How many states are there in India?
States and union territories of India
India is a federal union comprising 29 states and 7 union territories, for a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions.
Nomenclature of States in North East India
North East India is the north easternmost part of India. It comprises seven states; namely Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.
The states of Assam (Kamarupa & Davaka), Tripura, and Manipur are ancient in existence, while rest curbed out from Assam in late twentieth century, i.e., Nagaland in 1963, Meghalaya in 1972, Arunachal Pradesh in 1975 and the state of Mizoram come into existence as late as 1987.
Jawaharlal Nehru
The British Indian Empire, which included present-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, was divided into two types of territories: the Provinces of British India, which were governed directly by British officials responsible to the Viceroy of India; and princely states, under the rule of local hereditary rulers who recognised British suzerainty in return for local autonomy, in most cases as established by a treaty. Between 1947 and about 1950, the territories of the princely states were politically integrated into the Indian Union under Nehru and Sardar Patel. Most were merged into existing provinces; others were organised into new provinces, such as Rajputana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Bharat, and Vindhya Pradesh, made up of multiple princely states; a few, including Mysore, Hyderabad, Bhopal, and Bilaspur, became separate provinces. The Government of India Act, 1935 remained the constitutional law of India pending adoption of a new Constitution.
The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, made India a sovereign democratic republic. Nehru declared the new republic to be a "Union of States". The constitution of 1950 distinguished between three main types of states: Part A states, which were the former governors' provinces of British India, were ruled by an elected governor and state legislature. The Part B states were former princely states or groups of princely states, governed by a rajpramukh, who was usually the ruler of a constituent state, and an elected legislature. The rajpramukh was appointed by the President of India. The Part C states included both the former chief commissioners' provinces and some princely states, and each was governed by a chief commissioner appointed by the President of India. The sole Part D state was the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were administered by a lieutenant governor appointed by the central government.
Political integration of India
The integration of former princely states with other provinces to form new states has also given rise to some issues. The Telangana region, comprising the Telugu-speaking districts of the former Hyderabad State, were in many ways different from the Telugu-speaking areas of British India with which they were merged. In recognition of these differences, the States Reorganisation Commission originally recommended that Telangana be created as a separate state, rather than as part of a broader Telugu-speaking entity. This recommendation was rejected by the Government of India, and Telangana was merged into Andhra Pradesh. The result was the emergence in the 1960s of a movement demanding a separate Telangana state. The demand has been accepted by the Union Government, leading to formation of Telangana as the 29th state of India in June 2014. A similar movement, although less strong, exists in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, which consists of the former Nagpur state and the Berar region of the former Hyderabad state.
Culture of India
India is one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse nations in the world, with some of the most deeply religious societies and cultures. Religion plays a central and definitive role in the life of many of its people. Although India is a secular Hindu-majority country, it has a large Muslim population. Except for Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram and Lakshadweep, Hindus form the predominant population in all 29 states and 7 union territories. Muslims are present throughout India, with large populations in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, West Bengal and Assam; while only Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep have majority Muslim populations. Sikhs and Christians are other significant minorities of India.
Education in India
, India has 152 central universities, 316 state universities, and 191 private universities. Other institutions include 33,623 colleges, including 1,800 exclusive women's colleges, functioning under these universities and institutions, and 12,748 Institutions offering Diploma Courses. The emphasis in the tertiary level of education lies on science and technology. Indian educational institutions by 2004 consisted of a large number of technology institutes. Distance learning is also a feature of the Indian higher education system. The Government has launched Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan to provide strategic funding to State higher and technical institutions. A total of 316 state public universities and 13,024 colleges will be covered under it.
List of states and union territories of India by population
The first population census in British India was conducted in 1872. Since India's independence in 1947, a census has been conducted every 10 years, the first occurring in 1951. The census in India is conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner under the Ministry of Home Affairs, and is one of the largest administrative tasks conducted by a federal government.
Jana Gana Mana
Another controversy is that only those provinces that were under British rule, i.e. Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha, Dravid (South India), Odisha/Utkal and Bengal, were mentioned. None of the princely states – Kashmir, Rajasthan, Hyderabad, Mysore or Kerala – or the states in Northeast India, which are now integral parts of India were mentioned. But opponents of this proposition claim that Tagore mentioned only the border states of India to include complete India. Whether the princely states would form a part of a liberated Indian republic was a matter of debate even till Indian Independence. 'Dravida' includes the people from the south (though Dravida specifically means Tamil and even then, the same consideration is not given for the south since there are many distinct people whereas in the north each of the distinct people are named) and 'Jolodhi' (Stanza 1) is Sanskrit for "seas and oceans". Even North-East which was under British rule or holy rivers apart from Ganges and Yamuna are not mentioned to keep the song in its rhythm. India has 29 states, 7 union territories.
State governments of India
State governments in India are the governments ruling States of India and the head of the council of ministers in a state is chief minister. Power is divided between the central government and state governments. While the central government handles military and external affairs etc., whereas the state government deals with internal security (through state police) and other state issues. Income for the central government is from customs duty, excise tax, income tax etc., while state government income comes from sales tax (VAT), stamp duty, now these have been subsumed under SGST, GST—components of GST. Each state has a legislative assembly. A state legislature that has one house, known as Vidhan Sabha or Legislative assembly, is a Unicameral legislature.
A state legislature that has two houses known as Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad, is a bicameral legislature.The Vidhan Sabha is the lower house and corresponds to the Lok Sabha. The Vidhan Parishad is the upper house and corresponds to the Rajya Sabha.
List of political parties in India
This listing is according to the Indian general election, 2014 and Legislative Assembly elections and any party aspiring to state or national party status must fulfil at least one of the concerned criteria. In addition, national and state parties have to fulfill these conditions for all subsequent Lok Sabha or State elections, or else they lose their status. As per latest publication from Election Commission of India, the total number of parties registered was 1841, with 7 national parties, 51 state parties and 1785 unrecognised parties.
