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.

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:

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 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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

 

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

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!