – was consolidated.

• 1885 Formation of Indian National Congress.
• 1919 Act of Parliament introduces "responsible government."
• 1920–1922 Mahatma Gandhi's first civil disobedience campaign.
• 1935 Government of India Act grants autonomy to provinces.
• 1936 First elections under new constitution.
• 1942–1943 "Quit India" movement.
• 1947 August, independence and partition into India and Pakistan. Jawarhalal Nehru becomes first prime minister.
• 1948 Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. War with Pakistan over Kashmir. India becomes a republic.
• 1951–1952 First general election won by Congress party.
• 1957 Congress party reelected. First elected communist state government installed in Kerala.
• 1960 Bombay divided into states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
• 1962 Congress party reelected. Border war with China.
• 1964 Death of Nehru. Lal Bahadur Shastri becomes prime minister.
• 1965 Second war with Pakistan over Kashmir.
• 1966 Shastri dies; Indira Gandhi (daughter of Jawarhalal Nehru) becomes prime minister.
• 1969 Congress party splits into two factions; larger faction led by Indira Gandhi.
• 1971 Indira Gandhi's Congress party wins elections. Third war with Pakistan, over creation of Bangladesh.
• 1972 Simla (peace) Agreement signed with Pakistan.
• 1974 Explosion of first nuclear device in underground test.
• 1975–1977 State of emergency: Gandhi guilty of electoral fraud.
• 1977 Congress loses general election. People's Party (JD) takes power at the center.
• 1978 New political group, Congress (Indira) – Congress (I) – formally established.
• 1980 Indira Gandhi's C(I) wins general election.
• 1984 Indian troops storm Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar. Assassination of Indira Gandhi by Sikh bodyguard; her son Rajiv becomes prime minister and C(I) leader. Gas explosion at US-owned Union Carbide Corporation plant in Bhopal kills 2000 people in India's worst industrial disaster.
• 1985 Peace accords with militant separatists in Assam and Punjab.
• 1987 Deployment of Indian peacekeeping force in Sri Lanka to combat Tamil Tigers.
• 1989 General election; National Front forms minority government with BJP support. C(I) implicated in Bofors scandal.
• 1990 Withdrawal of troops from Sri Lanka.
• 1991 Rajiv Gandhi assassinated. Narasimha Rao becomes prime minister of a C(I) minority government and initiates economic liberalization.
• 1992 Demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque at Ayodhya by Hindu extremists triggers widespread violence; 1200 people die.
• 1993 Resurgence of Hindu–Muslim riots.
• 1994 Rupee made fully convertible. C(I) routed in key state elections amid increasing allegations of corruption in ruling party.
• 1995 Punjab chief minister assassinated by Sikh extremists.
• 1996 Corruption scandal triggers political crisis. C(I) suffers its worst electoral defeat. Leftist United Front coalition government takes office.
• 1997 Successive governments fall as C(I) withdraws support.
• 1998 General election; BJP led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee forms coalition government. Sonia Gandhi, widow of Rajiv Gandhi, becomes president of C(I). India and Pakistan test nuclear missiles.
• 1999 Vajpayee travels to Pakistan to inaugurate bus service between India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan engage in violent confrontation in Kashmir. BJP returned to power after elections triggered by vote of no confidence.
• 2001 Earthquake kills more than 25,000 people in Gujarat. BJP government implicated in major bribery scandal.
• 2001–2002 Terrorist attacks by Kashmiri separatists precipitate crisis with Pakistan.
• 2002 More than 2000, mainly Muslims, killed in Gujarat following worst intercommunal riots since independence.
• 2003 Heatwave kills over 1400.
• 2004 C(I) wins elections; Manmohan Singh appointed prime minister. Tsunami kills over 10,000 people.

Weather chart

Temperatures in the north vary between 5°C (41°F) and 40°C (104°F). Heavy monsoon rains break in June, bringing severe flooding, and peter out by October. The south has a less variable climate. Chennai (Madras) is always hot: average temperatures range from 24°C (75°F) in January to 32°C (90°F) in May and June. Annual heatwaves in the southeast can be unbearable: over 1400 people died in 2003.