Hindi belt

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The regions where Hindi is the primary language are shown in Purple, while the regions marked in Pink have large communities of Hindi-speaking people.

The Hindi belt is a common reference to the northern Indian region were Hindi is spoken natively or as a primary language. The Hindi belt covers the following Indian states:

The Union Territory of Chandigarh and the National Capital Territory of Delhi also lie in this belt.

The states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have large communities of Hindi-speaking people, but are not regarded as a part of the Hindi belt.

[edit] Economy of Hindi Belt

Hindi belt has more economic inequality compared to other cultural and linguistic zones in India. States like Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi are some of the fastest growing states in India. The Union Territory of Chandigarh has the highest per-capita income in India followed by Delhi. However, other states in this belt are plagued by chronic economic and social instability. The states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have one of the lowest per-capita incomes in India. Corruption, government inefficiency and over-population are regarded as the main causes for the economic stagnation of these states. The per-capita income of the Hindi belt states is 8433 INR. In comparison, southern India has a per-capita income of 13629 INR.

See also: Economy of India, BIMARU, and Fodder Scam