States of India

Buy data    Donate

Updates: 

FIPS PUB 10-4 Change Notice 13 was issued on 2008-02-04. The only change listed under India is a repeat of the change to the spelling of Puducherry, already given in Change Notice 12.

FIPS 10-4 Change Notice 12, dated 2007-06-11, has three changes for India, not affecting FIPS codes. It acknowledges the new names Puducherry and Uttarakhand, and changes the status of Delhi to "national capital territory".

There is a move in Bihar to change the name of the capital from Patna to Pataliputra, the ancient (or traditional) name of the city. Patna is not a name imposed by the British, but dates back to the 16th century. Another faction wants to use the name Azimabad, which was the city's name for a period in the 18th century. In other news, there is a move in Chhattisgarh to move the capital from Raipur to Nandghat.

Uttaranchal state has changed its name to Uttarakhand. Assam voted on 2006-02-27 to rename itself Asom, but there has been a great deal of criticism of this decision and it hasn't been ratified by the Indian parliament. Roger Pountain gave me this tip. Pondicherry was renamed Puducherry on 2006-09-20. Paraskevas Renesis gave me that tip.

Seshadri Nadadhur pointed out the license plate codes used to identify the state or u.t. of Indian vehicles. I found the list of these codes at the Cyberautocop  website. While working on that, I noticed that I had reversed the column headings for UPU and SC. I apologize for any inconvenience.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-2 was published on 2002-05-21. It assigned new ISO codes to the three new states. It also showed macrons (long vowel marks) over some vowels in the state names, and gave Banga (probably should be Bangla) as an alternate name for West Bengal. It assigned the code CH to both Chandigarh and Chhattisgarh, by mistake. I got in touch with the ISO 3166-2 maintenance agency, and they changed the code for Chhattisgarh to CT, as shown in the table below. The change was officially announced in the next newsletter, ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-3, published on 2002-08-20. Newsletter I-3 also corrected the placement of macrons over the a's in Rajasthan. Newsletter I-4, dated 2002-12-10, suppressed the alternate name for West Bengal.

Change Notice 7 to FIPS PUB 10-4 is dated 2002-01-10. It lists new codes resulting from the splitting of three states. The new codes are shown in the table below.

About 2001, there were proposals afloat to create still more new states. The possibilities included splitting National Capital Territory from Delhi; Harit Pradesh from Uttar Pradesh; Vindhyanchal from Madhya Pradesh; Telengana from Andhra Pradesh; Vidarbha from Maharashtra; Kodagu from Karnataka; Gorkhaland from West Bengal; Bundelkhand from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh; and Bodoland from Assam. Specifically, it was proposed in 1998 to split the city of New Delhi (about 43 sq. km.) from Delhi union territory. Delhi would then become a state, and New Delhi would become National Capital Territory.

Erratum: In "Administrative Divisions of Countries", page 174, two divisions of India were listed with the wrong type. Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram were shown as union territories; they should be states. As stated in the Change History section, this change occurred in 1986.

Country overview: 

India in 1900 was a hodge-podge of British provinces under the direct sovereignty of the British crown, and small states ruled by Indian princes under British hegemony. The British position was called paramountcy, meaning simply that Britain had the power to overrule the native princes' actions. India at that time included present-day Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Aden (now part of Yemen). On the other hand, it excluded a few small enclaves in the possession of France and Portugal, and Sikkim, then a kingdom under British protection. When India obtained its independence on 1947-08-15, the area hitherto known as India was divided into two countries, India and Pakistan. The principle guiding the division was to allocate majority-Hindu areas to India and majority-Muslim areas to Pakistan. In the implementation, the large provinces of Bengal and Punjab were split between the two countries, and Pakistan was created as two pieces on opposite sides of the Indian subcontinent.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Indien
2. Dutch: India, Republiek India (formal)
3. English: Indian Union (formal), Republic of India (formal), Hindoostan (obsolete), Hindustan (obsolete)
4. Finnish: Intia
5. French: Inde f
6. German: Indien n
7. Hindi: Bharat
8. Icelandic: Indland
9. Italian: India f
10. Norwegian: India, Republikken India (formal)
11. Portuguese: Índia f, República f da Índia f (formal), União Indiana (Brazil) (formal)
12. Spanish: India, República f de la India (formal)
13. Swedish: Indien

Origin of name: 

from Sanskrit sindhu: river, after the Indus River

Primary subdivisions: 

India is divided into 28 states and seven union territories.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of India page.

The states and union territories are subdivided into districts.

