"In population, [India] ranks second only to China.  The north is mountainous, with mountains and foothills of the Himalayan range.  Rivers, such as the Brahmaputra and Ganges (Ganga), rise in the Himalayas and flow across the fertile northern plains.  Southern India consists of a large plateau, called the Deccan.  The Deccan is bordered by two mountain ranges, the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats.  [...]  India has 15 major languages and hundreds of minor ones, together with many religions."—Thank you, Keith Lye, for The Portable World Factbook, Avon Books, 1997, pp.150-151.  Thank you, Jill Goff, for access to the library from which this book was borrowed.