List of states and union territories of India by sex ratio
Sex ratio is used to describe the number of females per 1000 of males. In India it is especially significant because the ratio is heavily skewed towards men. In the Population Census of 2011 it was revealed that the population ratio of India 2011 is 943 females per 1000 of males. The Sex Ratio 2011 shows an upward trend from the census 2001 data. Census 2001 revealed that there were 933 females to that of 1000 males.
India
India is a federal union comprising 29 states and 7 union territories. All states, as well in addition to the union territories of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and governments following on the Westminster system of governance. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the centre through appointed administrators. In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act, states were reorganised on a linguistic basis. Since then, their structure has remained largely unchanged. Each state or union territory is further divided into administrative districts. The districts are further divided into tehsils and ultimately into villages.
Prisons in India
Seventeen states have functioning Open Jails in their jurisdiction. Rajasthan reported the highest number of 29 open jails. There are no Open Jails in any of the UTs at the end of 2015.
List of female Indian chief ministers
Sixteen women have served as the chief minister of an Indian state. Currently, one is in office — Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal. Of the thirteen states to have been headed by a female chief minister, only three—Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh—have had two woman chief ministers. Five of the woman chief ministers belonged to the Indian National Congress, four to the Bharatiya Janata Party and two to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
History of the Republic of India
Potti Sreeramulu's "fast-unto-death", and consequent death for the demand of an Andhra State in 1953 sparked a major re-shaping of the Indian Union. Nehru appointed the States Re-organisation Commission, upon whose recommendations the States Reorganisation Act was passed in 1956. Old states were dissolved and new states created on the lines of shared linguistic and ethnic demographics. The separation of Kerala and the Telugu-speaking regions of Madras State enabled the creation of an exclusively Tamil-speaking state of Tamil Nadu. On 1 May 1960, the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat were created out of the bilingual Bombay State, and on 1 November 1966, the larger Punjab state was divided into the smaller, Punjabi-speaking Punjab and Haryanvi-speaking Haryana states.
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh has a high female-male sex ratio (991) ranking at the fifth position among other states of India. Although this ratio is small compared to other states, it is unique in India because Chhattisgarh is the 10th-largest state in India.
List of state universities in India
There are 23 state universities in Maharashtra.
National Shipping Board
India has a coastline spanning 7516.6 kilometers, forming one of the biggest peninsulas in the world. It is serviced by 13 major ports, 200 notified minor and intermediate ports. The total 200 non-major ports are in the following States:- Gujarat (42); Maharashtra (48); Tamil Nadu (15); Karnataka (10); Kerala (17); Andhra Pradesh (12); Odisha (13); Goa (5); West Bengal (1); Daman and Diu (2); Lakshadweep (10); Pondicherry (2); and Andaman & Nicobar (23).
List of states and union territories of India by suicide rate
Suicide in India is a national social issue. In the year 2015, India recorded 1,33,623 suicides, an increase of 1.4% from 2014's 1,31,666 suicides. This is a list of States and Union Territories of India ranked according to suicide rate as on 2015. The rate is calculated as number of suicides per 1 lakh (100,000) people. The list is compiled from the 2015 Suicidal Deaths in India report published by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Government of India
List of states in India by past population
The total geographical area of India is .
Indian states and union territories ranked by availability of toilets
This is a list of Indian states and territories ranked by the availability of toilet facilities per household. Figures are from the 2011 Census of India. The list does not include the newly formed states of Telangana and the residual state of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
State of Emergency in India
A state of emergency in India refers to a period of governance under an altered constitutional setup that can be proclaimed by the President of India, when he/she perceives grave threats to the nation from internal and external sources or from financial situations of crisis. Under the advice of the cabinet of ministers and using the powers vested in him/her largely by Part XVIII of the Constitution of India, the President can overrule many provisions of the constitution, which guarantee fundamental rights to the citizens of India and acts governing devolution of powers to the states which form the federation. In the history of independent India, there were three periods during which a state of emergency was need to have existed.The phrase "Emergency period" used loosely, when referring to the political history of India, often refers to the third and the most controversial of the three occasions.
Prohibition
In India alcohol is a state subject and individual states can legislate prohibition, but currently most states do not have prohibition and sale/consumption is freely available in 25 out of 29 states. Prohibition is in force in the states of Gujarat, Bihar and Nagaland, parts of Manipur, and the union territory of Lakshadweep. All other States and union territories of India permit the sale of alcohol.
Member of the Legislative Assembly
Out of the 29 states and 7 Union Territories of India, there is a legislature in all the 29 states and 2 Union Territories (Delhi and Puducherry).
List of basilicas in India
There are 23 basilicas in India, of which 18 are of the Latin rite, 4 are of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and 1 is of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. The state of Kerala has 9 basilicas, including all 4 non-Roman Catholic basilicas while Tamil Nadu has 5 basilicas and Karnataka has 2. All the remaining basilicas are the only ones in their respective states or union territories. India is the country with the most basilicas in Asia.
List of states and union territories of India by population
While the national average for sex ratio shows an increase from 933 in 2001 to 940 in 2011, the 2011 census shows a sharp decline in child sex ratio, the number of females per thousand males in a population between age group 0–6 years. States such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and Andaman and Nicobar Islands recorded an increase in child sex ratio. National child sex ratio has declined from 927 in 2001 to 914 in 2011. Telangana census was separated from Andhra Pradesh state census figures, after Telangana formally took birth on 2 June 2014.
State governments of India
The Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) of a state consists of not more than 500 and not fewer than 60 members (Legislative Assembly of Sikkim has 32 members, while Puducherry has 33, Goa and Mizoram have 40 seats each vide Article 371F of the Constitution) chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the state. Demarcation of territorial constituencies is to be done in such a manner that the ratio between population of each constituency and number of seats allotted to it, as far as practicable, is the same throughout the state. Term of an assembly is five years unless it is dissolved earlier.
List of districts in India
A district ("zilā") is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. In some cases districts are further subdivided into sub-divisions, and in others directly into "tehsils" or "talukas". there are a total of 723 districts, up from the 640 in the 2011 Census of India and the 593 recorded in the 2001 Census of India.