Territorial extent: 

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands is separated from islands belonging to Myanmar by the Coco Channel. Landfall Island is the northernmost of the Andamans. Narcondam Island is the easternmost. The Nicobar Islands lie to the south, Great Nicobar Island being southernmost. It is separated from Sumatra, Indonesia, by Great Channel.
2. Arunachal Pradesh is the object of a territorial claim by China.
3. Daman and Diu consists of two separate parts: the enclave of Daman, and the island of Diu with small adjacent coastal tracts. Both lie on the coast of Gujarat, but they're on opposite sides of the Gulf of Khambhat.
4. Goa consists of a coastal region and the islands of Angediva, Morcegos, and Saint George's.
5. Jammu and Kashmir is occupied partly by India and partly by Pakistan. Both countries have claims to more land. India also claims adjacent land occupied by China.
6. Lakshadweep consists of a number of islands and reefs in the Indian Ocean. Towards the Indian mainland, the easternmost are Androth, Cheriyam, and Kalpeni Islands. Towards the Maldive Islands, the southernmost is Minicoy Island. The Amindivi and Cannanore island groups make up most of the territory.
7. Puducherry consists of four districts, each of which is a separate coastal enclave: Karaikal and Puducherry, both surrounded by Tamil Nadu; Yanam, within Andhra Pradesh; and Mahé, within Kerala. The district of Puducherry itself consists of several enclaves within Tamil Nadu. Twelve enclaves can be seen on a Wikipedia map , as well as a counter-enclave of Tamil Nadu state within Puducherry.
8. West Bengal has many small exclaves within the Rajshahi division of Bangladesh, and vice versa. According to Brendan Whyte's thesis, there are 106 of them. For the height of complexity, a part of Dahala Khagrabari, India is surrounded by Bangladeshi territory (part of Upanchowki Bhajni, Bangladesh), which is itself surrounded by Balapara Khagrabari, India, which in turn is surrounded by Bangladesh. This is the world's only counter-counter-enclave.

Origins of names: 

Thanks to Pranshu B. Saxena for his help with some of these origins.

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Sanskrit Hanumant, name of the advisor to the king of the monkeys in the Ramayana. Nicobar means "land of the naked".
2. Andhra Pradesh: Hindi andhra, from Telugu andhramu: Telugu, and pradesh: state.
3. Arunachal Pradesh: aruna: dawn-lit, chal: mountains, Hindi pradesh: land
4. Assam: probably from the Ahamiya clan (or Ahoms), who invaded in the 13th century; or Sanskrit asoma: peerless.
5. Bihar: Sanskrit vihara: monastery. Old capital had a major Buddhist monastery.
6. Chandigarh: sited where a temple of the goddess Chandi (the Hindu goddess Durga) stands near a garh (fort).
7. Chhattisgarh: Chhattis: thirty-six + garh: forts, for 36 forts located in the state
8. Delhi: shortened from Dhillika, a name originally applied to the region circa A.D. 750, from a temple to the goddess Dhillika.
9. Goa: shortened from Gomantaka.
10. Gujarat: Sanskrit Gurjara, ethnic name
11. Haryana: Hari (a Hindu god) + Hindi ayana: home
12. Himachal Pradesh: Sanskrit hima: snow, chal: mountains (the Himalayas), Hindi pradesh: land
13. Jharkhand: Forest country.
14. Karnataka: Kannada for "lofty land".
15. Kashmir: from Sanskrit kasyapamara: land of Kasyapa (Hindu god)
16. Lakshadweep: Sanskrit laksha: one hundred thousand, dvipa: islands
17. Madhya Pradesh: Hindi for central state
18. Maharashtra: Sanskrit for great kingdom (akin to maharaja); or, land of the Mahars and Rattas; or, corruption of maha kantara: great forest; or, maha rathi: great charioteers.
19. Manipur: "jeweled land"
20. Meghalaya: megha: cloud, alaya: home, i.e. home of the clouds
21. Mizoram: the land of Mizos (highlanders)
22. Orissa: Sanskrit Odrah: ethnic name, deshah: state
23. Puducherry: Tamil pudu: new, cheri: town
24. Punjab: Persian panj: five, ab: river (the area is drained by five tributaries of the Indus)
25. Rajasthan: Hindi raja: king, sthan: land (formed by the union of 19 small kingdoms)
26. Tripura: possibly from tuipra: land adjoining the water.
27. Uttarakhand: Sanskrit for north country
28. Uttar Pradesh: Sanskrit uttarah: upper or northern, pradeshah: state
29. West Bengal: Western part of Bengal, from Bengali bangla: ethnic name

Change history: 

In 1900, India included over 500 native states (also called princely states); the British provinces of Assam, Bengal, Berar, Bihar, Burma, Central Provinces, Orissa, Punjab, and North Western Provinces and Oudh; and the presidencies of Bombay and Madras. The presidency of Bombay contained the provinces of Bombay, Sind, and Aden. Burma was divided into Lower Burma and Upper Burma. The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh contained Oudh province and North Western Provinces.

