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States of India
October 11 2023

States of India: GK about the States of India

In any competitive exam, you may find simple questions related to the States of India, their capital, ministers, monuments etc. It would be a good idea to go through some of these important facts so that you don’t miss out on the opportunity of scoring these easy few marks.

GK quiz

Also, in general, these are some simple and interesting facts that everyone should know. So read our article for a concise overview of the important facts about the States in India.


The First Ranked States of India:

Let's first have a look at the States of India that rank in important parameters that could be useful from an exam point of view:

# Statement State
1 Largest State (area-wise)  Rajasthan
2 Smallest state (area-wise) Goa
3 State with the highest population Uttar Pradesh
4 State with the least population Sikkim
5 Most literate state Kerala
6 Least Literate state Bihar
7 The state has its boundaries with seven states and two countries Assam
8 The state surrounded on three sides by Bangladesh  Tripura
9 State surrounded by one state and three countries  Sikkim
10 State with the longest coastline Gujarat

Details about the States of India and Union Territories of India:

There have been a few changes in the number of states and union territories from what we had before. India now has a total of 28 States and 8 Union Territories (ever since Jammu and Kashmir and Ladak have been named ad Union territories). Now, let's look at each of these States in detail with respect to what is their capital, the language spoken, the current Chief Minister, and what is the state known for.

1) Andhra Pradesh:

Capital: Amaravati, Hyderabad Language: Telugu, Urdu Chief minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy Known for:

  • Tirupathi, the Spiritual capital of Andhra Pradesh
  • Art form Kuchipudi
  • Massive rivers like Godavari, Krishna, etc.
  • Rice production
  • A huge population of Indian snakes

Kuchipudi Andra Pradesh

Kuchipudi is a classical dance and drama art form of Andhra Pradesh 

2) Arunachal Pradesh:

Capital: Itanagar Language: English Chief minister: Pema Khandu Known for:

  • Tibetian culture
  • The world's second-largest Buddhist monastery called the Tawang Gompa

Tawang gompa arunachal pradesh

The 18th-century Buddhist Monastery, Tawang Gompa

3) Assam:

Capital: Dispur Language: Assamese Chief Minister: Sarbananda Sonowal Known for:

  • Tea
  • India’s first Oil fields and Asia’s first Oil refinery in Digboi
  • One-horned Rhinos in Kaziranga
  • Kamkhya temple
  • Highest tiger density
  • Majuli, the world’s largest river island, and Umananda the world’s smallest river island
  • The Oldest ampitheatre in Asia called Rang Ghar

 

4) Bihar:

Capital: Patna Language: Hindu, Urdu Chief minister: Nitish Kumar Known for:

  • Bodhgaya, the place where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment
  • The inception of the Maurya and Gupta dynasties
  • Buddhist Pilgrimages
  • Historic sites

 

5) Chhattisgarh

Capital: Raipur Language: Hindi, Chattisgharhi Chief minister: Bhupesh Baghel Known for:

  • Bhilai steel plant and other such heavy-duty industries
  • India’s Niagara falls, the Chitrakoot falls

Chitrakoot falls chattisgrah

One of the largest waterfalls in India, the Chitrakoot falls

6) Goa

Capital: Panaji Language: Konka, Marathi, English Chief minister: Pramod Sawant Known for:

  • Beaches, forts

 

7) Gujarat

Capital: Gandhinagar Language: Gujrati Chief minister: Vijay Rupani Known for:

  • Birthplace of Iconic leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhai Patel & Jinnah
  • World’s only reserve for Asiatic Lions in the Gir forest
  • Business-friendly, industrial infrastructure

 

8) Haryana

Capital: Chandigarh Language: Hindi, Punjabi Chief minister: Manohar Lal Khattar Known for:

  • The origin place of Mahabharata; Indraprastha and Kurukshetra are located here
  • Automobile factories and refineries
  • Dairy production

 

9) Himachal Pradesh

 Capital: Shimla Language: Hindi, English Chief minister: Jai Ram Thakur Known for:

  • Snow leopards, one of the dying breeds of Central Asian Leopard

snow leopard himachal pradesh

The rare Snow leopards of Himachal Pradesh

10) Jharkhand

Capital: Ranchi Language: Santali, Oriya Bengali Chief minister: Hemant Soren Known for:

  • Steel state of India
  • Bokaro, Jamshedpur, and Ranchi where the main steel factories are located
  • Rich with National parks and Wildlife sanctuaries, especially Betla National park and Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary

 Also read: List of National parks in India

11) Karnataka

Capital: Bengaluru Language: Kannad Chief minister: B. S. Yediyurappa Known for:

  • Beautiful architecture
  • Nature safaris, forests
  • Mysore culture
  • Technology park in Banglore (IT Hub)

 

12) Kerala

Capital: Thiruvananthapuram Language: Malayalam Chief minister: Pinarayi Vijayan Known for:

  • God’s own country
  • Ayurveda
  • Backwaters, boat race
  • Rubber plantation, coconut

Backwaters of kerala

The beautiful backwaters of Kerala

13) Madhya Pradesh

Capital: Bhopal Language: Hindi Chief minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan Known for:

  • Khajuraho and ancient history (including Ujjain, Sanchi and Mandu)

 

14) Maharashtra

Capital: Mumbai Language: Marathi Chief minister: Uddhav Thackeray Known for:

  • Financial center Mumbai
  • Cotton and sugarcane
  • Bollywood
  • Ajantha/ Ellora caves
  • Konkan region, Western Ghats

Ajanta caves maharashtra

The Ajanta and Ellora caves in Maharashtra

15) Manipur

Capital: Imphal Language: Manipuri Chief minister: N. Biren Singh Known for:

  • Home to Sangai deer
  • Famous for the Manipuri dance form called Jagoi, and the culture

16) Meghalaya

Capital: Shillong Language: English, Garo, Khasi Chief minister: Conrad Sangma Known for:

  • Receives the largest amounts of rainfall in the world in Cherrapunji and Mawsyndrum
  • Endangered animal, Clouded Leopard 

17) Mizoram

Capital: Aizawl Language: Mizo Chief minister: Zoramthanga Known for:

  • Almost complete literacy
  • Friendly tribals
  • Rare Wild Water Buffalos.

 18) Nagaland Capital: Kohima Language: English Chief minister: Neiphiu Rio Known for:

  • Naga tribals
  • Hornbill festival
  • Great Tribal dance forms

  Hornbill festival Nagaland

Hornbill festival of Nagaland

19) Odisha

Capital: Bhubaneswar Language: Oriya Chief minister: Naveen Patnaik Known for:

  • Dance forms like Odissi, Chhau, Danda, and Sambapuri to name a few
  • Temples like Jagannath temple, Konark sun temple, Maa Samaleswari temple
  • Mahanadi river
  • The English word Juggernaut has been derived from the Jagannath chariot procession

 

20) Punjab

Capital: Chandigarh Language: Punjabi Chief minister: Amarinder Singh Known for:

  • The largest producer of Wheat
  • Gurudwaras, the golden temple
  • Culture, Bhangra dance

 

21) Rajasthan

Capital: Jaipur Language: Rajasthani Chief minister: Ashok Gehlot Known for:

  • Palaces in Udaipur and Jaipur
  • Tiger reserves like the Sariska Tiger reserve (total of 28 reserves)
  • World famous red Chillies also known as ‘Mathania Mirchi’
  • Weaving and marbles
  • Camels and sand dunes

Mathania chillies rajasthan

The world-famous Rajasthani Mathania Mirchi

22) Sikkim

Capital: Gangtok Language: Nepali Chief minister: Prem Singh Tamang Known for:

  • Red Pandas, which are also the state animal of Sikkim
  • Kanjenjunga which is India's tallest peak
  • Natula pass One of the highest roads in the world is called the ‘Natula pass’.
  • It is also the only open land border with China
  • Rumtek monastery which is the second biggest seat of Tibetan Buddhism