National Capital Region (India)
A total of 24 districts in three neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan along with whole of the National Capital Territory of Delhi constitute the National Capital Region (NCR) of India.
Languages of India
Until the Twenty-first Amendment of the Constitution of India in 1967, the country recognised 14 official regional languages. The Eighth Schedule and the Seventy-First Amendment provided for the inclusion of Sindhi, Konkani, Meitei and Nepali, thereby increasing the number of official regional languages of India to 18. The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, as of 1 December 2007, lists 22 languages, which are given in the table below together with the speaking population and the regions where they are used. 
The individual states, the borders of most of which are or were drawn on socio-linguistic lines, can legislate their own official languages, depending on their linguistic demographics. The official languages chosen reflect the predominant as well as politically significant languages spoken in that state. Certain states having a linguistically defined territory may have only the predominant language in that state as its official language, examples being Karnataka and Gujarat, which have Kannada and Gujarati as their sole official language respectively. Telangana, with a sizeable Urdu-speaking Muslim population, has two languages, Telugu and Urdu, as its official languages.
Eastern South Asia
India is a federal parliamentary republic. While the Indian federal government is headed by the ceremonial President of India and executive Prime Minister of India, the states of India are headed by a ceremonial governor and executive chief minister. Indian legislatures include the bicameral national parliament and numerous unicameral and bicameral state legislatures. The federal government can impose President's rule in the states. Indian states are not permitted to develop relations with foreign countries, including neighboring countries within Eastern South Asia unless it is strictly overseen by the heavily bureaucratic federal government. The Indian legal system is a mixture of English common law, civil law, custom laws, and religious laws. The Supreme Court of India has a notable history of judicial activism. Fundamental rights are enshrined in India's constitution.
Privy Purse in India
When the British Crown partitioned British India and granted independence to the new Dominions of India and Pakistan, more than a third of the subcontinent was still covered by princely states, with rulers whose position and status within the Indian Empire had varied. In 1947 there were more than 560 such princely states in India, over which the British Crown had suzerainty but not sovereignty. In 1947, princely states numbering 555 covered 48% of area of pre-Independent India and constituted 28% of its population. Relations with them were determined by subsidiary alliances and other treaties establishing indirect rule. A protocollary system of gun salutes also determined the ranking of about 120 major states (Pakistan included), most however were minor/petty 'non-salute states'. By the Indian Independence Act 1947 the Crown abandoned its suzerainty, leaving the rulers of the states free to choose to accede either to India or to Pakistan or to remain fully independent. Most had been so dependent on the Government of India that they had little choice about accession. By the eve of independence, most of the non-Muslim states had signed Instruments of Accession to India, but only one to Pakistan. Only a few states held out for complete independence after the British left India. Due to the diplomacy of Vallabhbhai Patel and VP Menon, Travancore, Bhopal and Jodhpur signed the Instruments of Accession before 15 August 1947. Even after independence three states vacillated, namely Jammu-Kashmir, Junagadh and Hyderabad which were integrated later.
List of states in India by past population
India has 641,000 inhabited villages and 72.2 percent of the total population reside in these rural areas. Of them 145,000 villages have population size of 500–999 persons; 130,000 villages have population size of 1000–1999 and 128,000 villages have population size of 200–499. There are 3,961 villages that have a population of 10,000 persons or more. India's 27.8 percent urban population lives in more than 5,100 towns and over 380 urban agglomerations. In the decade of 1991–2001, migration to major cities caused rapid increase in urban population. On the basis of net migrants by last residence during the past decade, Maharashtra had most immigration with 2.3 million, followed by National Capital Territory of Delhi (1.7 million), Gujarat (0.68 million) and Haryana (0.67 million). Uttar Pradesh (−2.6 million) and Bihar (−1.7 million) topped the list for interstate emigration. The four states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and account for almost half (48.89 percent) of the total Indian population.
Vegetarianism by country
According to a 2014 survey released by the registrar general of India, Rajasthan has the highest fraction of vegetarians: 74.9%. Other states with vegetarians include Haryana (69.25%), Punjab (66.75%), Gujarat (60.95%), Madhya Pradesh (50.6%), Uttar Pradesh (47.1%), Maharashtra (40.2%), Delhi (39.5%), Jammu & Kashmir (31.45%), Uttarakhand (27.35%), Karnataka (21.1%), Assam (20.6%), Chhattisgarh (17.95%), Bihar (7.55%), Jharkhand (3.25%), Kerala (3.0%), Orissa (2.65%), Tamil Nadu (2.35%), Andhra Pradesh (1.75%), West Bengal (1.4%), and Telangana (1.3%).
List of states and union territories of India by population
India is a union of 29 states and 7 union territories. As of 2011, with an estimated population of 1.2 billion, India is the world's second most populous country after the People's Republic of China. India occupies 2.4% of the world's land surface area and is home to 17.5% of the world's population. After the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the eastern and western coastal regions of the Deccan Plateau are the most densely populated regions of India. The Thar Desert in western Rajasthan is one of the most densely populated deserts in the world. The northern and north-eastern states along the Himalayas contain cold arid deserts with fertile valleys.
Make in India
India jumped to 77th place out of 190 countries in the world Banks' 2018 Ease of Doing Business Index.
India jumped to 100th place out of 190 countries in the World Bank's 2017 Ease of Doing Business Index, from 130th in 2016. In February 2017, the government appointed the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the National Productivity Council "to sensitise actual users and get their feedback on various reform measures". As a result, now there is competition among the states of India to improve their current ranking on the ease of doing business index based on the completion percentage scores on 98-point action plan for business reform under make in India initiative. Currently Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal (44.35%) are top six states (c. Feb 2018).
States Reorganisation Act, 1956
The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, made India a sovereign democratic republic. The new republic was also declared to be a "Union of States". The constitution of 1950 distinguished between three main types of states and a class of territories:The demand for states to be organised on a linguistic basis was developed even before India achieved independence from British rule. A first-of-its-kind linguistic movement started in 1895, in what is now Odisha. The movement gained momentum in later years with the demand for a separate Orissa Province to be formed by bifurcating the existing Bihar and Orissa Province. Due to the efforts of Madhusudan Das, the Father of Odia nationalism, the movement eventually achieved its objective in 1936, when Orissa Province became the first Indian state (pre-independence) to be organised on the basis of common languages.
