This article possibly contains original research .(August 2019) |
This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of India |
---|
Indiaportal |
The administrative divisions of India are subnational administrative units of India; they are composed of a nested hierarchy of administrative divisions.
Indian states and territories frequently use different local titles for the same level of subdivision (e.g., the mandals of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana correspond to tehsils of Uttar Pradesh and other Hindi-speaking states but to 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.
The diagram below outlines the six tiers of administrative divisions:
Country (India) | |||||||||||||||||
State (e.g. West Bengal State) | |||||||||||||||||
Division (e.g. Presidency Division) | |||||||||||||||||
District (e.g. North 24 Parganas District) | |||||||||||||||||
Sub-district (Subdivision, Tehsil) (e.g. Basirhat Subdivision) | |||||||||||||||||
Block (e.g. Basirhat II Block) | |||||||||||||||||
Village (e.g. Chaita village) | |||||||||||||||||
The states of India have been grouped into six zones having an Advisory Council "to develop the habit of cooperative working" among these States. 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]
Each zone has a zonal headquarters where a zonal cultural center has been established. [7] Several states have membership in multiple zones, but no state subdivisions are utilized in the zonal divisions. In addition to promoting the culture of the zones they are responsible for, each zonal center also works to cross-promote and create exposure to other cultural zones of India by organizing functions and inviting artistes from other zones.
India is composed of 28 states and eight union territories (including a national capital territory). [15]
State [38] | ISO [39] | Vehicle code [40] | Zone [41] | Capital [38] | Largest city [42] | Established [43] | Population (2011) [44] | Area (km2) [45] | Official languages [46] | Additional official languages [46] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Andaman and Nicobar Islands | IN-AN | AN | Southern | Port Blair | 1 November 1956 | 380,581 | 8,249 | Hindi, English | — | |
Chandigarh | IN-CH | CH | Northern | Chandigarh | 1 November 1966 | 1,055,450 | 114 | English | — | |
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | IN-DH | DD | Western | Daman | Silvassa | 26 January 2020 | 587,106 | 603 | Hindi, English | Gujarati |
Delhi | IN-DL | DL | Northern | New Delhi | Delhi | 1 November 1956 | 16,787,941 | 1,484 | Hindi, English | Urdu, Punjabi [47] |
Jammu and Kashmir | IN-JK | JK | Northern | Srinagar (Summer) Jammu (Winter) [48] | Srinagar | 31 October 2019 | 12,258,433 | 42,241 | Dogri, English, Hindi, Kashmiri, Urdu | — |
Ladakh | IN-LA | LA | Northern | Leh (Summer) Kargil (Winter) [49] | Leh | 31 October 2019 | 290,492 | 59,146 | Hindi, English | — |
Lakshadweep | IN-LD | LD | Southern | Kavaratti | Andrott | 1 November 1956 | 64,473 | 32 | Hindi, English | Malayalam |
Puducherry | IN-PY | PY | Southern | Pondicherry | 16 August 1962 | 1,247,953 | 479 | Tamil, French, English | Telugu, Malayalam |
The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India allows for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions which have been given autonomy within their respective states. [50]
Presently, 10 Autonomous Councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura are formed by virtue of the Sixth Schedule [51] with the rest being formed as a result of other legislation.
Autonomous district councils operating under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India are shown in bold.
Many of the Indian states are subdivided into divisions, which have official administrative governmental status, and each division is headed by a senior IAS officer called Divisional Commissioner.
States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, etc. don't have separate divisions or regions. Instead, they're directly split into districts for administrative purposes.
As of September 2022, divisions exist in 18 of the 28 states and 3 of the 8 union territories. As of September 2022, there are a total of 102 divisions in India.
