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States and territories of India

 

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States and territories of India



 
 
India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 is a federal
Federal republic

A federal republic is a federation of states with a republic form of government. A federation is the central government. The states in a federation also maintain all sovereignty that they do not yield to the federation....
 union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories
Union Territory

A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India, in the Federal republic framework of governance. Unlike the States and territories of India, which have their own elected governments, union territories are ruled directly by the federal Government of India; the President of India appoints an Administrator of the Governmen...
. The states and territories are further subdivided
Subdivisions of India

The subdivisions of India are Indian subnational administrative units; they compose a nested hierarchy of country subdivisions. Indian states and territories frequently use different local titles for the same level of subdivision and taluka of Maharashtra....
 into districts and so on.

ll>* Parts of Jammu and Kashmir is considered disputed territory claimed by India, Pakistan & China with each country administering a part of the erstwhile state of Kashmir

* Parts of Arunachal Pradesh is claimed by China as South Tibet

subcontinent of India has been ruled by many different ethnic groups throughout its history, each imposing their own administrative divisions on the region.






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India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 is a federal
Federal republic

A federal republic is a federation of states with a republic form of government. A federation is the central government. The states in a federation also maintain all sovereignty that they do not yield to the federation....
 union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories
Union Territory

A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India, in the Federal republic framework of governance. Unlike the States and territories of India, which have their own elected governments, union territories are ruled directly by the federal Government of India; the President of India appoints an Administrator of the Governmen...
. The states and territories are further subdivided
Subdivisions of India

The subdivisions of India are Indian subnational administrative units; they compose a nested hierarchy of country subdivisions. Indian states and territories frequently use different local titles for the same level of subdivision and taluka of Maharashtra....
 into districts and so on.

States and territories

* Parts of Jammu and Kashmir is considered disputed territory claimed by India, Pakistan & China with each country administering a part of the erstwhile state of Kashmir

* Parts of Arunachal Pradesh is claimed by China as South Tibet

Pre-1956

The subcontinent of India has been ruled by many different ethnic groups throughout its history, each imposing their own administrative divisions on the region. Modern India's current administrative divisions are fairly recent developments, which began to develop during British colonial rule of India. British India included almost all of present-day India, Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
, and Bangladesh
Bangladesh

, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
, as well as the associated protectorate of Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia....
 and province, later colony, of Burma (Myanmar
Myanmar

Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia, or Indochina. The country is bordered by the People's Republic of China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest with...
). During this period, regions of India were either directly ruled by the British or under the control of local raja
Raja

A Raja is a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya Varna in Hinduism.The word 'raja'means 'rajan' in nepali which means the supreme king.It's normally the first given name in Nepal and surname in India which isused by hindus and buddhist....
s. Independence in 1947 largely preserved these divisions, with the provinces of Punjab
Punjab region

Punjab , also Panjab , is a region straddling the border between India and Pakistan. The "Five Rivers" are Beas River, Ravi River, Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum River; all these are tributaries of the Indus river, Jhelum being the biggest one....
 and Bengal
Bengal

Bengal , is a historical and geographical region in the northeast of South Asia. Today it is mainly divided between the independent sovereign nation of the Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India, although some regions of the previous kingdoms of Bengal are now part of the neighboring Indian states of Bihar, Assam, Tripura and Oris...
 being divided between India and Pakistan. One of the first challenges for the new nation was the integration of the multitude of princely state
Princely state

For other uses, see Principality, Princely state#Other princely statesA Princely State was a nominally sovereign entity of British rule in India that was not directly administered by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy....
s into the union.

Following independence, however, instability soon arose in India. Many of the provinces had been created by the British to serve their colonial purposes and as such did not reflect either the will of India's citizens or the ethnic divisions found throughout the subcontinent. Ethnic tensions spurred the Indian Parliament to reorganize the country along ethnic and linguistic lines in 1956 by means of the States Reorganisation Act
States Reorganisation Act

The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries and governance of India's States and territories of India. The act reorganised the boundaries of India's states along linguistic lines, and amended the Indian Constitution to replace the three types of states, known as Parts A, B, and C states, with a single type of st...
.

After 1956

The former French and Portuguese colonies in India were incorporated into the Republic as the union territories of Pondicherry, Dadra
Dadra

Dadra refers to two separate but originally linked concepts in Hindustani classical music....
, Nagar Haveli, Goa
Goa

Goa is India's smallest states and territories of India in terms of area and the List of states and territories of India by population. Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western...
, Daman
Daman District, India

Daman district is one of the two districts of the union territory of Daman and Diu on the western coast of India, surrounded by Valsad District of Gujarat state on the north, east and south and the Arabian Sea to the west....
, and Diu
Diu

Diu or DIU may mean:* Diu, India, city in India* Battle of Diu* Diu , a Cantonese profanity.* Dresden International University, Germany...
 in 1962.

