India’s Geo-Social Landscape

Jason

Introduction

In this post, we will cover the main topics regarding India’s geographic and social landscape. This information will be useful if you are planning an extended stay in India.

The topics include:

  1. The 5 main regions of India, and their states and union territories
  2. The main languages and where they’re spoken
  3. The country’s terrain
  4. The Indian sub-continent

We have included color–coded maps in each section to help you visualize the information.

1. Regions, States and Unions

To keep things simple, we have grouped India’s 28 states and 8 union territories into 5 regions:

  1. Northern India
  2. Central India
  3. Southern India
  4. Eastern India
  5. Northeastern India

But before we start though, you may be asking, what is the difference between a state and a union?

  • A State is a region that has a local government separate from the Central Government, led and represented by the state’s Governor. The State has an elected government.
  • A Union Territory is ruled directly by the Central Government and has a Lieutenant Governor as an administrator, who is appointed by the Central Government.

States and Unions by Region

Initial notes:

The four regions that make up the main body of India (the north, central, south, and eastern regions) each contain 5 states. The northeast branch that extends into East Asia contains 8 states.

This commonality across the regions makes things easier to remember.

The 5 state regions:

  • Northern region
  • Central region
  • Southern region
  • Eastern region

The 8 state region:

  • Northeastern region

Also note that there are a few states that end with the word Pradesh. “Pradesh” means “area.”

North India (5 states, 4 unions)

Northern States

  1. Himachal Pradesh
    • cap. Shimla
    • State the hosts the Dalai Lama
    • One of the snowiest states in India
  2. Punjab
    • cap. Chandigarh, shared with Haryana
    • Really good food
    • People like to party
    • Largest number of Sikhs
  3. Haryana
    • cap. Chandigarh, shared with Punjab
    • Rougher tougher brother of Punjab
    • Highest male to female ratio
    • A lot of men hired as bodyguards
  4. Uttarakhand
    • cap. Dehradun
  5. Uttar Pradesh
    • cap. Lucknow
    • The Taj Mahal state
    • The most populous state

Northern Unions

  1. Ladakh
    • cap. Leh
  2. Jammu & Kashmir
    • 2 cap’s:
      • Summer: Srinagar
      • Winter: Jammu
    • Highest percentage of muslims in all of India, 68%
  3. Chandigarh
    • cap. Chandigarh
    • Capital of Punjab and Haryana
  4. Delhi
    • cap. Delhi

Central India (5 states, 1 union)

Central States

  1. Rajasthan
    • cap. Jaipur
    • Largest state by area
    • The most vegetarian state, 75% vegetarians
  2. Madhya Pradesh
    • cap. Bhopal
    • The heart of India
    • Tons of historic sites
  3. Gujarat
    • cap. Gandhinagar
    • PM Modi is from here
    • Kind of like a desert
    • Has Gir Forest, with last Asian Lions
    • Gandhi was from here
    • #1 ease of business
    • No alcohol allowed in this state
  4. Maharashtra
    • cap. Mumbai, formerly Bombay
    • The richest state, second most populated, third biggest in area
    • Economic hub and entertainment hub, like NY and LA combined
  5. Goa
    • cap. Panaji
    • The Vegas of India
    • Great beaches
    • A ton of Russian tourists

Central Union

  1. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
    • cap. Daman
    • Gujarat doesn’t allow alcohol, but these union territories that border with Maharashtra do. They are a common destination when Gujaratis want to drink.

South India (5 states, 2 unions)

Southern States

  1. Telangana
    • cap. Hyderabad
    • Famous for Tollywood, Telugu Hollywood
    • Split with Andhra Pradesh a few years ago, that’s why they both speak Telugu
  2. Andhra Pradesh
    • cap. Amaravati
    • Fastest growing GDP in India, growing 16% in last few years
    • Gurzada Apparao wrote the play Kanyasulkam which is one of the most famous Telugu plays of all time
    • Famous for their kuchipudi dance, which is one of the 8 classical styles of indian dance
    • They have great beaches and caves
  3. Karnataka
    • cap. Bengaluru, formerly Bangalore
    • Bangalore is like the Silicon Valley of India. So many IT companies and start ups are coming up in this city.
    • Lowest unemployment rate in all of India, less than 1%
  4. Kerala
    • cap. Thiruvananthapuram
    • Supposedly the spot where Jesus’ Apostle Thomas landed and spread the Christian gospel
    • There are a lot of Christians here
  5. Tamil Nadu
    • cap. Chennai, formerly Madras
    • The southern capital of India

Southern Unions

  1. Puducherry
    • cap. Puducherry
    • The French-speaking area of India
  2. Lakshadweep
    • cap. Kavaratti
    • Island territory, like the Maldives

East India (5 states, 1 union)

Eastern States

  1. Bihar
    • cap. Patna
    • The Buddha state
    • Bodhi tree
  2. Jharkhand
    • cap. Ranchi
    • Like a sibling of Chhattisgarh
    • Militant people
    • Has one of the holiest sites in Jainism
  3. West Bengal
    • cap. Kolkata, formerly Calcutta
    • Some of the best sweets
    • Some of the best literature
  4. Chhattisgarh
    • cap. Raipur
    • One of the poorest states
    • Big coal production
    • Militant state
  5. Odisha
    • cap. Bhubaneswar
    • Known as the land of cyclones

Eastern Unions

  1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands
    • cap. Port Blair

Northeast India (8 states, 0 unions)

Northeastern States

Called the 7 Sister States… even though there are 8

  1. Sikkim
    • cap. Gangtok
    • Lots of Tibetan Buddhists
  2. Arunachal Pradesh
    • cap. Itanger
    • On border with China, a lot of people are Buddhist here
    • Famous for their wood carvings and carpets
  3. Assam
    • cap. Dispur
    • Nicest tea and silk
    • Longest bridge: Dhola-Sadiya Bridge
  4. Nagaland
    • cap. Kohima
    • The most Christian state
  5. Meghalaya
    • cap. Shillong
    • Gets the most rain of all of India
  6. Manipur
    • cap. Imphal
    • Everyone has an East Asian look to them
  7. Tripura
    • cap. Agartala
    • Is this even India
  8. Mizoram
    • cap. Aizawl
    • The most forested state in India at over 90%

2. Main Languages

India’s primary language : Hindi

Secondary language : English

States Grouped by Language

The Main Languages Spoken in Each Region

Northern India:

  • Hindi
  • Punjabi (Punjab state language)

Central India:

  • Hindi
  • Gujarati (Gujarat state language)
  • Marathi (Maharashtra state language)

Eastern India:

  • Hindi
  • Bengali

Southern India:

  • Telugu (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana state language. Used to be one state)
  • Tamil (Tamil Nadu state language)
  • Kannada (Karnataka state language)
  • Malayalam (Keerala state language)

Note:

In the north, most of the states speak Hindi.

In the south, most of the states have their own language.

3. Terrain

Mountains – See the Himalaya Mountains along the northeast border.

Rivers – The two well-known rivers that run through India are the Indus river and the Ganges river. You can see the Mouth of the Ganges in the east where the Ganges flows toward and opens up into the Bay of Bengal.

4. Sub-Continent

Zoom-out of the sub-continent and surrounding bodies of water.

The Tropic of Cancer falls right across the middle of the country. And below that, the bottom half of the country is bordered by the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian ocean.