23) Tamil Nadu

Capital: Chennai Language: Tamil, English Chief minister: Edappadi K. Palaniswami Known for:

  • Four UNESCO world heritage sites namely Great Living Chola Temples (group of three), and Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram (remaining one)
  • Carnatic music,
  • Art form Bharatanatyam
  • automobile factories
  • Nilgiris tea

Brihadeeswarar Temple

One of the UNESCO world heritage sites in Tamil Nadu, the Brihadeeswarar Temple at Thanjavur

24) Telangana

Capital: Hyderabad Language: Telugu, Urdu Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao Known for:

  • India’s youngest state
  • Charminar in Hyderabad
  • A mix of ancient Islamic as well as an ancient Indian heritage

25) Tripura

Capital: Agartala Language: Bengali, Kokborok Chief minister: Biplab Kumar Deb Known for:

  • Has an ethnic mix of tribals and Bengalis
  • Famous for Leaf monkeys
  • Tripureshwari temple

 

26) Uttar Pradesh

Capital: Lucknow Language: Hindi Chief minister: Yogi Adityanath Known for:

  • Taj Mahal
  • Kashi pilgrimage
  • Heart of Indian politics
  • Leather goods and refineries

 

27) Uttarakhand

Capital: Dehradun Language: Hindi Chief minister: Trivendra Singh Rawat Known for:

  • Jim Corbett national park.
  • White water rapids, trekking & camping and Skiing in Auli
  • Hindu religious pilgrimages like Badrinath, Kedarnath etc.

 

28) West Bengal

Capital: Kolkata Language: Bengali, English Chief minister: Mamata Banerjee Known for:

  • Birthplace of Literary legends like Vivekananda and Tagore
  • Jute cloth
  • teas of Darjeeling
  • The Royal Bengal tigers of the Sunderban

Bengal tiger in West Bengal 

The famous Royal Bengal tiger found in the Sunderban Forests

Details about the Union Territories:

1) Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Capital: Port Blair Lt. Governor & Administrator: Admiral D K Joshi (Lieutenant Governor) Known for:

  • Known as India’s Hawaii
  • Known for its history during the British raj
  • Extremely isolated tribals.

2) Chandigarh

Capital: Chandigarh Lt. Governor & Administrator: V.P. Singh Badnore (Administrator) Known for:  

3) Dadar and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu

Dadar and Nagar Haveli: Capital: Silvassa Lt. Governor & Administrator: Praful Patel (Administrator)   Daman and Diu: Capital: Daman Lt. Governor & Administrator: Shri Praful Patel (Administrator)  

4) Delhi

Capital: Delhi Lt. Governor & Administrator: Shri Anil Baijal (Lieutenant Governor) Chief Minister : Arvind Kejriwal Known for:

  • Capital of India
  • Historic architecture
  • Rashtrapati Bhavan

5) Lakshadweep

Capital: Kavaratti Lt. Governor & Administrator: Shri Dineshwar Sharma, IPS, (Administrator)  

6) Puducherry

Capital: Pondicherry Lt. Governor & Administrator: Dr. Kiran Bedi, IPS, (Retd.) (Lieutenant Governor)  

7) Jammu and Kashmir

Capital: Srinagar (Summer) and Jammu (winter) Lt. Governor & Administrator: Shri Girish Chandra Murmu (Lieutenant Governor) Known for:

  • Known as India's Switzerland
  • Cashmere fine wool
  • Valleys, rivers, and caves.
  • Bes is known for sapphire, saffron, apples, houseboats,
  • Pilgrimage sites namely Amarnath & Vaishnodevi

House boats of Jammu

Houseboats of Dal Lake

8) Ladakh:

Capital: Leh Lt. Governor & Administrator: Shri Radha Krishna Mathur (Lieutenant Governor) Hope you found this article on the details of the State of India useful. Happy Preparation!

Author
Anisha Mukhija

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