Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh is a big state, situated in the northern region of India. The state was previously known as the United Provinces. The capital of Uttar Pradesh is Lucknow and the biggest city of the state is Kanpur. Lucknow serves as the legislative and administrative capital of the state and at the same time, Kanpur serves as the commercial and industrial capital of the state. With a population of 200,000,000, Uttar Pradesh ranks as the most populated state in India. Agricultural operations form the backbone of the economy of the state. The state of Uttar Pradesh is made up of seventy districts and these districts are further grouped into 18 divisions.

A number of kingdoms reigned over Uttar Pradesh and they include the

Nanda	Mauryan	Rashtrakuta
Magadha	Gupta	Gurjara
Sunga	Kushan	Mughal
--	--	Pala kingdoms

Area of Uttar Pradesh

The state covers a total area of 243,290 km2 or 93,933 sq miles.

Important cities and towns in Uttar Pradesh

The state of Uttar Pradesh houses various traditionally significant and historic cities like Varanasi, Allahabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, and Agra.

Varanasi, formerly named as Kashi, ranks among the most sacred religious sites for the followers of Hinduism. In addition, the popular tourist destinations include Ayodhya (the birthplace of Lord Rama), Jhansi, Lalitpur (the place which houses the earliest Vishnu mandirs in India), Mathura (the birthplace of Lord Krishna), Moradabad, Meerut, Bareilly, Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, and Noida. Uttar Pradesh houses Agra which is famous all over the world for the Taj Mahal. This historic monument is a symbol of love and one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a world heritage site as well. The biggest city in Uttar Pradesh is Kanpur which is famous for its leather industry.

Metropolitan Cities in Uttar Pradesh

Given below are the names of the prominent metropolitan cities in Uttar Pradesh:

Lucknow Kanpur

Allahabad Varanasi

Noida Ghaziabad

Agra Meerut

Districts of Uttar Pradesh

Given below are the names of the 70 districts of the state:

Agra	Deoria	Kannauj	Pratapgarh
Aligarh	Etah	Kanpur Dehat	Rae Bareli
Allahabad	Etawah	Kanpur Nagar	Rampur
Ambedkar Nagar	Faizabad	Kaushambi	Saharanpur
Auraiya	Farrukhabad	Kheri	Sant Kabir Nagar
Azamgarh	Fatehpur	Kushinagar	Sant Ravidas Nagar (Bhadohi)
Baghpat	Firozabad	Lalitpur	Shahjahanpur
Bahraich	Gautam Buddha Nagar	Lucknow	Shrawasti
Ballia	Ghaziabad	Mahoba	Siddharthnagar
Balrampur	Ghazipur	Mahrajganj	Sitapur
Banda	Gonda	Mainpuri	Sonbhadra
Bara Banki	Gorakhpur	Mathura	Sultanpur
Bareilly	Hamirpur	Mau	Unnao
Basti	Hardoi	Meerut	Varanasi
Bijnor	Mahamaya Nagar	Mirzapur	Kanshiram Nagar
Budaun	Jalaun	Moradabad	Prabuddha Nagar
Bulandshahar	Jaunpur	Muzaffarnagar	Panchsheel Nagar
Chandauli	Jhansi	Pilibhit	Bhim Nagar
Chitrakoot	Jyotiba Phule Nagar

Divisions of Uttar Pradesh

The seventy districts of the state are grouped under 18 divisions and they are as follows:

Allahabad Division	Faizabad Division	Mirzapur Division
Agra Division	Basti Division	Kanpur Division
Bareilly Division	Jhansi Division	Saharanpur Division
Aligarh Division	Devipatan Division	Meerut Division
Chitrakoot Division	Lucknow Division	Varanasi Division
Azamgarh Division	Gorakhpur Division	Moradabad Division.

Geographical features of Uttar Pradesh

The state shares its borders with the following states in India:

Himachal Pradesh	Haryana	Jharkhand
Uttarakhand	Madhya Pradesh	Chhattisgarh
Delhi	Rajasthan	Bihar

The state shares its overseas frontiers with Nepal. Hypsographically, the state can be split into two areas and they are as follows:

1. The bigger Gangetic Plain area (The area is made up of the Ghaghra plains, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, the Terai and the Gangetic plains)
2. The Vindhya Hills and Plateau area

The major rivers of Uttar Pradesh are the Yamuna, Ganges, Ghaghara and Sarayu. Other than agricultural importance, these rivers bear a lot of spiritual significance. The weather of the state has primarily subtropical features.

Demographic features of Uttar Pradesh

As of March 1, 2011, the state of UP is home to more than 199.5 million people which makes it the top-ranking state in the country in terms of population. If the state were considered as a distinct nation, it would have ranked as the fifth most populated country in the globe, just after Indonesia. the USA, India, and China. As laid down by the census performed in 2001, the population of the state is represented by the following communities:

1. Approximately 80% are Hindus
2. About 18% are Muslims
3. Other communities include Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, and Christians.

The culture of the state is a perfect example of the blending of the cultures of the abovementioned communities.

Government of Uttar Pradesh

The Government of Uttar Pradesh is an independently voted authority. The governor of the state functions as the constitutional head of the state government. He is appointed for a term of five years. The chief minister functions as the administrative head of the state. He or she rules the state with his or her council of ministers.

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh

Currently, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh is Kumari Mayawati. She represents the BSP or Bahujan Samaj Party.

Economy of Uttar Pradesh

The economy of the state is primarily dependent on agriculture. However, other important industries of the state include heavy engineering, leather, chemical, and information technology.

Tourism in Uttar Pradesh

The top tourist attractions in Uttar Pradesh are as follows:

Agra Fort	Ayodhya	Kushinagar
Taj Mahal	Vrindavan	Sarnath
Fatehpur Sikri	Mathura	Lucknow
Varanasi	Budaun	Ghazipur
		Allahabad

Festivals in Uttar Pradesh

The most famous festivals in Uttar Pradesh are:

Holi	Muharram	Chhath Puja
Diwali	Buddha Jayanti	Ram Navami
Dashehra	Mahavir Jayanti	Krishna Janmashtami
Eid	Guru Nanak Jayanti	Mahashivratri
Barah Wafat	Christmas	Bakreed

Last Updated on 2/28/2012