Outline of Karnataka
Karnataka is the 7th biggest, 8th most populous, 13th highest and 16th most literate state of the 28 states of the democratic Republic of India. Karnataka is ranked 3rd in the country in tax revenue and 7th in the country in GDP. Karnataka is at 8th position in life expectancy and 11th in female-to-male sex ratio among the states in India. Karnataka is at 7th most media exposed states in India.
Geography of Karnataka
The state has three principal geographical zones:
List of high courts in India
There are 25 high courts at the state and union territory level of India, which together with the Supreme Court of India at the national level, comprise the country's judicial system. Each high court has jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories. Below the high courts is a hierarchy of subordinate courts such as the civil courts, family courts, criminal courts and various other district courts. High courts are instituted as constitutional courts under , Chapter V, Article 214 of the Indian constitution.
Ease of doing business ranking of states of India
The claims for the current rankings submitted by the states for the year 2017 are currently being verified based on the supporting documentary evidence, and the final scores will be readjusted accordingly. 18 states claimed a 100% completion score. Of the states verified so far, top final scorer states are Haryana, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Karnataka, each with a score of 90.79% (c. 11 Feb 2018).
List of states and union territories of India by area
The following is a list of states and union territories of the Republic of India by area from largest to smallest according to the census of 2011. India consists of 29 states and 7 union territories.
Postage stamps and postal history of India
The Department of Posts, operating as India Post, is a government-operated postal system, simply referred to within India as "the post office". With its far-flung reach and its presence in remote areas, the Indian postal service provides many services such as small savings banking and financial services. As of 31 March 2011, the Indian Postal Service has 154,866 post offices, of which 139,040 (89.78%) are in rural areas and 15,826 (10.22%) are in urban areas. It has 25,464 departmental POs and 129,402 ED BPOs. At the time of independence, there were 23,344 post offices, which were primarily in urban areas. Thus, the network has registered a sevenfold growth since Independence, with the expansion primarily in rural areas. On an average, a post office serves an area of 21.23 sq;km and a population of 7,114 people. India is believed to have the most widely distributed system in the world (China has 57,000, Russia 41,000 and the United States 38,000 offices). This proliferation of offices results from India's history of having many disparate postal systems, eventually unified in the Indian Union after Independence.
South India
South India is the area including the five Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, as well as the three union territories of Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry, occupying 19% of India's area (). Covering the southern part of the peninsular Deccan Plateau, South India is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south. The geography of the region is diverse with two mountain ranges–the Western and Eastern Ghats, bordering the plateau heartland. Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Tungabhadra and Vaigai rivers are important non-perennial sources of water. Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Coimbatore Visakhapatnam, Madurai and Kochi are the largest urban areas.
National Democratic Alliance (India)
As of November 2018, the BJP holds a majority of Legislative Assembly in 10 states - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand,Manipur, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. In 2 states - Goa and Maharashtra BJP shares power as Senior Partner (Chief Ministers of BJP) with other political parties of NDA coalition.
Outline of India
States and territories of India
List of secondary education systems by country
India operates a 10+2 system of education. The ten being divided into 4 year primary and 6 years secondary. 24% of secondary education is in private schools which like state schools are regulated by school boards. There are 1.5 million schools in India. There were an estimated 95.3 million students in secondary school between the ages of 13-17 in India in 2014
Ports in India
India has a coastline spanning 7516.6 kilometres, forming one of the biggest peninsulas in the world. According to the Ministry of Shipping, around 95 per cent of India's trading by volume and 70 per cent by value is done through maritime transport. It is serviced by 12 major ports, 200 notified minor and intermediate ports. The total 200 non-major ports are in the following States:- Maharashtra (48); Gujarat (42); Tamil Nadu (15); Karnataka (10); Kerala (17); Andhra Pradesh (12); Odisha (13); Goa (5); West Bengal (1); Daman and Diu (2); Lakshadweep (10); Pondicherry (2); and Andaman & Nicobar (23).
Proposed states and territories of India
Several new states and union territories have been created out of existing states since 1956. The Bombay Reorganisation Act split the Bombay State into the present day states of Gujarat and Maharashtra on 1 May 1960 on linguistic basis. The state of Nagaland was created on 1 December 1963. The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 carved out a new Hindi-speaking state of Haryana from the southern districts of Punjab state, transferred the northern districts to Himachal Pradesh and designated a union territory around Chandigarh, the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana.
List of Indian state flowers
India, officially the Republic of India is a country in South Asia. It is made up of 29 states and 7 union territories. All Indian states have their own government and Union territories come under the jurisdiction of the Central Government. As most of the other countries India too has a national emblem—the Lion Capital of Sarnath.
List of states in India by past population
The first population census in India was conducted in 1872. Since then the a decennial census has been conducted in 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911, 1921, 1931, and 1941 by the Government. Since India's independence in 1947, a census has been carried out every 10 years by the Indian Government, starting from 1951. The census in India is carried out by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner under the Ministry of Home Affairs, and is one of the largest administrative tasks conducted by a federal government.
Federalism
The Government of India (referred to as the "Union Government") was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of a "federal union" of 29 states and 7 union territories.
List of Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra
The Rajya Sabha (meaning the "Council of States") is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Maharashtra elects 19 seats and they are indirectly elected by the state legislators of Maharashtra. Earlier since 1952, Bombay State elects 17 seats, Madhya Pradesh State elects 12 seats, Hyderabad State 11 seats and Mysore State elect 6 seats. After Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act of 1956, Bombay State elects 27 seats. After Bombay Reorganisation Act of 1960, three seats were increased and effective from 1 May 1960, while new Maharshtra State elects 19 seats, the new Gujarat State elects 11 seats. The number of seats allocated to the party, are determined by the number of seats a party possesses during nomination and the party nominates a member to be voted on. Elections within the state legislatures are held using Single transferable vote with proportional representation.
