Administrative divisions of India

The Administrative divisions of India are Indian subnational administrative units; they compose a nested hierarchy of country subdivisions. Indian states and territories frequently use different local titles for the same level of subdivision (e.g., the Mandals of Andhra Pradesh correspond to Tehsils of Uttar Pradesh and other Hindi-speaking states and Talukas of Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu).[1]

The smaller subdivisions (villages and blocks) exist only in rural areas. In urban areas Urban Local Bodies exist instead of these rural subdivisions.

Zones

The States have been grouped into six zones having an Advisory Council to develop the habit of cooperative working” among these States. Five Zonal Councils were set up vide Part-III of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The North Eastern States' special problems are addressed by another statutory body - The North Eastern Council, created by the North Eastern Council Act,1971.[2] The present composition of each of these Zonal Councils is as under:[3]

The Northern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and the Union Territory of Chandigarh;

The North-Central Zonal Council, comprising the States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and National Capital Territory of Delhi;

The North-Eastern Zonal Council, comprising the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura;

The Eastern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Sikkim, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The Western Zonal Council, comprising the States of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu;

The Southern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and the Union Territories Lakshadweep and Puducherry.

States and union territories

India is composed of 29 states and 7 union territories (including a national capital territory).[4] The union territories are governed by administrators, appointed by the President of India. Two of the territories (Delhi and Puducherry) have been given partial statehood, with elected legislatures and executive councils of ministers, but limited powers.

Indian Ocean Bay of Bengal Andaman Sea Arabian Sea Laccadive Sea Siachen Glacier Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chandigarh Dadra and Nagar Haveli Daman and Diu Delhi Lakshadweep Pondicherry Pondicherry Pondicherry Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Odisha Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan Burma China Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka Tajikistan Dadra and Nagar Haveli Daman and Diu Pondicherry Pondicherry Pondicherry Pondicherry Goa Gujarat Jammu and Kashmir Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Assam Meghalaya Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Nagaland Manipur Mizoram Telangana Tripura West Bengal Sikkim Bhutan Bangladesh Bihar Jharkhand Odisha Chhattisgarh Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand Nepal Delhi Haryana Himachal Pradesh Chandigarh Pakistan Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Disputed territory in Jammu and Kashmir Disputed territory in Jammu and Kashmir
A clickable map of the 29 states and 7 union territories of India
States
Number State Code Capital
1 Andhra Pradesh AP Hyderabad (shared with Telangana for 10 years), Vijayawada [5] announced as capital after 10 years
2 Arunachal Pradesh AR Itanagar
3 Assam AS Dispur
4 Bihar BR Patna
5 Chhattisgarh CG Raipur (interim)
6 Goa GA Panaji
7 Gujarat GJ Gandhinagar
8 Haryana HR Chandigarh (shared with Punjab, also a Union Territory)
9 Himachal Pradesh HP Shimla
10 Jammu and Kashmir JK Srinagar (summer), Jammu (winter)
11 Jharkhand JH Ranchi
12 Karnataka KA Bengaluru
13 Kerala KL Thiruvananthapuram
14 Madhya Pradesh MP Bhopal
15 Maharashtra MH Mumbai
16 Manipur MN Imphal
17 Meghalaya ML Shillong
18 Mizoram MZ Aizawl
19 Nagaland NL Kohima
20 Odisha OD Bhubaneshwar
21 Punjab PB Chandigarh (shared with Haryana, also a Union Territory)
22 Rajasthan RJ Jaipur
23 Sikkim SK Gangtok
24 Tamil Nadu TN Chennai
25 Telangana[6] TS Hyderabad
26 Tripura TR Agartala
27 Uttar Pradesh UP Lucknow
28 Uttarakhand UK Dehradun (interim)
29 West Bengal WB Kolkata
Union territories
Number Union territory Code Capital
A Andaman and Nicobar Islands AN Port Blair
B Chandigarh CH Chandigarh (also the capital of Haryana and Punjab)
C Dadra and Nagar Haveli DN Silvassa
D Daman and Diu DD Daman
E Lakshadweep LD Kavaratti
F National Capital Territory of Delhi DL New Delhi
G Puducherry PY Pondicherry
See also:
List of states and union territories of India by population (area can also be found)
Official languages of India#Languages currently used In Indian states and union territories

Regions

Some of the states of India are divided into regions. The Regions of India are not official administrative divisions. They 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.

Divisions

Some of the Indian states are subdivided into divisions, each comprising several districts:

Districts

States and territories (or divisions) are further subdivided into Districts (zilla), of which there are 655.[7]

Sub-districts

Main article: Tehsils of India

Tehsils, talukas, blocks or mandals (sub-districts but can also refer to division), headed by a Tehsildar or Talukdar, comprise several villages or village clusters. The governmental bodies at the Tehsil level are called the panchayat samiti.

States use varying names for their sub-districts. Detailed information is as follows:[8]

State Sub–district Number of
sub–districts
Andhra Pradesh Mandal 661
Arunachal Pradesh Circle 149
Assam Circle 155
Bihar C.D.Block 533
Chhattisgarh Tehsil 97
Goa Taluka 12
Gujarat Taluka 226
Haryana Tehsil 67
Himachal Pradesh Tehsil 109
Jammu and Kashmir Tehsil 59
Jharkhand C.D.Block 210
Karnataka Taluka 175
Kerala Taluka 63
Madhya Pradesh Tehsil 259
Maharashtra Taluka 353
Manipur Sub-Division 38
Meghalaya C.D.Block 39
Mizoram C.D.Block 22
Nagaland Circle 93
Odisha Police Station 485
Punjab Tehsil 72
Rajasthan Tehsil 241
Sikkim Sub-Division 9
Tamil Nadu Taluka 201
Telangana Mandal 452
Tripura C.D.Block 38
Uttar Pradesh Tehsil 305
Uttarakhand Tehsil 49
West Bengal C.D.Block 341
Union Territory Sub–district Number of
sub–districts
Andaman and Nicobar Islands Tehsil 7
Chandigarh Tehsil 1
Dadra and Nagar Haveli Taluka 1
Daman and Diu Taluka 2
Delhi Tehsil 27
Lakshadweep Sub-Division 4
Puducherry Commune Panchayat 10

Local level

Blocks

The block is often the next level of administrative division after the tehsil.

Hoblis

A hobli is a subdivision of a taluka which groups adjoining villages in the state of Karnataka. They may have been made for administrative purposes by the revenue department of the state.

Villages

Villages are often the lowest level of subdivisions in India. The governmental bodies at the village level are called Gram Panchayat, of which there were an estimated 256,000 in 2002. Each Gram Panchayat covers a large village or a cluster of smaller villages with a combined population exceeding 500 Gram Sabha. Clusters of villages are also sometimes called Hobli or Patti.

Habitations

Certain governmental functions and activities - including clean water availability, rural development, and education - are tracked at a sub-village level.[9] These hamlets are termed "habitations". India is composed of approximately 1.6 million habitations.[10] In some states, most villages have a single habitation; in others (notably Kerala and Tripura) there is a high ratio of habitations to villages.[11]

Metropolitan

The metropolitan cities of India are: Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Corporations

Corporations in India are classified as tier 2 cities like Nagapur, Kanpur, Vizag and others

Municipalities

Municipalities are tier 3 and tier 4 cities, Municipalities of India are governed by Municipal Corporations (Nagar Nigam) for large urban areas, Municipal Councils (Nagar Palika) for smaller urban areas, and Town Councils (Nagar Panchayat) for suburban areas. Municipalities can be as large as a district or smaller than a Tehsil.

Historic

See also

References

External links