Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - india

 I. Date: 1952 — a communications code word for the letter i  II. geographical name  1. peninsula region (often called a subcontinent) S Asia S of the Himalayas between Bay of Bengal & Arabian Sea occupied by ~, Pakistan, & Bangladesh & formerly often considered to include Burma (but not Ceylon)  2. those parts of ~ until 1947 under British rule or protection together with Baluchistan & the Andaman & Nicobar islands &, prior to 1937, Burma  3. country comprising major portion of peninsula; a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations; until 1947 a part of the British Empire capital New Delhi area 1,195,063 square miles (3,095,472 square kilometers), population 896,567,000