District
As of April 2016, the National Informatics Centre of the Government of India, lists a total of 664 districts in India, more than the number of parliamentary constituencies (545).
Salute state
At the time of Indian independence and partition in 1947, 118 (113 in India, 4 in Pakistan, plus Sikkim) of the roughly 565 princely states were classified as "salute states." The salute states were broadly divided into two categories: the five premier states with a permanent 21-gun salute and with an individual resident, or envoy, stationed in each, and the remaining 113 states incorporated within political agencies (groups of states) under a political agent. The salutes were themselves organised in a strict hierarchy. Each ruling house of a salute state was entitled to a "permanent" hereditary salute. In some instances, one of three sub-categories consisting of an increase of 2 gun salutes could be awarded as follows:
Rajpramukh
In the intervening period the Dominion Government of India had set up a Constitution Assembly to formulate a new Constitution for India. Simultaneously each of the Independent Indian rulers and Rajpramukhs of Covenanting states had set up Constituent Assemblies for their respective states and also sent their representatives to the Constituent Assembly of India so as to make uniform laws for their respective states. The thinking among the India leaders at that time was that each princely state or covenanting state would remain independent as a Federal state along the lines suggested originally by the 1935 Act. But as the drafting of the constitution progressed and the idea of forming a republic took concrete shape, it was decided that all the princely states/covenanting states would merge with the Indian republic, and all the Maharajas would be provided with a Privy Purse and Privileges as enjoyed by them on 15 August 1947 by constitutional guarantees. Hence Art. 294, Art 362, Art 366, Art 363 were incorporated. Besides it was also decided that the Maharaja of Mysore, the Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir, the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the Rajpramukhs of the Covenanting states would continue to be the constitutional heads of their respective states. By 26 October 1949 the constituent assembly had finalised a new constitution for India and all the Acceding Indian States and the Covenanting states merged with the New Republic of India. In accordance with constitutional provisions all the Maharajas entered into another agreement with the Governor General of India to provide for the specific privy purse amount, the right to their personal properties (as distinct from state properties), and the right to succession in accordance with the practice in their territories. These agreements were entered into before 26 January 1950 so as to bring them within the ambit of Art. 363. On 26 January 1950, India became a republic. The new constitution created four types of administrative divisions in India: nine Part A states, the former British provinces, which were ruled by an appointed governor and state legislature; eight Part B states, former princely states or groups of covenanting states, which were governed by a Rajpramukh; ten Part C states, including both former princely states and provinces, which were governed by a chief commissioner; and a union territory ruled by a governor appointed by the Indian president.
Outline of Telangana
Telangana – one of the 29 states in India, and is located in South India. Telangana acquired its identity as the Telugu-speaking region of the princely state of Hyderabad, ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad, joining the Union of India in 1948. In 1956, the Hyderabad state was dissolved as part of the linguistic reorganisation of states and Telangana was merged with former Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh. Following a movement for separation
Geography of Telangana
State governments of India
For every state, there is a legislature, which consists of Governor and one House or, two Houses as the case may be. In Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, there are two Houses known as legislative council and legislative assembly. In the remaining states, there is only one House known as legislative assembly. Parliament may, by law, provide for abolition of an existing legislative council or for creation of one where it does not exist, if proposal is supported by a resolution of the legislative assembly concerned.
Linguistic rights
The constitution of India was first drafted on January 26, 1950. It is estimated that there are about 1500 languages in India. Article 343–345 declared that the official languages of India for communication with centre will be Hindi and English. There are 22 official languages identified by constitution. Article 345 states that "the Legislature of a state may by law adopt any one or more of the languages in use in the State or Hindi as the language or languages to be used for all or any of the official purposes of that State: Provided that, until the Legislature of the State otherwise provides by law, the English language shall continue to be used for those official purposes within the State for which it was being used immediately before the commencement of this Constitution".
List of Indian state animals
India, officially the Republic of India is a country in South Asia. It is made up of 29 states and 7 union territories. All Indian states have their own government and theUnion territories come under the jurisdiction of the Central Government. As most of the other countries India too has a national emblem—the Lion Capital of Sarnath.
Government of India
The Government of India (IAST: ), often abbreviated as GoI, is the union government created by the constitution of India as the legislative, executive and judicial authority of the union of 29 states and seven union territories of a constitutionally democratic republic. It is located in New Delhi, the capital of India.
Princely state
At the time of the British withdrawal, 565 princely states were officially recognised in the Indian subcontinent, apart from thousands of thakurs, taluqdars, zamindaris and jagirs. In 1947, princely states covered 40% of area of pre-Independent India and constituted 23% of its population. The most important states had their own British Political Residencies: Hyderabad, Mysore and Travancore in the South followed by Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim in the Himalayas, and Indore in Central India. The most prominent among those – roughly a quarter of the total – had the status of a salute state, one whose ruler was entitled to a set number of gun salutes on ceremonial occasions.
Administrative divisions of India
Some states consist of regions, which have no official administrative governmental status. They are purely geographic regions; some correspond to historic countries, states or provinces. A region may comprise one or more divisions, averaging about three divisions per region. However, the boundaries of the regions and the boundaries of the divisions do not always coincide exactly. So far there has been no movement to give the regions official administrative status. If this was to be done, it would presumably require that the boundaries of the regions be slightly modified so that they correspond exactly with their constituent districts.
List of Indian state birds
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is made up of 29 states and 7 union territories. All Indian states have their own government and union territories come under the jurisdiction of the central government. As with most of the other countries India, has a national emblem—the Lion Capital of Sarnath.
