India is officially known as the Republic of India. It comprises of a total of 28 states along with eight union territories. India is the second most populated country in the world and the world’s largest democracy. The country’s coastline measures 7,517 kilometres in length, out of which 5,423 kilometres belong to peninsular India, and 2,094 kilometres belong to Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep island chains. Additionally, the Indian naval hydrographic charts along with mainland coastline include 43% of sandy beaches, 36% of mudflats, marshy shores of 10% and rocky shores of 11%.
Broadly, India is divided into six major zones: East India, West India, North India, South India, Northeast India and Central India.
Eastern India includes the states of
Bihar,
Jharkhand,
Odisha,
West Bengal and a union territory Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The total population of these states is 226,925,195. The Eastern zone covers a total area of 418,323 sq km Bengali is the dominant language in the state of West Bengal. In contrast, Odia and Hindi are the principal languages in the states of Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand. English, Maithili, Nepali and Urdu are other languages spoken in Eastern India.
The Western region of India covers a total area of 508, 052 sq km Some of the popular states of western India are
Gujarat,
Goa and
Maharashtra Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu. Mumbai, the financial capital of India, is the capital city of Maharashtra. The states of western India have a prosperous economy with a relatively high standard of living. Official languages of the Western Indian states are Marathi, Gujarati, Konkani and English.
The six states of North India are
Himachal Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh,
Rajasthan,
Uttarakhand,
Punjab,
Haryana with union territories of
Delhi (National Capital Territory),
Chandigarh
Ladakh and
Jammu and Kashmir. The economy of northern India is growing at a fast pace. The most populous cities of North India are New Delhi, Lucknow, and Chandigarh.
Southern India covers states like
Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka,
Kerala,
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with the union territories of
Lakshadweep. and Puducherry. Over 19.31% of India’s total area is occupied by these states and union territories. Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, is known as the ‘Silicon Valley of India’ because it is India’s leading exporter in the IT sector. Most populated cities of South India are Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Coimbatore, Cochin and Mysore.
Northeast India includes the seven sister states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland. The Himalayan state of Sikkim and Jalpaiguri Division are two important parts of northeast India. There is a great ethnic and religious diversity within the seven sister states. The Central zone of India primarily refers to Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Maps in Other Regional Languages
Last Updated on: February 16, 2022
Union Territories of India
