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India's recorded history stretches back to the Indus Valley Civilisation of around 3300 BCE, one of the world's oldest urban cultures. After nearly two centuries of British colonial rule, India gained independence on 15 August 1947 under the Indian Independence Act, when the subcontinent was partitioned into India and Pakistan amid mass displacement and communal violence. It became a sovereign democratic republic on 26 January 1950, when its new constitution came into effect. Today it is a federal parliamentary republic of 28 states and 8 union territories, with New Delhi as its capital. Bengaluru (Bangalore), often called India's Silicon Valley, is the country's technology hub, while Chennai on the southeast coast is a major port city and a centre for manufacturing and the automotive industry. With a population of around 1.48 billion, India is the most populous country on Earth and one of the world's fastest-growing major economies.