1. 1901: North-West Frontier Area (not to be confused with North Western Provinces) split from Punjab.
2. 1902: Name of North Western Provinces and Oudh changed to United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.
3. 1902-10-01: Berar merged with Central Provinces to form Central Provinces and Berar.
4. 1905-10-16: Bengal and Assam provinces reorganized into Eastern Bengal and Assam province and West Bengal province.
5. 1910: Native state of Benares formed by merging a number of smaller fiefs.
6. 1911-12-12: 1905 partition of Bengal was nullified.
7. 1912-10-01: Delhi province split from Punjab; Indian capital moved from Calcutta to Delhi.
8. 1912: Bihar and Orissa province split from Bengal.
9. 1931-02-10: New Delhi officially replaced Delhi as capital.
10. 1932: Aden province split from Bombay presidency.
11. 1935: Name of United Provinces of Agra and Oudh changed to United Provinces.
12. 1936-04-01: Orissa province formed from parts of Bihar and Orissa province, Central Provinces and Berar province, and Madras presidency; remaining part of Bihar and Orissa renamed Bihar; status of Sind division of Bombay presidency changed to province.
13. 1937-04-01: Aden (now in Yemen) and Burma (now Myanmar) split from India as crown colonies.
14. 1947-08-15: Indian independence. The British provinces became part of India immediately. The native states and agencies became effectively independent. Some of them were allowed to decide whether to accede to (merge with) India or Pakistan. Others combined to form new states in the Indian Union, or merged directly with existing provinces. The process was essentially complete when the new Constitution took effect, less than 2 1/2 years later. On this date, Bengal split into West Bengal (India) and East Pakistan; Punjab split into East Punjab (India) and West Punjab (Pakistan); the presidency of Bombay, which had consisted of Bombay and Sind provinces, split, with Sind going to Pakistan; Banaras, Rampur, and Tehri-Garhwal states merged with United Provinces; Central Provinces and Berar became Madhya Pradesh.
15. 1947-10: France ceded its loges, the sites of French-owned factories (trading posts) in Bombay, Madras, and Orissa provinces, totaling 526 sq. km., to India.
16. 1947-10-26: Jammu and Kashmir state became part of India by the signing of the Instrument of Accession. However, Pakistani fighters invaded the area, bringing about a de facto partition which has been in dispute ever since.
17. 1947-11-08: India annexed the native states of Junagadh and Manavadar to Rajputana, even though they had acceded to Pakistan.
18. 1948: Native states merged to form seven unions: Greater Rajasthan (corresponding to an area called Rajputana before independence), Madhya Bharat (also called the Malwa Union), Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU for short), Saurashtra (also called the United State of Kathiawar), Travancore-Cochin, United Deccan State, and Vindhya Pradesh.
19. 1948: 15 native states merged with Madhya Pradesh.
20. 1948: Native states of Banganapalle and Pudukottai merged with Madras state.
21. 1948: 174 native states merged with Bombay, including Baroda, Cambay, Idar, Janjira, Kolhapur, Palanpur, Radhanpur, Rajpipla, Sirohi, and the states of the United Deccan State.
22. 1948: Native states of Dujana, Loharu, and Pataudi merged with East Punjab.
23. 1948-04-15: Himachal Pradesh state formed from 30 former Hill States, including Chamba, Mandi, Nahan, Sirmur, and Suket.
24. 1948-05: Native states of Saraikela and Kharsawan merged with Bihar.
25. 1949-04-01: Native state of Sandar merged with Madras state.
26. 1949-08-01: 24 former native states merged with Orissa.
27. 1949-10-15: Tripura merged with India as a centrally administered area.
28. 1949-10-15: Manipur merged with India as a union territory.
29. 1950-01-01: Cooch Behar state merged with West Bengal.
30. 1950-01-24: Name of United Provinces changed to Uttar Pradesh.
31. 1950-01-26: The Constitution took effect. The divisions of India were classified as follows: nine Part A states, formerly governors' provinces; eight Part B states, formerly native states or groups of states; ten Part C states, formerly chief commissioners' provinces; and two Part D territories. Name of East Punjab state changed to Punjab (India). Greater Rajasthan union became Rajasthan state.
32. 1950-05-02: Chandernagore transferred from French possession to India.
33. 1950-12-05: Sikkim became an Indian protectorate.
