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Indian States: Formation and Capitals
A compact, tabular revision of India's 28 States and 8 Union Territories, their capitals and formation years, the reorganisation chronology and statehood milestones, for CAPF Paper I
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SubjectGeography
RevisionGeographyStatesCapitalsFormationReorganisationPaper 1
One screen per section. Cover the right column and test yourself. The number of States and Union Territories and the capitals are stable static facts, but the map has changed several times in recent years, so verify the latest count and any newly bifurcated entity. Article 1 calls India a "Union of States"; the First Schedule lists the States and Union Territories. As of the latest position India has 28 States and 8 Union Territories. The detailed paper-1 treatment is in states uts and capitals.
| State |
Capital |
| Jammu and Kashmir (now a UT) |
Srinagar (summer), Jammu (winter) |
| Himachal Pradesh |
Shimla |
| Punjab |
Chandigarh (shared with Haryana) |
| Haryana |
Chandigarh (shared with Punjab) |
| Uttarakhand |
Dehradun |
| Uttar Pradesh |
Lucknow |
| Rajasthan |
Jaipur |
| Madhya Pradesh |
Bhopal |
| Chhattisgarh |
Raipur |
| State |
Capital |
| Bihar |
Patna |
| Jharkhand |
Ranchi |
| West Bengal |
Kolkata |
| Odisha |
Bhubaneswar |
| Sikkim |
Gangtok |
| Assam |
Dispur |
| Arunachal Pradesh |
Itanagar |
| Nagaland |
Kohima |
| Manipur |
Imphal |
| Mizoram |
Aizawl |
| Tripura |
Agartala |
| Meghalaya |
Shillong |
| State |
Capital |
| Gujarat |
Gandhinagar |
| Maharashtra |
Mumbai (Nagpur is the winter session seat) |
| Goa |
Panaji |
| Karnataka |
Bengaluru |
| Telangana |
Hyderabad |
| Andhra Pradesh |
Amaravati (verify the latest, given relocation debates) |
| Kerala |
Thiruvananthapuram |
| Tamil Nadu |
Chennai |
| Union Territory |
Capital |
| Delhi (NCT) |
New Delhi |
| Puducherry |
Puducherry |
| Jammu and Kashmir |
Srinagar/Jammu |
| Ladakh |
Leh (no legislature) |
| Chandigarh |
Chandigarh |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
Port Blair (renamed Sri Vijaya Puram; verify the latest) |
| Lakshadweep |
Kavaratti |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu |
Daman (merged into one UT in 2020) |
| Year |
Milestone |
| 1953 |
Andhra State created (first State on a linguistic basis) |
| 1956 |
States Reorganisation Act, on the basis of language; States and Union Territories restructured |
| 1960 |
Bombay State split into Maharashtra and Gujarat |
| 1963 |
Nagaland created |
| 1966 |
Punjab reorganised; Haryana created; Chandigarh became a UT |
| 1971-1972 |
Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya attained statehood |
| 1975 |
Sikkim became the 22nd State |
| 1987 |
Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Goa attained statehood |
| 2000 |
Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand created |
| 2014 |
Telangana carved out of Andhra Pradesh (29th State at the time) |
| 2019 |
Jammu and Kashmir reorganised into two Union Territories (J&K and Ladakh) |
| 2020 |
Dadra and Nagar Haveli merged with Daman and Diu |
| Item |
Fact |
| First State on linguistic basis |
Andhra (1953), after the agitation led by Potti Sriramulu |
| Basis of 1956 reorganisation |
Language, on the recommendation of the States Reorganisation Commission (Fazl Ali, K M Panikkar, H N Kunzru) |
| Latest full State created |
Telangana (2014) |
| Constitutional authority to alter States |
Parliament under Article 3 |
| Provision listing States and UTs |
First Schedule |
| Arrangement |
Detail |
| Chandigarh |
Shared capital of Punjab and Haryana, itself a UT |
| Maharashtra |
Mumbai (main) and Nagpur (winter session) |
| Himachal Pradesh |
Shimla (summer) and Dharamshala (winter session) |
| Jammu and Kashmir |
Srinagar (summer) and Jammu (winter), the "Durbar Move" tradition |
| Bordering country |
Indian States that touch it |
| Pakistan |
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir (UT) |
| China |
Ladakh (UT), Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh |
| Nepal |
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim |
| Bhutan |
Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh |
| Bangladesh |
West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram |
| Myanmar |
Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram |
For the forces guarding these borders see the five capfs quick facts and important boundary lines of the world.