State/union territory | No. of divisions | Population [53] | Population per division |
---|---|---|---|
Andhra Pradesh | - | 49,386,799 | - |
Arunachal Pradesh | 3 | 1,383,727 | 461,242 |
Assam | 5 | 31,169,272 | 6,233,854 |
Bihar | 9 | 104,099,452 | 11,566,606 |
Chhattisgarh | 5 | 25,545,198 | 5,109,040 |
Goa | - | 1,458,545 | - |
Gujarat | - | 60,439,692 | - |
Haryana | 6 | 25,351,462 | 4,225,244 |
Himachal Pradesh | 3 | 6,864,602 | 2,288,201 |
Telangana | - | 35,193,978 | - |
Jharkhand | 5 | 32,988,134 | 6,597,627 |
Karnataka | 4 | 61,095,297 | 15,273,824 |
Kerala | - | 33,406,061 | - |
Madhya Pradesh | 10 | 72,626,809 | 7,262,681 |
Maharashtra | 6 | 112,374,333 | 18,729,056 |
Manipur | - | 2,721,756 | - |
Meghalaya | 2 | 2,966,889 | 1,483,445 |
Mizoram | - | 1,097,206 | - |
Nagaland | 1 | 1,978,502 | 1,978,502 |
Odisha | 3 | 41,974,218 | 13,991,406 |
Punjab | 5 | 27,743,338 | 5,548,668 |
Rajasthan | 7 | 68,548,437 | 9,792,634 |
Sikkim | - | 610,577 | - |
Tamil Nadu | - | 72,147,030 | - |
Tripura | - | 3,673,917 | - |
Uttar Pradesh | 18 | 199,812,341 | 11,100,686 |
Uttarakhand | 2 | 10,086,292 | 5,043,146 |
West Bengal | 5 | 91,276,115 | 18,255,223 |
Andaman and Nicobar Islands | - | 380,581 | - |
Chandigarh | - | 1,055,450 | - |
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | - | 586,956 | - |
Jammu and Kashmir | 2 | 12,258,433 | 6,129,217 |
Ladakh | 1 | 290,492 | 290,492 |
Lakshadweep | - | 64,473 | - |
Delhi | 1 | 16,787,941 | 16,787,941 |
Puducherry | - | 1,247,953 | - |
Total | 103 | 1,210,854,977 | 11,755,874 |
Some states consist of regions, which 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.
States and territories (or divisions) are further subdivided into districts (zilla), of which there are 797 (as of Nov 2023). A district in India, officially referred to as a revenue district, is a basic administrative unit under a state or union territory. Each District is headed by an IAS officer called District Magistrate.
Administrative divisions | No. of districts | Total population | Population per district | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
States | ||||||||
Andhra Pradesh | 26 | 49,577,103 | 1,906,812 | |||||
Arunachal Pradesh | 26 | 1,383,727 | 53,220 | |||||
Assam | 35 | 31,205,576 | 891,588 | |||||
Bihar | 38 | 104,099,452 | 2,739,459 | |||||
Chhattisgarh | 33 | 25,545,198 | 774,097 | |||||
Goa | 2 | 1,458,545 | 729,273 | |||||
Gujarat | 33 | 60,439,692 | 1,831,506 | |||||
Haryana | 22 | 25,351,462 | 1,152,339 | |||||
Himachal Pradesh | 12 | 6,864,602 | 528,046 | |||||
Jharkhand | 24 | 32,988,134 | 1,374,506 | |||||
Karnataka | 31 | 61,095,297 | 1,970,816 | |||||
Kerala | 14 | 33,406,061 | 2,386,147 | |||||
Madhya Pradesh | 55 | 72,626,809 | 1,274,155 | |||||
Maharashtra | 36 | 112,374,333 | 3,121,509 | |||||
Manipur | 16 | 2,570,390 | 160,649 | |||||
Meghalaya | 12 | 2,966,889 | 247,241 | |||||
Mizoram | 11 | 1,097,206 | 99,746 | |||||
Nagaland | 16 | 1,978,502 | 123,656 | |||||
Odisha | 30 | 41,974,218 | 1,399,141 | |||||