34. 1951: Territory in Assam around Dewangiri ceded to Bhutan.
35. 1953-10-07: Capital of Punjab moved to the new city of Chandigarh.
36. 1953-10-01: Andhra Part A state split from Madras.
37. 1954: Bilaspur state merged with Himachal Pradesh.
38. 1954-10-02: Chandernagore merged with West Bengal.
39. 1956: Capital of Hyderabad moved from Kurnool to Hyderabad.
40. 1956-05-28: France ceded Pondicherry to India as a union territory.
41. 1956-09-01: Status of Tripura changed from centrally administered area to union territory.
42. 1956-11-01: States Reorganization Act took effect. The distinction among Part A, B, and C states was abolished. States were reorganized largely on linguistic lines. Andhra Pradesh state formed by merging Andhra with part of Hyderabad. Bombay state formed by merging Kutch, Saurashtra union, and part of former Bombay state. Status of Delhi and Himachal Pradesh changed from states to union territories. Kerala state formed by merging most of Travancore-Cochin union and part of Madras. Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands union territory split from Madras. Madhya Pradesh state formed by merging Bhopal and Vindhya Pradesh union, all of Madhya Bharat union but one exclave, most of former Madhya Pradesh, and an exclave of Rajasthan. Madras state lost large areas to other states, but gained part of Travancore-Cochin union. Mysore state formed by merging Coorg and former Mysore states and parts of Bombay, Hyderabad, and Madras states. Punjab state formed by merging Patiala and East Punjab States Union and former Punjab. Rajasthan state gained Ajmer state and small parts of Bombay and Madhya Bharat union, and lost an exclave to Madhya Pradesh. 8,177 sq. km. transferred from Bihar state to West Bengal.
43. 1957-12-01: Naga Hills-Tuensang Area split from Assam as a centrally administered area.
44. 1960-04-01: Madras state ceded 573 sq. km. of territory to Andhra Pradesh in exchange for another territory of 1,062 sq. km.
45. 1960-05-01: Bombay state split into Gujarat and Maharashtra by the Bombay Reorganization Act. Maharashtra also incorporated part of Madhya Pradesh and all that remained of Hyderabad state.
46. 1961-08-11: Dadra and Nagar Haveli, formerly a Portuguese colony and independent since 1954-07, merged with India as a union territory.
47. 1961-12-20: Portuguese India (India Portuguesa, later called Estado da India) annexed by India and became the territory of Goa, Daman and Diu.
48. 1963-12-01: Naga Hills-Tuensang centrally administered area became Nagaland state.
49. 1966-11-01: By the Punjab Reorganization Act, Punjab state split into a smaller Punjab state, a new Haryana state and Chandigarh union territory, and a section which merged with Himachal Pradesh. Chandigarh, formerly capital of Punjab, became joint capital of Punjab and Haryana states and its own union territory.
50. 1968-08: Name of Madras state changed to Tamil Nadu.
51. 1970: Capital of Gujarat moved from Ahmedabad to Gandhinagar.
52. 1971-01-25: Status of Himachal Pradesh changed from union territory to state.
53. 1972-01-20: Arunachal Pradesh union territory, Meghalaya state, and Mizoram union territory split from Assam; capital of Assam moved from Shillong to Dispur. Before the split, Arunachal Pradesh had been the North East Frontier Agency, and Mizoram had been the Lushai Hills district.
54. 1972-01-21: Status of Manipur and Tripura changed from union territories to states.
55. 1972-12-17: A new line of control between India and Pakistan in the area of Jammu and Kashmir took effect.
56. 1973-11-01: Name of Mysore state changed to Karnataka; name of Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands union territory changed to Lakshadweep.
57. 1974-05-27: Capital of Arunachal Pradesh moved from Shillong (in Meghalaya) to Itanagar.
58. 1975-04-26: Status of Sikkim changed from protectorate to state.
59. 1985-07-24: By the Punjab Accord, Chandigarh union territory would eventually merge with Punjab state. This has not yet been carried out, but it remains a live issue.
60. 1986-07: Status of Mizoram changed from union territory to state.
61. 1987-02-20: Status of Arunachal Pradesh changed from union territory to state.
62. 1987-05-30: Goa, Daman, and Diu union territory split into Goa state and Daman and Diu union territory.
63. 1992-02-01: Official name of Delhi union territory changed to National Capital Territory.
