Indian Geography: All 28 States and 8 Union Territories — Capitals, Formation, Key Data

India has 28 states and 8 Union Territories (after J&K reorganization in 2019). This is one of the most frequently tested topics in Kerala PSC exams. This note covers all essential data for each state/UT.

28 States of India

#	State	Capital	Formation Year	Official Language
1	Andhra Pradesh	Amaravati	1956 (bifurcated 2014)	Telugu
2	Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar	1987	English
3	Assam	Dispur	1950	Assamese
4	Bihar	Patna	1950 (bifurcated 2000)	Hindi
5	Chhattisgarh	Raipur	2000 (from MP)	Hindi
6	Goa	Panaji	1987 (UT to state)	Konkani
7	Gujarat	Gandhinagar	1960 (from Bombay)	Gujarati
8	Haryana	Chandigarh	1966 (from Punjab)	Hindi
9	Himachal Pradesh	Shimla	1971 (UT to state)	Hindi
10	Jharkhand	Ranchi	2000 (from Bihar)	Hindi
11	Karnataka	Bengaluru	1956 (as Mysore; renamed 1973)	Kannada
12	Kerala	Thiruvananthapuram	1956	Malayalam
13	Madhya Pradesh	Bhopal	1956 (bifurcated 2000)	Hindi
14	Maharashtra	Mumbai	1960 (from Bombay)	Marathi
15	Manipur	Imphal	1972 (UT to state)	Meitei (Manipuri)
16	Meghalaya	Shillong	1972 (from Assam)	English, Khasi, Garo
17	Mizoram	Aizawl	1987 (UT to state)	Mizo, English
18	Nagaland	Kohima	1963 (from Assam)	English
19	Odisha	Bhubaneswar	1950 (as Orissa; renamed 2011)	Odia
20	Punjab	Chandigarh	1966 (reorganized)	Punjabi
21	Rajasthan	Jaipur	1956	Hindi
22	Sikkim	Gangtok	1975 (merged with India)	English, Nepali
23	Tamil Nadu	Chennai	1956 (as Madras; renamed 1969)	Tamil
24	Telangana	Hyderabad	2014 (from AP) — newest state	Telugu
25	Tripura	Agartala	1972 (UT to state)	Bengali, Kokborok
26	Uttar Pradesh	Lucknow	1950	Hindi
27	Uttarakhand	Dehradun	2000 (from UP)	Hindi
28	West Bengal	Kolkata	1950	Bengali

8 Union Territories

#	UT	Capital/HQ	Administrator Type	Key Fact
1	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Port Blair	Lieutenant Governor	572 islands; strategic naval base
2	Chandigarh	Chandigarh	Administrator	Shared capital of Punjab and Haryana; designed by Le Corbusier
3	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	Daman	Administrator	Merged in 2020 (from 2 separate UTs)
4	Delhi (NCT)	New Delhi	Lieutenant Governor + Elected Govt	Has legislature and CM (Art. 239AA)
5	Jammu and Kashmir	Srinagar (S) / Jammu (W)	Lieutenant Governor	UT since 2019 (Art. 370 abrogated); has legislature
6	Ladakh	Leh	Lieutenant Governor	UT since 2019; no legislature
7	Lakshadweep	Kavaratti	Administrator	36 islands; only UT fully coral; 97% Muslim
8	Puducherry	Puducherry	Lieutenant Governor + Elected Govt	Former French territory; has legislature and CM

States by Area (Largest to Smallest)

Rank	State	Area (sq km)
1	Rajasthan	3,42,239
2	Madhya Pradesh	3,08,252
3	Maharashtra	3,07,713
4	Uttar Pradesh	2,40,928
5	Gujarat	1,96,244
Smallest state	Goa	3,702

States by Population (Census 2011)

Rank	State	Population (approx.)
1	Uttar Pradesh	19.98 crore
2	Maharashtra	11.24 crore
3	Bihar	10.41 crore
4	West Bengal	9.13 crore
5	Madhya Pradesh	7.27 crore
Kerala’s rank	13th	3.34 crore
Least populated state	Sikkim	6.11 lakh

Three Newest States (all formed Nov 2000 — except Telangana 2014)

State	Carved From	Year	First CM
Chhattisgarh	Madhya Pradesh	1 Nov 2000	Ajit Jogi
Uttarakhand	Uttar Pradesh	9 Nov 2000	Nityanand Swami
Jharkhand	Bihar	15 Nov 2000	Babulal Marandi
Telangana	Andhra Pradesh	2 June 2014	K. Chandrashekar Rao

States Sharing Borders

Feature	States
Maximum borders shared	Uttar Pradesh (9 states: HP, Haryana, Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttarakhand + Delhi UT)
No international border	Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, MP, Haryana (and others)
States bordering China	J&K (UT), Himachal, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh
States bordering Pakistan	Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, J&K (UT)
States bordering Bangladesh	West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram
Kerala borders	Karnataka (N), Tamil Nadu (E) — only 2 states

Special Provisions for States

Article	State	Provision
Art. 371	Maharashtra, Gujarat	Special development boards
Art. 371A	Nagaland	Naga customs and law protected
Art. 371B	Assam	Tribal areas committee
Art. 371C	Manipur	Hill areas committee
Art. 371D/E	Andhra Pradesh	Equitable allocation of opportunities
Art. 371F	Sikkim	Special provisions for old laws
Art. 371G	Mizoram	Mizo customs protected
Art. 371H	Arunachal Pradesh	Governor’s special responsibility
Art. 371I	Goa	—
Art. 371J	Karnataka	Hyderabad-Karnataka region development
6th Schedule	Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram	Autonomous District Councils for tribals

Shared/Disputed Capitals

Arrangement	Detail
Chandigarh	Shared by Punjab and Haryana (UT administered by Centre)
Hyderabad	Was shared by AP and Telangana for 10 years (2014-2024)
Amaravati	AP’s planned new capital (under construction)

State Symbols (Selected Important)

State	State Animal	State Bird	State Tree
Kerala	Elephant	Great Hornbill	Coconut Palm
Tamil Nadu	Nilgiri Tahr	Emerald Dove	Palmyra Palm
Karnataka	Elephant	Indian Roller	Sandalwood
Maharashtra	Giant Squirrel	Yellow-footed Green Pigeon	Mango
Rajasthan	Camel + Chinkara	Great Indian Bustard	Khejri

PSC Frequently Asked Questions

Question	Answer
Newest state of India	Telangana (2014)
Largest state by area	Rajasthan
Smallest state by area	Goa
Most populated state	Uttar Pradesh
Least populated state	Sikkim
Highest density state	Bihar (1,106/sq km)
State with highest literacy	Kerala (93.91%)
State with lowest literacy	Bihar (63.82%)
Largest UT by area	Ladakh (previously J&K as state)
Smallest UT by area	Lakshadweep
How many states have legislature	All 28 states
Which UTs have legislature	Delhi, Puducherry, J&K
Total Rajya Sabha seats	245 (233 elected + 12 nominated)
Total Lok Sabha seats	543

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Memory Aid: 3 states in 2000 from 3 Hindi-belt states: CJU from MBU — Chhattisgarh from MP, Jharkhand from Bihar, Uttarakhand from UP.