Punjab | 23 | 27,743,338 | 1,206,232 | |||||
Rajasthan | 50 | 68,548,437 | 1,246,335 | |||||
Sikkim | 6 | 610,577 | 101,763 | |||||
Tamil Nadu | 38 | 72,147,030 | 1,898,606 | |||||
Telangana | 33 | 35,003,674 | 1,060,717 | |||||
Tripura | 8 | 3,673,917 | 459,240 | |||||
Uttar Pradesh | 75 | 199,812,341 | 2,664,165 | |||||
Uttarakhand | 13 | 10,086,292 | 593,311 | |||||
West Bengal | 23 | 91,276,115 | 3,042,537 | |||||
Union Territory | ||||||||
Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 3 | 380,581 | 126,860 | |||||
Chandigarh | 1 | 1,055,450 | 1,055,450 | |||||
Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu | 3 | 586,956 | 195,652 | |||||
Jammu and Kashmir | 20 | 12,258,093 | 612,905 | |||||
Ladakh | 2 | 290,492 | 72,623 | |||||
Lakshadweep | 1 | 64,473 | 64,473 | |||||
Delhi | 11 | 16,787,941 | 1,526,176 | |||||
Puducherry | 4 | 1,247,953 | 311,988 | |||||
Total | 785 | 1,210,576,856 | 1,501,956 |
Largest District | Smallest District | |
---|---|---|
By Land Area | Kutch district | Mahe district |
By Population | North 24 Parganas district | Dibang Valley district |
In some instances, tehsils (sub-districts) overlap with "blocks" (panchayat union blocks or community development blocks) and come under the land and revenue department, headed by tehsildar; and blocks come under the rural development department, headed by the block development officer and serve different government administrative functions over the same or similar geographical area.
States use varying names for their sub-districts. Detailed information is as follows (as of 2018): [54]
State/ Union territory | Subdistrict title | No. of subdistricts |
---|---|---|
Andhra Pradesh | Mandal (circle) | 679 |
Arunachal Pradesh | Circle | 149 |
Assam | Subdivision | 155 |
Bihar | Subdivision | 101 |
Chhattisgarh | Tehsil | 228 |
Goa | Taluka | 12 |
Gujarat | Taluka | 248 [55] |
Haryana | Tehsil | 67 |
Himachal Pradesh | Tehsil | 109 |
Jharkhand | Subdivision | 210 |
Karnataka | Taluk | 240 |
Kerala | Taluk | 78 |
Madhya Pradesh | Tehsil | 412 |
Maharashtra | Taluka | 353 |
Manipur | Subdivision | 38 |
Meghalaya | Subdivision | 39 |
Mizoram | Subdivision | 22 |
Nagaland | Circle | 93 |
Odisha | Tehsil | 485 |
Punjab | Tehsil | 172 |
Rajasthan | Tehsil | 268 |
Sikkim | Subdivision | 9 |
Tamil Nadu | Taluk | 215 [56] |
Telangana | Mandal (Circle) | 74 |
Tripura | Subdivision | 38 |
Uttar Pradesh | Tehsil | 350 |
Uttarakhand | Tehsil | 113 |
West Bengal | Subdivision | 69 |
Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Tehsil | 7 |
Chandigarh | Tehsil | 1 |
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | Tehsil | 3 |
Delhi | Tehsil | 33 |
Jammu and Kashmir | Tehsil | 55 |
Ladakh | Tehsil | 4 |
Lakshadweep | Subdivision | 4 |
Puducherry | Tehsil | 8 |
Total | 6057 |
The Community Development Block also known as CD Block or just block, is often the next level of administrative division (for development purposes, whereas tehsil is next to the district for revenue purposes).
