VIndependence Day, in India, national holiday celebrated annually on August 15. Independence Day marks the end of British rule in 1947, brought about by the Indian Independence Act of July 18 that year, and the establishment of a free and independent Indian nation following the long struggle of the Indian Independence Movement. It also marks the anniversary of the partition of the subcontinent into two countries, India and Pakistan, which occurred at midnight on August 14–15, 1947. (In Pakistan, Independence Day is celebrated on August 14.)