Vidhan Sabha
The Vidhan Sabha or the State Legislative Assembly is a house of a state legislature in the States and Union Territories of India. In the 29 states and 2 union territories with unicameral state legislature it is the sole legislative house. In 7 states it is the lower house of their bicameral state legislatures with the upper house being Vidhan Parishad or the State Legislative Council. 5 Union Territories are governed directly by the Union Government and have no legislative body. Members of a Vidhan Sabha are referred to as MLAs and are directly elected to serve 5 year terms by single-member constituencies. In 14 states the Governor of a state may appoint one Anglo-Indian MLA to their respective states Vidhan Sabha in accordance with the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution of India. The Constitution of India states that a Vidhan Sabha must have no less than 60 and no more than 500 members however an exception may be granted via an Act of Parliament as is the case in the states of Goa, Sikkim, Mizoram and the union territory of Puducherry which have fewer than 60 members. A Vidhan Sabha may be dissolved in a state of emergency, by the Governor on request of the Chief Minister, or if a motion of no confidence is passed against the majority coalition.
To become a member of a State Legislative Assembly, a person must be a citizen of India, not less than 25 years of age. He or she should be mentally sound and should not be bankrupt. He or she should also state an affidavit that there are no criminal procedures against him or her. Speaker of State Legislative Assembly who is responsible for the conduct of business of the body, and also a Deputy Speaker to preside during the Speaker's absence. The Speaker acts as a neutral judge and manages all debates and discussions in the house. Usually he or she is a member of the stronger political party
Saurashtra (region)
After India's independence in 1947, 217 princely states of Kathiawar, including the former Junagadh State, were merged to form the state of Saurashtra on 15 February 1948. Initially, it was named United State of Kathiawar, which was renamed to Saurashtra State in November 1948. The exercise took up a lot of Shri Vallabhbhai Patel's time to convince the local princes and petty subas (totalling 222 in Saurashtra alone). However, Maharaja Krishnakumar Sinhji of Bhavnagar State readily extended to offer his large and royal empire of Bhavnagar / Gohilwar to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Bhavnagar became the first in the country to be merged into the union of India.
List of districts of Madhya Pradesh
The Indian State of Madhya Pradesh came into existence on 1 November, 2000. Madhya Pradesh has various regions but which have no official administrative governmental status but they are purely geographic regions; some correspond to historic countries, states or provinces. Currently the number of districts in the state is 52. These districts are grouped into ten administrative divisions. The regions and district in Madhya Pradesh is shown below.
Proposed states and territories of India
The creation of new states and territories in India is a power reserved solely for the Parliament of India. Parliament can do so by announcing new states, separating territory from an existing state or by merging two or more states or parts thereof. In addition to the existing twenty nine states and seven union territories some new states and territories of India have been proposed to be established over time.
India
India is the world's most populous democracy. A parliamentary republic with a multi-party system, it has sevenrecognised national parties, including the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 40regional parties. The Congress is considered centre-left in Indian political culture, and the BJP right-wing. For most of the period between 1950—when India first became a republic—and the late 1980s, the Congress held a majority in the parliament. Since then, however, it has increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP, as well as with powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party coalition governments at the centre.
Highway systems by country
In India, 'Highway' refers to one of the many "National Highways" or "State Highways" that run up to a total length of about 96,260 km consisting mostly of two-lane paved roads, changing into higher lanes mostly around cities. National Highways are designated as NH followed by the number.
As of 2009, the major cities in India – Ahmedabad, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Delhi – are connected by the Golden Quadrilateral or North-South and East-West Corridor, that consists of 4 to 6 laned roads. Other major cities are connected to it by the National Highways.
Mobile tower fraud
India is a country with 29 states and 9 union territories spreading across 3,287,240 square km with a population of 1,028,737,436 and a wireless teledensity of 78.93. Mobile phones are being used as the prime tool for contacting the target victims, whereas the internet, print media, television are being used as media to communicate the schemes, business plan, goods and services to the targets by the mass market fraudster. India has seen the emergence of a new type of mass market fraud during the last few years. This mass market fraud centers on the installation of a mobile tower on property owned by the victim. On the basis of scheme, this fraud may be termed "mass mobile tower fraud". Fraudsters have used innovative and sophisticated techniques to get money from victims. This fraud is unique to the Indian subcontinent and it is not mentioned in any discussion of mass market fraud in any of the OFT, FTC, ABS, FBI or IMMFGW documents.
Indian states ranking by families owning house
This is a list of the States of India ranked in order of percentage of families
owning a house as per the Census of India 2011.
List of universities in India
These four types of universities total 821 universities together. There are universities of some kind in each of the 29 states of India as well as three of the union territories: Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry. The state with the most universities is Rajasthan with 76 universities, and Rajasthan has also by far the most private universities, 46 in number. Tamil Nadu is the state with the most deemed universities, numbering 28 and Uttar Pradesh has the most state universities, 29. Uttar Pradesh also has six central universities, the largest number of all the states and territories.
List of state universities in India
There are 21 state universities in Rajasthan.
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh (, translation: "Thirty-Six Forts") is one of the 29 states of India, located in the centre-east of the country. It is the ninth-largest state in India, with an area of . With a 2011 population of 25.5 million, Chhattisgarh is the 17th-most populated state in the country. A resource-rich state, it is a source of electricity and steel for the country, accounting for 15% of the total steel produced. Chhattisgarh is one of the fastest-developing states in India.
The state was formed on 1 November 2000 by partitioning 10 Chhattisgarhi and 6 Gondi speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh. The capital city is Raipur. Chhattisgarh borders the states of Madhya Pradesh in the northwest, Uttar Pradesh in the north, Jharkhand in northeast, Maharashtra in the southwest, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in the south, Odisha in the southeast. Currently the state comprises 27 districts.
State governments of India
State Governments in India see the presence of both National and Regional Parties. As of 11 December 2018, the National Democratic Alliance is in power in 17 states, the United Progressive Alliance is in power in 5 states and 1 union territory, the CPI(M) is in power in 1 state, rest of the states with regional parties.
