GK 1: Indian states & Union territories - Names & Capital cities

India has total 29 states (including new state Telangana) and 7 union territories. You can divide this place into 6 different geographical regions - North India, Western India, South India, Central India, East India and North-East India. 

North India States

North India is region located in the north of the India shared the international border with Pakistan, China, Afghanistan and Nepal. A significant presence of Hindi speaking people is noticed in this region. But a large segment of people also speaks Punjabi, Kashmiri, Haryanvi, Nepali etc. Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam & Christianity are the major religions in this region.  

1. Jammu & Kashmir, Capital - Srinagar
2. Himachal Pradesh, Capital - Shimla, Dharmashala (Winter capital)
3. Uttarakhand, Capital - Dehradun
4. Punjab, Capital - Chandigarh
5. Haryana, Capital - Chandigarh
6. Uttarpradesh, Capital - Lucknow
7. Rajasthan, Capital - Jaipur

West Indian States

Western India includes three states of India. These are Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa. Mumbai, Financial capital of India is located in this region. Here people mostly speak Marathi, Gujarati, Konkani, Hindi, English languages. Street foods in this region are very popular. Pav bhaji, Vada pav, poha, dabeli etc are very popular street foods in this region.

8. Gujarat, Capital - Gandhinagar

9. Maharashtra, Capital - Mumbai

10. Goa, Capital - Panaji

South Indian States

This triangular shaped region bounded by Arabian sea in one side, Bay of Bengal is in another side and Maharashtra & Odisha state in another side. They proudly own their own rich cultures & tradition which is also different from other parts of India. There are many different languages that are very widely speaking in different states. Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam are major languages in this region.

11. Andhra Pradesh, Capital - Hyderabad, Amravati ( de facto)
12. Telangana, Capital - Hyderabad
13. Karnataka, Capital - Bangalore
14. Kerala, Capital - Tiruvanathapuram
15. Tamilnadu, Capital - Chennai

Central India

This is a landlocked region. Mostly Hindi speaking people are living here. But there a few number of people who speaks Marathi, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati etc.Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, these two states come under this region.

16. Madhya Pradesh, Capital - Bhopal
17. Chhattisgarh, Capital - Raipur

East Indian States

This region has Himalaya in its North and Bay of Bengal in its south. It shares international borders with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand & Odisha, these four states come under this region.

18. West Bengal, Capital - Kolkata
19. Bihar, Capital - Patna
20. Jharkhand, Capital - Ranchi
21. Odisha, Capital - Bhubaneswar

North-East Indian States

Seven sister states (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya) and Himalayan state Meghalaya come under this region. This region shares international borders with Bhutan, Tibet/China, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Each state in this region has its own official languages. This region has hundreds of ethnic groups.  

22. Arunachal Pradesh, Capital - Itanagar

23. Assam, Capital - Guwahati

24. Manipur, Capital - Imphal

25. Mizoram, Capital - Aizawl

26. Nagaland, Capital - Kohima

27. Tripura, Capital - Agartala

28. Meghalaya, Capital - Shilong

29. Sikkim, Capital -Gangtok

Union territories

India has seven union territories which are ruled directly by Central Government. Except Delhi & Puducherry, no other union territory has its own elected legislative assembly. 

1. Chandigarh

2. Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Capital - Silvassa

3. Daman & Diu, Capital - Daman

4. Lakshadweep, Capital - Kavaratti

5. Puducherry, Capital - Puducherry

6. Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Capital - Port Blair

7. Delhi