Several new states and union territories have been created out of existing states since 1956. Bombay State was split into the linguistic states of Gujarat
Gujarat

Gujarat is a States and territories of India in western India. Gujarat borders Pakistan to the north west and the state of Rajasthan to the north and northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, Maharashtra and the Union territory of Diu, Daman District, India, Dadra and Nagar Haveli to the south....
 and Maharashtra
Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a States and territories of India located on the western coast of India. Maharashtra is a part of Western India. It is India's List of states of India by area and List of states of India by population....
 on 1 May 1960 by the Bombay Reorganization Act. The Punjab Reorganization Act of 1966 divided the Punjab along linguistic and religious lines, creating a new Hindu and Hindi-speaking state of Haryana
Haryana

Haryana is a States and territories of India in the Punjab region of northern India. It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south....
, transferring the northern districts of Punjab to Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh is a state in the Punjab region in north-west India. Himachal Pradesh is spread over 21,629 square mile , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on north, Punjab on west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on south, Uttarakhand on south-east and by Tibet on the east....
, and designating Chandigarh
Chandigarh

Chandigarh , also called The Beautiful City, is a city in India that serves as the Capital of two states and territories of India, Punjab, India and Haryana, and is a union territory of India....
, the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana, a union territory. Nagaland
Nagaland

Nagaland is a hill States and territories of India located in the far North-East India part of India. It borders the state of Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam to the north, Burma to the east and Manipur to the south....
 was made a state in 1962, Meghalaya
Meghalaya

Meghalaya is a small States of India in north-eastern India. The word "Meghalaya" literally means "The Abode of Clouds" in Sanskrit and other Indic languages....
 and Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh is a state in the Punjab region in north-west India. Himachal Pradesh is spread over 21,629 square mile , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on north, Punjab on west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on south, Uttarakhand on south-east and by Tibet on the east....
 in 1971, and Tripura
Tripura

is a States and territories of India in North-East India, with an area of 4,036 square mile or 10,453 km?. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west....
 and Manipur
Manipur

Manipur is a States and territories of India in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Myanmar to the east....
 in 1972. Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh

'Arunachal Pradesh' is the easternmost States and territories of India of India. Arunachal Pradesh borders with the state of Assam to the south and Nagaland to the southeast....
 was made a union territory in 1972. The Kingdom of Sikkim
Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked States and territories of India nestled in the Himalayas. It is the least populous state in India, and the second-smallest in area after Goa....
 joined the Indian Union as a state in 1975. Mizoram
Mizoram

Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North-East India India. It shares land borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur, Bangladesh and the Chin State state of Burma....
 was made a state in 1986, and Goa
Goa

Goa is India's smallest states and territories of India in terms of area and the List of states and territories of India by population. Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western...
 and Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh

'Arunachal Pradesh' is the easternmost States and territories of India of India. Arunachal Pradesh borders with the state of Assam to the south and Nagaland to the southeast....
 in 1987, while Goa's northern exclave
Exclave

An exclave is strip of land that belongs to a political entity but that is not connected to it by land . The strip of land is surrounded by other political entities....
s of Daman and Diu
Daman and Diu

Daman and Diu is a union territory in India.For over 450 years, these coastal enclaves on the Arabian Sea coast were part of Portuguese India, along with Goa and Dadra and Nagar Haveli....
 became a separate union territory. In 2000 three new states were created; Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh , a States and territories of India in central India, formed when the sixteen Chhattisgarhi-speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained statehood on November 1, 2000....
 (November 1, 2000) was created out of eastern Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a States and territories of India in central India. Its capital is Bhopal. Madhya Pradesh was originally the largest state in India until November 1, 2000 when the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out....
, Uttaranchal (November 9, 2000), since renamed Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand , is a States and territories of India located in the northern part of India. It was carved out of Himalayan and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000, becoming the 27th States and territories of India of the Republic of India ....
, was created out of the Hilly regions of northwest Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh , [often referred to as U.P.] is a States and territories of India located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 190 million people,...
, and Jharkhand
Jharkhand

Jharkhand is a States and territories of India in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar state on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east....
 (15 November 2000) was created out of the southern districts of Bihar. The Union Territories of Delhi
Delhi

Delhi , sometimes referred to as Dilli , is the List of most populous cities in India metropolis in India and, with over 11 million residents, the List of metropolitan areas by population....
 and Pondicherry (renamed to Puducherry) have since been given the right to elect their own legislatures and they are now counted as small states

See also

  • Subdivisions of India
    Subdivisions of India

    The subdivisions of India are Indian subnational administrative units; they compose a nested hierarchy of country subdivisions. Indian states and territories frequently use different local titles for the same level of subdivision and taluka of Maharashtra....
  • Autonomous regions of India


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