Indian Independence Act 1947
Over 560 princely states acceded to India by 15 August. The exceptions were Junagadh, Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir. The state of Jammu and Kashmir, which was contiguous to both India and Pakistan but, its Hindu ruler chose to remain initially independent. Following a Pakistani tribal invasion, he acceded to India on 26 October 1947, and the state became a dispute between India and Pakistan. The state of Junagadh initially acceded to Pakistan but faced a revolt from its Hindu population. Following a breakdown of law and order, its Dewan requested India to take over the administration on 8 November 1947. India conducted a referendum in the state on 20 February 1948, in which the people voted overwhelmingly to join India. The state of Hyderabad, with majority Hindu population but Muslim ruler, faced an intense turmoil and sectarian violence. India invaded the state on 13 September 1948, following which the ruler of the state signed the Instrument of Accession, joining India.
Controlled-access highway
The National Highways Network in India, is managed and maintained by agencies of the Government of India. Currently India has of National Highways out of which more than are four- or six-laned and the remaining are two-laned.
The national highway system of India consists of approximately of four-laned highways that collect tolls from users but do not have control of access and cannot be called expressways. Currently, a massive project is underway to expand the highway network and the Government of India plans to add an additional of expressways to the network by the year 2022 with to come up by 2015.
List of heads of state of India
This is a list of the heads of state of India, from the independence of India in 1947 to the present day. The current head of state of India is Ram Nath Kovind, elected in 2017 after being nominated by BJP, the party run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
States Reorganisation Commission
The States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) was a body constituted by the Central Government of India in 1953 to recommend the reorganisation of state boundaries. In 1955, after nearly 2 years of study, the Commission recommended that India's state boundaries should be reorganised to form 14 states and 3 union territories.
Terrorism in India
Northeastern India consists of seven states (also known as "the seven sisters"): Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland. Tensions exists between these states and the central government, as well as amongst the tribal people, who are natives of these states, and migrant peoples from other parts of India.
List of female Indian governors
In India, a governor is the constitutional head of each of the twenty-nine states. The governor is appointed by the President of India for a term of five years, and holds office at the President's pleasure. The governor is "de jure" head of the state government; all its executive actions are taken in the governor's name. However, the governor must act on the advice of the popularly elected council of ministers, headed by the chief minister, who thus hold "de facto" executive authority at the state-level. The Constitution of India also empowers the governor to act upon his or her own discretion, such as the ability to appoint or dismiss a ministry, recommend President's rule, or reserve bills for the President's assent. Over the years, the exercise of these discretionary powers have given rise to conflict between the elected chief minister and the central government–appointed governor. The union territories of Andaman and Nicobar, Delhi and Puducherry are headed by lieutenant-governors.
Outline of Haryana
Haryana – one of the 29 states of the democratic Republic of India. Located in northern region of the Indian subcontinent, it is India's 21st largest state by area, and 18th most populous state. Haryana surrounds the National Capital Territory of Delhi on three sides, forming the latter's northern, western and southern borders. The economic, social and cultural facets of Haryana include high economic development, high GDP per capita, high life expectancy, low female-to-male sex ratio, and rich sporting tradition.Out of total 30 states and union territories (1st highest, 35th lowest):Caste/community breakdown:
List of million-plus urban agglomerations in India
India is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people. India consists of twenty-nine states and seven union territories. It is a home to 17.5 percent of the world's population.
Ports in India
Indian government has a federal structure, and according to its constitution, maritime transport is to be administered by both the Central and the State governments. While the central government's shipping ministry administers the major ports, the minor and intermediate ports are administered by the relevant departments or ministries in the nine coastal states Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Several of these 187 minor and intermediate ports have been identified by the respective governments to be developed, in a phased manner, a good proportion of them involving public–private partnership.
Secularism in India
With the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution of India enacted in 1976, the Preamble to the Constitution asserted that India is a secular nation. However, neither India's constitution nor its laws define the relationship between religion and state. The laws implicitly require the state and its institutions to recognise and accept all religions, enforce parliamentary laws instead of religious laws, and respect pluralism. India does not have an official state religion. In matters of law in modern India, however, the applicable code of law is unequal, and India's personal laws - on matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, alimony - varies with an individual's religion. Muslim Indians have Sharia-based Muslim Personal Law, while Hindu, Christian and Sikh Indians live under common law. The attempt to respect unequal, religious law has created a number of issues in India such as acceptability of child marriage, polygamy, unequal inheritance rights, extra judicial unilateral divorce rights favorable to some males, and conflicting interpretations of religious books.
India
India (IAST: ), also known as the Republic of India (IAST: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by area and with more than 1.3 billion people, it is the second most populous country and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Part I of the Constitution of India
says that India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of states and the territory of India is composed of territories of states, the union territories and any acquired territories as listed in Schedule 1 per . There was widespread disagreement in the constituent assembly on whether to use India or Bharat as the official name of the country. As a compromise, 'India, that is Bharat' was used. Though India is defined as a 'federation with strong centralising tendency', the word federation has not been used even once in the constitution. Instead, the term union is used. This is done on purpose as Dr. B.R. Ambedkar preferred the use of word union in place of federation to emphasise that India is not a result of an agreement between different states and hence no state has right to secede from it. The details of union, states, union territories are further given in Parts V, VI and VIII of the constitution respectively. Article 1 mandates a federal structure in which all the citizens of states which are collectively called India (Bharat) shall have at least two tier governance with second tier as locally elected state government. When a union territory is listed in Schedule 1 of the constitution it is part of 'territory of India' but not union of states (i.e. India/ Bharat) and will be governed by the president as per of Part VIII. When the word India or Bharat or union of India is used in the constitution, it is applicable to the territories of states only. When the word 'territory of India' is used in the constitution, it is applicable to all the territories including the union territories and any acquired territories. Presently, there is no other area forming territory of India excluding its states and union territories.
The acquired territories can be converted in to a state/states as per Article 2. Per Article 2, Sikkim was admitted as a state in Indian union on 26 April 1975.
Names for India
The Republic of India has two principal short names in both official and popular English usage, each of which is historically significant, "India" and "Bharat". The first article of the Constitution of India states that "India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of states," implicitly codifying "India" and "Bharat" as equally official short names for the Republic of India. A third name, "Hindustan", is an alternative name for the region comprising most of the modern nations of the subcontinent when Indians speak among themselves. The usage of "Bharat", "Hindustan", or "India" depends on the context and language of conversation.