State | CD Block | Number of CD Blocks |
---|---|---|
Andaman and Nicobar Islands | CD Block | 9 [57] |
Andhra Pradesh | Mandal | 685 |
Arunachal Pradesh | Block or Circle | 112 [58] |
Assam | Block | 219 [59] |
Bihar | Block | 342 |
Chandigarh | Block | 3 |
Chhattisgarh | CD Block | 342 |
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | CD Block | 342 |
Delhi | CD Block | 342 |
Goa | CD Block | 342 |
Gujarat | CD Block | 342 |
Haryana | Block | 142 |
Himachal Pradesh | CD Block | 342 |
Jammu and Kashmir | CD Block | 342 |
Jharkhand | Block | 263 |
Karnataka | CD Block | 342 |
Kerala | Block | 152 |
Ladakh | CD Block | 342 |
Lakshadweep | CD Block | 342 |
Madhya Pradesh | CD Block | 342 |
Maharashtra | CD Block | 342 |
Manipur | CD Block | 342 |
Meghalaya | CD Block | 342 |
Mizoram | CD Block | 342 |
Nagaland | CD Block | 342 |
Odisha | CD Block | 314 |
Puducherry | CD Block | 342 |
Punjab | CD Block | 342 |
Rajasthan | CD Block | 342 |
Sikkim | CD Block | 342 |
Tamilnadu | Taluk | 220 |
Telangana | Mandal | 342 |
Tripura | CD Block | 58 |
Uttar Pradesh | CD Block | 822 [60] |
Uttarakhand | CD Block | 95 |
West Bengal | CD Block | 342 [61] [62] |
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.
Certain governmental functions and activities - including clean water availability, rural development, and education - are tracked at a sub-village level. [63] These hamlets are termed "habitations". India is composed of 1,714,556 habitations [64] In some states, most villages have a single habitation; in others (notably Kerala and Tripura) there is a high ratio of habitations to villages. [65]
A metro area usually comprises multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighbourhoods, townships, cities, exurbs, suburbs, counties, districts, states, and even nations like the eurodistricts. As social, economic, and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. Metropolitan areas include one or more urban areas, as well as satellite cities, towns, and intervening rural areas that are socio-economically tied to the urban core, typically measured by commuting patterns.
The metropolitan cities of India are: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad & Ahmedabad.
Andhra Pradesh is a state in the southern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state with an area of 162,970 km2 (62,920 sq mi) and the tenth-most populous state with 49,577,103 inhabitants. It shares borders with Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and the Bay of Bengal. It has the second-longest coastline in India at about 974 km (605 mi). After existence as Andhra State and unified Andhra Pradesh, the state took its present form on 2 June 2014, when the new state of Telangana was formed through bifurcation. Amaravati is the capital of the state, with the largest city being Visakhapatnam. Telugu, one of the classical languages of India used by the majority of people, is the first official language. Water sharing disputes and asset division with Telangana are not yet resolved.
India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 785 districts and smaller administrative divisions.
South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area and 20% of India's population. It is bound by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south. The geography of the region is diverse, with two mountain ranges, the Western and Eastern Ghats, bordering the plateau heartland. The Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Tungabhadra and Vaigai rivers are important non-perennial sources of water. Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Kochi are the largest urban areas in the region.
Telangana is a state in India situated in the southern-central part of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It was the eleventh largest state and the twelfth most populated state in India as per the 2011 census. On 2 June 2014, the area was separated from the northwestern part of United Andhra Pradesh as the newly formed state of Telangana, with Hyderabad as its capital. Telugu, one of the classical languages of India, is the most widely spoken and the primary official language of the state.
Rayalaseema is a geographic region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It comprises four southern districts of the State, from prior to the districts reorganisation in 2022, namely Kurnool, Anantapur, YSR, and Chittoor. Four new districts were created from these, namely Sri Sathya Sai, Nandyal, Annamayya, and Tirupati. As of 2011 census of India, the western four districts of the region had a population of 15,184,908 and cover an area of 77,424 km2 (29,894 sq mi).
Andhra State was a state in India created in 1953 from the Telugu-speaking northern districts of Madras State. The state was made up of this two distinct cultural regions – Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra. Andhra State did not include all Telugu-speaking areas, as it excluded some in Hyderabad State. Under the State Reorganisation Act of 1956, Andhra State was merged with the Telugu-speaking regions of Hyderabad State to form Andhra Pradesh.
Khammam district is a district in the eastern region of the Indian state of Telangana. The city of Khammam is the district headquarters. The district shares boundaries with Suryapet, Mahabubabad, Bhadradri districts and with Eluru and NTR districts.
Ranga Reddy district is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district headquarters is located at Kongara Kalan Village, Ibrahimpatnam Mandal,. The district was named after the former deputy chief minister of the United Andhra Pradesh, K. V. Ranga Reddy. The district shares boundaries with Nalgonda, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Hyderabad, Medchal–Malkajgiri, Nagarkurnool, Mahabubnagar, Sangareddy and Vikarabad districts.
South Zone Culture Centre (SZCC), an autonomous organisation of Ministry of Culture (India) Govt of India, is one of the seven Zonal Cultural Centres established by Indian Government in 1986 to preserve and promote traditional cultural heritage in
Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, officially Andhra Pradesh Raastra Roadu Ravaana Samstha, is the state-owned road transport corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Its headquarters is located at NTR Administrative Block of RTC House in Pandit Nehru bus station of Vijayawada. Many other Indian metro towns in Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, Yanam, Kerala, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh are also linked with the APSRTC services.
The Cultural Zones of India are seven overlapping zones defined by the Ministry of Culture of the Government of India to promote and preserve the cultural heritage of various regions of India. Each of these zones has been provided with a zonal centre. Most zonal centres were announced by the then-Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, in 1985 and formally began functioning in the 1986–87 period. Their stated goal is "to strengthen the ancient roots of Indian culture and evolve and enrich composite national culture".
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014, commonly known as the Telangana Act, is an Act of Indian Parliament that split the state of Andhra Pradesh into Telangana and the residuary Andhra Pradesh state, as an outcome of the Telangana movement. The Act defined the boundaries of the two states, determined how the assets and liabilities were to be divided, and laid out the status of Hyderabad as the permanent capital of new Telangana state and temporary capital of the Andhra Pradesh state.
A Divisional Commissioner, also known as Commissioner of division, is an Indian Administrative Service officer who serves as the administrator of a division of a state in India. The post is referred to as regional commissioner in Karnataka and as revenue divisional commissioner in Odisha.
A sub-division is an administrative division of a district in India. In some states(Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala) they are called Revenue Divisions. It is headed by a sub-divisional magistrate. In some states, the post is designated as Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) or Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil). A district may have multiple sub-divisions, and each of those sub-divisions may contain multiple sub-districts and municipalities. For example, in West Bengal, the Murshidabad district contains five sub-divisions (mahakumas)
Southern Zonal Council is a zonal council that comprises the states and union territories of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana
The South-Central Zone Cultural, Nagpur or SCZCC one of the seven Zonal Cultural Centres in India was established in 1986 with its headquarters at Nagpur. It comprises the linguistically different states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Maharashtra. Each of these States has rich traditions of folk, tribal, fine arts and crafts. The Centre strives through its various activities to enrich, promote and strengthen these traditions. The centre is working under the control of Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The Governor of Maharashtra is the chairman of this centre.
Andhra Pradesh, retrospectively referred to as United Andhra Pradesh, Undivided Andhra Pradesh, or Ummadi Andhra Pradesh, was a state in India formed by States Reorganisation Act, 1956 with Hyderabad as its capital and was reorganised by Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. The state was made up of three distinct cultural regions of Telangana, Rayalaseema, and Coastal Andhra. Before the 1956 reorganisation, Telangana had been part of Hyderabad State ruled by Nizam of Hyderabad, whereas Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra had been part of Andhra State, formerly a part of Madras Presidency ruled by British India.
... North East Zone Cultural Centre – Nagaland – Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland & Meghalaya ...