Independence Day in India is celebrated annually on 15th August as a national holiday commemorating the nation’s independence from the United Kingdom on the same date in 1947.
This was the day when the provisions of the 1947 Indian Independence Act, which transferred legislative sovereignty to the Indian Constituent Assembly, came into effect.
India retained King George VI as Head of State until its transition to a full republic, when the nation adopted the Constitution of India on 26th January 1950, celebrated as Indian Republic Day.
India attained independence following the Independence Movement, noted for largely non-violent resistance and civil disobedience.
Independence coincided with the partition of India, in which British India was divided along religious lines into the dominions of India and Pakistan.
On 15th August 1947, the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, raised the Indian national flag above the Lahori Gate of the Red Fort in Delhi.