Outline of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh – one of the 29 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of the country. The state is the eighth largest state in India covering an area of 160,205 km2 (61,855 sq mi).[3] As per 2011 census of India, the state is tenth largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants. On 2 June 2014, the north-western portion of the state was bifurcated to form a new state of Telangana. In accordance with the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad will remain the de jure capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states for a period of time not exceeding 10 years.
Geography of Andhra Pradesh
History of Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state in the western region of India and is India's second-most populous state and third-largest state by area.Although the present day state in India was only formed in 1960,the region that comprises the state has a long history dating back to the 4th century BCE.
Women in India
The steady change in the position of women can be highlighted by looking at what has been achieved by women in the country:India has one of the highest number of female politicians in the world. Women have held high offices in India including that of the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Leader of the Opposition.
The Indian states Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Tripura have implemented 50% reservation for women in PRIs. Majority of candidates in these Panchayats are women. Currently 100% of elected members in Kodassery Panchayat in Kerala are women. There are currently 2 female chief ministers in India as of Sept 2018.
Rajasthan
Rajasthan ( ; literally, "Land of Kings") is a state in northern India. The state covers an area of or 10.4 percent of the total geographical area of India. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. Rajasthan is located on the northwestern side of India, where it comprises most of the wide and inhospitable Thar Desert (also known as the "Rajasthan Desert" and "Great Indian Desert") and shares a border with the Pakistani provinces of Punjab to the northwest and Sindh to the west, along the Sutlej-Indus river valley. Elsewhere it is bordered by five other Indian states: Punjab to the north; Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to the northeast; Madhya Pradesh to the southeast; and Gujarat to the southwest.
List of states and union territories of India by fertility rate
This is a list of the States and union territories of India of India ranked in order of number of children born for each woman. Recent surveys show that majority of Indian states fertility rate has fallen well below the replacement level of 2.1 and the country is fast approaching the replacement level itself. The total fertility rate of India stands at 2.2 as of 2017.
List of current Indian chief justices
This is a list of current Chief Justices of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India, the highest court in every state of the Republic of India. There are currently 25 High Courts in the country with six of them having multiple jurisdictions.
States Reorganisation Act, 1956
The States Reorganisation Commission submitted a report on September 30, 1955, with recommendations for the reorganisation of India's states, which was then debated by the Indian parliament. Subsequently, bills were passed to make changes to the constitution and to administer the reorganisation of the states.
The States Reorganisation Act was enacted on 31 August 1956. Before it came into effect on 1 November, an important amendment was made to the Constitution of India. Under the Seventh Amendment, the existing distinction among Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D states was abolished. The distinction between Part A and Part B states was removed, becoming known simply as "states". A new type of entity, the Union Territory, replaced the classification as a Part C or Part D state.
List of princely states of British India (by region)
Before the Partition of India in 1947, 584 Princely States, also called Native States, existed in India, which were not fully and formally part of British India, the parts of the Indian subcontinent which had not been conquered or annexed by the British but under indirect rule, subject to subsidiary alliances.
South India
South India consists of the five southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar. Puducherry and the five states have an elected state government each, while the Lakshadweep and Andaman islands are centrally administered by the President of India. Each sub-region is further divided into districts. Each state is headed by a Governor, who is a direct appointee of the President of India, while the Chief Minister is the elected head of the state government and represents the state's ruling party or coalition.South India elects 132 members to the Lok Sabha accounting for roughly one-fourth of the total strength. The region has an allocation of 58 seats in Rajya Sabha out of the total 245. Each state is headed by a Governor, who is a direct appointee of the President of India; the Chief Minister is the elected head of the state government and represents the ruling party or coalition. Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry follow unicameral legislature while Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana follow bicameral legislature.
Federalism in India
says that India is a Union of States as elaborated under Parts and of the Constitution. Article 1 (3) says territories of India constitute states, union territories and other acquired territories. The concept of union territory was established by the Seventh Amendment. References to Territories of India, are applicable to the whole country including union territories. References to only India, are applicable to states, but not to union territories.
List of states in India by past population
India is a union of twenty-nine states and seven union territories. As of 2011, with an estimated population of 1.210 billion, India is the world's second most populated country after the People's Republic of China. India occupies 2.4 percent of the world's land surface area but is home to 17.5 percent of the world's population. The Indo-Gangetic plains are among the most densely populated areas of the world. The eastern and western coastal regions of Deccan traps are also densely populated regions of India. The Thar desert in western Rajasthan is one of the most densely populated deserts in the world. The northern and north-eastern states along the Himalayas contain cold arid deserts with fertile valleys. These states have less population density due to indomitable physical barriers.
List of state universities in India
There are 29 state universities in Uttar Pradesh.
South India
After the independence of India in 1947, the region was organised into four states: Madras State, Mysore State, Hyderabad State and Travancore-Cochin. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 reorganised the states on linguistic lines resulting in the creation of the new states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. As a result of this Act, Madras State retained its name and Kanyakumari district was added to it from the state of Travancore-Cochin. The state was subsequently renamed Tamil Nadu in 1968. Andhra Pradesh was created through the merger of Andhra State with the Telugu-speaking districts of the Hyderabad State in 1956. Kerala emerged from the merger of Malabar district and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara districts of the Madras State with Travancore-Cochin. Mysore State was re-organised with the addition of districts of Bellary and South Canara (excluding Kasaragod "taluk") and the Kollegal taluk of Coimbatore district from the Madras State, the districts of Belgaum, Bijapur, North Canara and Dharwad from the Bombay State, the Kannada-majority districts of Bidar, Raichur and Gulbarga from the Hyderabad State and the province of Coorg. Mysore State was renamed as Karnataka in 1973. The Union territory of Puducherry was created in 1954 comprising the previous French enclaves of Pondichérry, Karaikal, Yanam and Mahé. The Laccadive Islands, which were divided between South Canara and Malabar districts of Madras State, were united and organised into the union territory of Lakshadweep. Telangana was created on 2 June 2014 by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh and it comprises ten districts of the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh.