Administrative divisions: states, Union Territories and capitals

Detail

1. The current political map: 28 states and 8 UTs

• State: a unit with its own elected government. It shares power with the Union (central) government.
• Union Territory (UT): a unit governed directly by the Union government through an Administrator or Lieutenant Governor appointed by the President.
• India today has 28 states and 8 UTs (verify current).
• Figure 1.1 (Administrative Divisions) in Class 11 NCERT is out of date. It was drawn before the 2019–20 changes. Use the latest Survey of India map.
• The Survey General of India published maps of the new UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, as they stood on 31 October 2019, together with a new map of India [2].
• Census 2011 counted 35 States/UTs and 640 districts [6].

How the count changed (2011 → today)

Date	Change	States	UTs
Census 2011	Andhra Pradesh undivided; J&K a state	28	7 (35 in all [6])
2 June 2014	Telangana carved out of Andhra Pradesh	29	7
31 October 2019	J&K state split into the UT of J&K and the UT of Ladakh (J&K Reorganisation Act 2019)	28	9
26 January 2020	Dadra and Nagar Haveli + Daman and Diu merged into one UT	28	8

• Telangana (2 June 2014) is India's newest state.
• How states are created or changed (the Parliament's powers) is covered in polity's federalism topics.

2. The 8 Union Territories

UT	Note
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Large island chain in the Bay of Bengal; few people
Chandigarh	City UT; shared capital of Punjab and Haryana
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	Merged on 26 January 2020
Delhi (NCT)	National Capital Territory; has a legislature
Jammu and Kashmir	Created 31 October 2019; has a legislature
Ladakh	Created 31 October 2019; largest UT; no legislature
Lakshadweep	Coral islands in the Arabian Sea; smallest UT
Puducherry	Has a legislature

The DNH and DD merger

• Law: the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Act, 2019 (Act No. 44 of 2019) [4][5].
• Passed by Lok Sabha on 27 November 2019 and by Rajya Sabha on 3 December 2019 [4].
• The appointed day (the date the merger came into force) was 26 January 2020. It was notified on 19 December 2019 [5].
• The merged UT has 2 Lok Sabha seats [4].

Ladakh: how it is drawn on the official map

• The President's J&K Reorganisation (Removal of Difficulties) Second Order, 2019 defined Leh district [2].
• Leh includes the 1947 areas of Gilgit, Gilgit Wazarat, Chilhas and the Tribal Territory [2].
• It also includes the rest of the 1947 Leh and Ladakh districts, except Kargil district [2].

• So India's official map shows Ladakh as very large. This is why Ladakh is the largest UT.

• In 2024 the Ministry of Home Affairs decided to create 5 new districts in Ladakh [3].

UTs with their own legislatures

• Only Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir have them.
• Ladakh has no legislature, even though it was created on the same day as J&K.

3. Ranking facts to remember

Rank	Answer	Figure
Largest state by area	Rajasthan	342,239 km² (Census 2011) [7]
2nd and 3rd by area	Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra	—
Smallest state by area	Goa	—
Most populous state	Uttar Pradesh (Census 2011)	about 200 million, more than Brazil's population [6]
2nd most populous state	Maharashtra	UP + Maharashtra = 312 million (Census 2011), more than the USA [6]
Largest UT by area	Ladakh	—
Smallest UT	Lakshadweep (by area and population)	population 60,650 (Census 2011) [7]
Most populous UT	Delhi	13.8 million (Census 2011) [7]

• The big picture: in 2011 India had only 2.4% of the world's surface area but 17.5% of its people [6].
• The trap: large area does not mean large population.
• Rajasthan is the largest state by area, but Uttar Pradesh has the most people.

4. Coastal vs landlocked states

• Landlocked state: a state with no coastline. No part of it touches the sea.
• 19 of the 28 states are landlocked. The other 9 are coastal: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.
• Four UTs touch the sea: Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep.

The 19 landlocked states, roughly west to east (the NCERT project asks for this order)

1. Rajasthan
2. Punjab
3. Haryana
4. Himachal Pradesh
5. Madhya Pradesh
6. Uttarakhand
7. Uttar Pradesh
8. Chhattisgarh
9. Telangana
10. Jharkhand
11. Bihar
12. Sikkim 13–19. The other seven North-eastern states: Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh

• No part of the North-East touches the sea. All eight NE states (including Sikkim) are landlocked.
• Telangana is landlocked.
• When it was carved out in 2014, Andhra Pradesh kept the whole coast.

