Uttarakhand At a Glance

Introduction:
The present state of Uttarakhand was earlier a part of the United Province of Agra and Awadh. In January 1950, the United Province was renamed as Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand was remained a part of Uttar Pradesh.

Uttarakhand is a state located in the northern part of India. It was established on 9 November 2000, becoming the 27th state of the Republic of India. It has the north side China (Tibet) border, Nepal on the east and Uttar Pradesh is on the south, on the west Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to the north west.
In January 2007, the name of the state was officially changed from Uttaranchal to Uttarakhand.
Uttarakhanda is a Sanskrit term that is “Uttara” means North, and “Khand” means Part .
Uttarakhand mostly noticed by the name of “Ganga River” and most famous and visited place “Char Dhams”, the four most revered Hindu temples: Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.
Today, it is often called "the Land of the Gods" (Dev Bhoomi) because of the presence of a multitude of Hindu pilgrimage spots.




Geography:
It has an area of 20,682 sq mi (53,566 km²). It ranks at 18th place and it’s share is 1.69% in the area of the country. Geographically, it is situated in the central Himalayan zone. Uttaranchal is a region of outstanding natural beauty. Most of the northern parts of the state are covered by the high Himalayan ranges and glaciers, while the lower reaches are densely forested. The unique Uttarakhand having large number of animals (including bharal, snow leopards, leopards and tigers), rivers, plants and rare and life saving herbs. India's two most holy rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna originate from the glaciers of Uttaranchal. The topography of Uttaranchal is described as hilly region, huge rocky Mountains, deep valleys, glaciers, high peaks, rivers, soil erosion, often landslides and many other road block – traffic jam.
The provisional capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun which is also a rail-head and the largest city in the region.
The High Court of the state is in Nainital.
Uttarakhand is also well known as the birthplace of the Chipko environmental movement.

Uttarakhand : At a glance

District(s) : 13

Established : 9 November 2000

Capital : Dehradun

Largest city : Dehradun

Governor : Margaret Alva

Chief Minister: Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal

Legislature (seats) Unicameral (71‡)

Population : 87 Lac

Density : 158/km2 (409 /sq mi)

Literacy : 72% (Male 84.01 % Female 60.26%)

Official languages : Hindi, Kumaoni, Garhwali, Sanskrit

Time zone : IST (UTC+05:30)

Area : 53566 km2 (20682 sq mi)

Uttaranchal has traditionally been divided into two parts, the eastern region know the name of Kumaon and the western half known as Garhwal.
The native people of Uttaranchal well know as “ Paharis (hill people)”. The people who lived in the Garhwal hills are commonly known as the Garhwali and who belongsfrom the Kumaon hills are called Kumaonese.
Bifurcation of 13 districts in two divisions are as follows:

Garhwal Division	Kumaun Division
Dehradun	Almora
Haridwar	Nainital
Chamoli	Pithoragarh
Rudraprayag	U S Nagar
Tehri Garhwal	Bageshwar
Uttarkashi	Champawat
Pauri Garhwal

Major Peaks

Gauri Parvat 6590 m

Gangotri 6614 m

Panch Chhuli 6910 m

Nanda Devi 7816 m

Nanda Kot 6861 m

Kamet 7756 m

Badrinath 7140 m

Trishul 7120 m

Chaukhamba 7138 m

Dunagiri 7066 m

Major Passes

Mana 5450 m

Nitipass 5070 m

Lipulekh 5122 m

Lumpia Dhura 5650 m