64. 1996: Name of the capital of Tamil Nadu state changed from Madras to Chennai; name of the capital of Maharashtra state changed from Bombay to Mumbai.
65. ~1996: Name of the capital of Himachal Pradesh state changed from Simla to Shimla; name of the capital of Kerala state changed from Trivandrum to Thiruvananthapuram.
66. 1999-07-20: Assembly of West Bengal resolved to change the name of the state to Bangla, but this change doesn't take effect until passed by Indian Parliament.
67. 2000-11-01: Chhattisgarh state split from Madhya Pradesh (former FIPS code IN15), as provided by the Madhya Pradesh Reorganization Bill, which passed on 2000-07-31. Chhattisgarh comprises sixteen districts of Madhya Pradesh: Bastar, Bilaspur, Dantewada, Dhamtari, Durg, Janjgir, Jashpur, Kanker, Kawardha, Korba, Koriya, Mahasamund, Raigarh, Raipur, Rajnandgaon, and Surguja.
68. 2000-11-09: Uttaranchal state split from Uttar Pradesh (former FIPS code IN27), as provided by the Uttar Pradesh Reorganization Bill, which passed on 2000-08-01. Uttaranchal comprises thirteen districts of Uttar Pradesh: Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Champawat, Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Pauri Garhwal, Pithoragarh, Rudra Prayag, Tehri Garhwal, Udham Singh Nagar, and Uttarkashi.
69. 2000-11-15: Jharkhand state split from Bihar (former FIPS code IN04), as provided by the Bihar Reorganization Bill, which passed on 2000-08-02. Jharkhand comprises eighteen districts of Bihar: Bokaro, Chatra, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Dumka, East Singbhum, Garhwa, Giridih, Godda, Gumla, Hazaribagh, Koderma, Lohardaga, Pakur, Palamau, Ranchi, Sahibganj, and West Singbhum. Ranchi, formerly the summer capital of Bihar, became the capital of Jharkhand.
70. 2001-01-01: Name of the capital of West Bengal changed from Calcutta to Kolkata.
71. 2006-09-20: Name of Pondicherry union territory changed to Puducherry.
72. 2007-01-01: Name of Uttaranchal state changed to Uttarakhand.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Îles Andaman et Nicobar (French); Ilhas de Andamã e Nicobar (Portuguese); Inseln Andamanen und Nikobaren (German); Isole Andamane e Nicobare (Italian)
2. Arunachal Pradesh: Agence de la Frontière du Nord-Est (French-obsolete); North East Frontier Agency (obsolete)
3. Assam: Asom (variant)
4. Dadra and Nagar Haveli: Dâdra et Nagar Haveli (French); Dadra e Nagar Haveli (Italian)
5. Daman and Diu: Daman e Diu (Italian); Damân et Diu (French); Damão e Diu (Portuguese)
6. Delhi: National Capital Territory (variant)
7. Goa: Gôa (Portuguese)
8. Gujarat: Goudjerate, Gujerat (French), Gujerate (Portuguese)
9. Haryana: Hariana (French)
10. Jammu and Kashmir: Jammu e Cashemira (Portuguese); Jammu e Kashmir (Italian); Jammu et Cachemire (French); Jammu und Kaschmir (German); Kashmir, Kashmir and Jammu (variant)
11. Jharkhand: Vananchal (variant)
12. Karnataka: Maisur (obsolete-variant); Mysore (obsolete)
13. Lakshadweep: Îles Laquedives (French); Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, Laccadives (obsolete); Lackadiverna (Swedish); Lakkadiven (German); Lakkadivene (Norwegian); Lakshadivi (variant)
14. Mizoram: Lushai Hills (obsolete)
15. Nagaland: Naga Hills and Tuensang Area, NHTA (obsolete)
16. Puducherry: French India, Pondicherry (obsolete); Pondichéry (French); Puduchcheri (variant)
17. Punjab: Panjab (German, variant); Pendjab, Penjab (French); Pundjabe (Portuguese); East Punjab (obsolete)
18. Rajasthan: Greater Rajasthan, Rajputana (obsolete)
19. Tamil Nadu: Madras (obsolete); Tamilnad (variant)
20. Uttar Pradesh: United Provinces (obsolete)
21. Uttarakhand: Uttaranchal (obsolete)
22. West Bengal: Bangla (variant); Bengala Occidentale (Italian); Bengala Ocidental (Portuguese); Bengale occidental (French)

Population history:

British Imperial period:

Notes: Areas listed are as of about 1900, except for states that were created later. Columns do not add up to the totals shown, because many native states are omitted. All Indian censuses were as of March 1.

Republic period:

Note: 2001 census data are from "Statistical Pocket Book India 2003", issued by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. This book says that the populations of Manipur and Nagaland (and the India total) are provisional; that probably means that the other data are final. Obviously, they are rounded to the nearest 1,000. The 2001 census data shown in the main table, under the Primary subdivisions heading, are all provisional.