India Political Map: Introduction, Maps, Outlines, and Recent Developments

PWOnlyIAS February 23, 2024 06:04 3624 0

Indian political Map is divided into 28 states and 8 union territories (UTs), each state and Union Territories having its own unique identity, history, and central administrative location. Click to download India political map pdf, here.

India Political Map: Introduction, Maps, Outlines, and Recent Developments

Introduction to the India Political Map

India is the seventh biggest country globally and the second most populated. Since the abrogation of Article 370 the political map of India has been changed internally and boundaries have been altered. In this article we will go through the comprehensive coverage of the political map of India.

India Political Map: A brief

A Political Map represents all states of any country along with its capital. Indian political Map is divided into 28 states and 8 union territories (UTs), each state and Union Territories having its own unique identity, history, and central administrative location.

States and some union territories are administered by the elected government by the people of states whereas Union Territories are directly administered by the President.

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india political map

India Political Map: Recent Development

Indian Political Map After Abrogation of Article 370
After the abrogation of Article 370 the state of Jammu and Kashmir has been officially bifurcated into the Union Territories (UT) of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh under Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
Jammu and Kashmir reorganization Act of 2019
In 2019, The Jammu and Kashmir reorganization Act was passed the major highlight of this Act are as follows:
- The Reorganization Bill for Jammu and Kashmir was introduced on August 5 of 2019 within the Rajya Sabha.
- Both houses gave their assent to the bill and as per the provision of the bill the number of Union Territories, as well as states in India, has gone through some significant changes.
- The main objective of the bill is to bifurcate the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir into two separate Union territories.
  - The first one among the two separate union territories that were formed is the union territory of Ladakh whereas the second one is the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

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Changes In Indian Political Map After Bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir
The Union Territory of Ladakh will consist of Kargil and Leh districts. The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir will include the remaining areas from the original state of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Jammu and Kashmir as a Union Territory will have its own legislature like Puducherry, while Ladakh will be a Union Territory without a legislature like Chandigarh.
- The Act specified that two separate lieutenant governors (LG) will lead each Union Territory.
- In Jammu and Kashmir, the Central government will directly control the police and maintain law and order, but the elected government will oversee the land-related matters.
- For the Union Territory of Ladakh, the central government will have direct control, and the region will be administered through the lieutenant governor.

india political map

Ladakh Union Territory without Legislature
	Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory	Ladakh Union Territory
Capital	Jammu(winter), Srinagar(summer)	Leh and Kargil
Area	222,236 sq.km	59,146 km sq.km
Districts	20	2 districts namely Leh and Kargil.
Languages	Kashmiri, Dogri, Urdu, Hindi, and English	Hindi, English, Ladakhi, Purgi, Brokskat, and Balti

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Unification of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

- In July 2019, the Indian government passed The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union territories) Act, 2019 which states the merger of two union territories into one to streamline services and cut down on administration costs.

india political map

- Before the merger, both territories already shared an administrator and government officials. The town of Daman was selected as the capital for the newly combined union territory.

Current India Political Map: With States and Union Territories

The list of states and union territories of India are listed below.

List of Indian States	List of Union Territories
Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Odisha Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Telangana Tripura Uttarakhand Uttar Pradesh West Bengal	Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chandigarh Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu Delhi Jammu & Kashmir Ladakh Lakshadweep Puducherry

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India Political Map: Characteristics

India political map have numerous features which help people to understand their state and their boundaries with adjacent states and with other countries.

Important Lines and Coordinates- Political map of India also shows Tropic of Cancer, Indian Standard Time and coordinates like latitude and longitudinal extent of country.
- Longitudinal Extent of India: 68° 7 E and 97° 25′ E.
- Latitudinal Extent of India: 8° 4′ N and 36° 7 N
- Tropic of Cancer: The Tropic of Cancer nearly bisects the country, running at approximately 23°30’N latitude. It passes through Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,West Bengal,Tripura And Mizoram.
- Indian Standard Meridian: 82°30’E passes through Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.
Number of States and Union Territories: India has 28 states and 8 union territories (UTs).
Political Boundaries of States: Uttar Pradesh has longest boundaries touching including Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh.
Capital of India: Delhi
Capital of States- All states have their capital which is mentioned in the political map.
International Boundaries- India shares its land borders with seven countries.
- North west: Pakistan and Afghanistan
- North: China , Nepal, and Bhutan in the North
- East: Myanmar and Bangladesh in the east.
- South: Sri Lanka and Maldives.
- India and Bangladesh share a 4,096 km-long international border with West Bengal having the highest length with 2,217 km.
Maritime Boundaries of India
- Total maritime boundaries of stretch over 7,516.6 kilometers (4,670 miles)
- The maritime borders of India are shared with seven countries which are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Maldives.
- Territorial Maritime Zone: A 12-nautical-mile (22 km) territorial maritime zone
- Exclusive Economic Zone: 200 nautical miles (370 km).

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