5. Capitals in the news

Andhra Pradesh: Amaravati

• Hyderabad was first made the common capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for 10 years (2014–2024) [8].
• The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026 names Amaravati as Andhra Pradesh's capital after the common-capital period ended [8].

• It passed Lok Sabha on 1 April 2026 and Rajya Sabha on 2 April 2026. It is now law [8].

• Uttarakhand: Gairsain is the summer capital. Dehradun remains the working capital.

6. Area and population do not always match: NCT Delhi vs Andaman and Nicobar

• Population density: the number of people living in each square kilometre [6].
• NCT Delhi is a small, crowded city-region.
• It had India's highest density: 11,297 persons/km² (Census 2011) [6].

• Chandigarh came next with 9,252 [6].

• Andaman and Nicobar is a large, thinly peopled chain of islands, spread far out in the Bay of Bengal.

• Why density varies: places differ in climate, landform and resources [6].
• Comparison (Census 2011):
• All India: 382 persons/km², up from 325 in 2001 [6].
• Bihar: 1,102 (most dense major state) [6].
• West Bengal: 1,029; Kerala: 859 [6].

• Arunachal Pradesh: 17 (least dense state) [6].

• More detail on density is in the india-population topic.

7. Districts vs area (NCERT project idea)

• District: the main administrative unit inside a state or UT.
• The number of districts does not follow area.

• Large states with few people, like Rajasthan, can have fewer districts for their size than small, crowded states.

• District counts keep changing. Ladakh's 5 new districts (2024) are an example [3].

• So always check the latest official list, not an old map.

8. Map practice: School Bhuvan NCERT

• School Bhuvan NCERT is a free map-learning website run by NRSC/ISRO (National Remote Sensing Centre, under the Indian Space Research Organisation).
• Use it to mark states, UTs, capitals and coastal/landlocked states on satellite-based maps.
• See the remote-sensing-gis topic for more.

Prelims Hooks

• Count: 28 states + 8 UTs. Census 2011 counted 35 States/UTs and 640 districts.
• Newest state: Telangana (2 June 2014). It is landlocked.
• Newest UTs: J&K and Ladakh (31 October 2019). DNH and DD merged on 26 January 2020 under Act No. 44 of 2019.
• UTs with legislatures: Delhi, Puducherry, J&K. Trap: Ladakh and Chandigarh have none.
• Area order: Rajasthan > Madhya Pradesh > Maharashtra. Smallest state: Goa. Largest UT: Ladakh. Smallest UT: Lakshadweep.
• Population: UP is first and Maharashtra second (Census 2011). Delhi is the most populous UT. Lakshadweep is the least populous UT (60,650).
• Density (Census 2011): highest NCT Delhi (11,297), then Chandigarh (9,252). Lowest state: Arunachal Pradesh (17). India: 382.
• Landlocked: 19 states, including all 8 NE states. Trap: Tripura and Mizoram lie close to the Bay of Bengal but have no coast.
• Capitals: Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh, Amendment Act 2026). Hyderabad was the common capital for 10 years. Gairsain is Uttarakhand's summer capital.
• Map fact: the official Leh district includes the 1947 areas of Gilgit, Gilgit Wazarat, Chilhas and the Tribal Territory.

Mains Points

• Maps keep changing, so use updated official maps.
• 2014 (Telangana), 2019 (J&K and Ladakh) and 2020 (DNH and DD merger) all redrew India's map.

• Survey of India maps show these changes. They also state India's claim over areas such as Gilgit-Baltistan.

• Area and population often do not match. This affects planning.

• Delhi (11,297/km²) faces overcrowding, housing and water stress.
• Thinly peopled units like Arunachal Pradesh (17/km²) and Andaman and Nicobar have high costs to deliver services.

• The Finance Commission and the drawing of constituencies must balance area against population.

• Being landlocked shapes the economy.

• 19 states have no coast and depend on ports in other states.

• The North-East has no coast at all. This makes its links to the rest of India very important.

• Capital disputes after a state is split (Andhra Pradesh: Hyderabad → Amaravati; Uttarakhand: Dehradun/Gairsain) show the money and regional-balance problems of reorganising states. Use this in GS-I answers on regionalism.