?Uttarakhand India
Coordinates: 30°03′N 79°19′E / 30.05, 79.31
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area	53,566 km² (20,682 sq mi)
Capital	Dehradun†
Largest city	Dehradun
District(s)	13
Population • Density • Literacy rate	8,479,562 (19th) • 158 /km² (409 /sq mi) • 72%
Language(s)	Hindi, Garhwali, Kumaoni
Governor	Banwari Lal Joshi
Chief Minister	B C Khanduri
Established	2000-11-09
Legislature (seats)	Unicameral (71‡)
ISO abbreviation	IN-UL
Website: ua.nic.in
† Dehradun is the provisional capital of the state. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. Indian Standard Time ( IST) is the time observed throughout India and Sri Lanka, with a Time offset of UTC+530. UTC+530 is the Timezone for Indian Standard Time Sri Lanka Time The geography of India is diverse with landscape ranging from snow-capped mountain ranges to deserts plains rainforests hills and plateaus To help compare Orders of magnitude of different geographical regions  Areas between 10000 km² and 100000 km² are listed here Wikipedia_talkFeatured_lists#Proposed_change_to_all_featured_lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->This is a list of Indian state Dehradun (देहरादून, also sometimes spelled Dehra Doon, is the capital city of the state of Uttarakhand (earlier called Uttaranchal Dehradun (देहरादून, also sometimes spelled Dehra Doon, is the capital city of the state of Uttarakhand (earlier called Uttaranchal A district is an administrative division of a state in India India is divided into twenty-eight states and seven Union territories (UT In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology Population density (in agriculture standing stock and Standing crop) is a measurement of Population per unit area or unit volume traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write or the ability to use Language to read, write, listen, This is a list of the States of India in order of population The Constitution of India envisages Hindi as the primary official language to be used by the Union Government, with English as the subsidiary official language Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is The Garhwali are a people of the hilly Garhwal Division of Uttarakhand, India. The Kumaoni are a people of the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand, a region in the Indian Himalayas. Governors of Uttarakhand See also Uttarakhand Banwari Lal Joshi (born 27 March 1936) has been the Governor of the Indian state of Uttarakhand since October 2007 Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand See also Chief Ministers of Maj Gen Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri AVSM (Retd, also known as Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri or B The States Reorganization Act of 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries and governance of India 's states and territories. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Events 694 - Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims sentencing all Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or Parliamentary chamber ISO 3166-2 is the second part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO ISO 3166-2IN is an ISO standard which defines Geocodes it is the subset of ISO 3166-2 which applies to India. The new capital has not yet been chosen. ‡ 70 (elected) + 1 (nominated Anglo-Indian)
Seal of Uttarakhand

Coordinates: 30°03′N 79°19′E / 30.05, 79.31

Uttarakhand (Hindi: उत्तराखण्ड or उत्तराखंड), is a state located in the northern part of India. Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry and the term is sometimes used in the West. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is India is a union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country It was known as Uttaranchal between 2000 and 2006, Uttarakhand became the 27th state of the Republic of India on November 9, 2000 ^[1]. India is a union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Events 694 - Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims sentencing all 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.

Uttarakhand borders Tibet to the north, Nepal to the east, and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (of which it formed a part before 2000) in the west and south respectively. The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR also called Xizang Autonomous Region (བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས་ Wylie: Bod-rang-skyong-ljongs Nepal (नेपाल) is a Landlocked country in South Asia. Himachal Pradesh ( Hindi: हिमाचल प्रदेश Punjabi: ਹਿਮਾਚਲ ਪ੍ਰਦੇਸ਼ pronounced) is a state in the Uttar Pradesh (उत्तर प्रदेश اتر پردیش pronounced, Translation: Northern Province) referred to as '''U The region is traditionally referred to as Uttarakhand in Hindu scriptures and old literature, a term which derives from the Sanskrit for Northern Country or Section.

In January 2007, the name of the state was officially changed from Uttaranchal, its interim name, to Uttarakhand, according to the wishes of a large section of its people. The provisional capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun which is also a rail-head and the largest city in the region. Dehradun (देहरादून, also sometimes spelled Dehra Doon, is the capital city of the state of Uttarakhand (earlier called Uttaranchal The small hamlet of Gairsen has been mooted as the future capital owing to its geographic centrality but controversies and lack of resources have led Dehradun to remain provisional capital. Gairsen or Gairsain (गैरसैण ɡɛrsɛɳ is a village in central Uttarakhand, India which is being mooted as the state's future capital The High Court of the state is in Nainital. Nainital is a town in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and headquarters of Nainital district in the Kumaon Foothills

Recent developments in the region include initiatives by the state government to capitalise on handloom and handicrafts, the burgeoning tourist trade as well as tax incentives to lure high-tech industry to the state. A loom is a Machine or device for Weaving thread or Yarn into Textiles Looms can range from very small hand-held frames to large free-standing Handicraft, also known as craftwork or simply Craft, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or using only simple tools The state also has big-dam projects, controversial and often criticised in India, such as the very large Tehri dam on the Bhagirathi-Bhilangana rivers, conceived in 1953 and about to reach completion. Tehri Dam is the primary Dam of the Tehri Development Project a major hydroelectric project centered near Tehri Town in the state of Uttarakhand ^[2] Uttarakhand is also well known as the birthplace of the Chipko environmental movement,^[3] and a myriad other social movements including the mass agitation in the 1990s that led to its formation. The Chipko movement (literally "to stick" in Hindi) was a group of female peasants in the Uttaranchal region of India who acted to prevent the cutting

Contents 1 History 2 Demographics 3 Geography 4 Government and Politics 5 Districts 6 Economy 7 Tourism 8 Education 9 Further reading 10 References 11 External links

History

Uttarakhand is both the new and traditional name of the state that was formed from the hill districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. Literally North Country or Section in Sanskrit, the name of Uttarakhand finds mention in the early Hindu scriptures as the combined region of Kedarkhand and Manaskhand. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Uttarakhand was also the ancient Puranic term for the central stretch of the Indian Himalayas. For other meanings see Purana (disambiguation. The Puranas ( Sanskrit: sa पुराण purāṇa, "of ancient times" India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Its peaks and valleys were well known in ancient times as the abode of gods and goddesses and source of the Ganga River. In Hinduism, ( Sanskrit: स्वर्ग Svarga (or Swarga) is set of heavenly worlds located on and above Mt The Ganges (ˈgænʤiːz also Ganga, Devanāgarī: hi गंगा in most Indian languages) is the major river in the Indian subcontinent Today, it is often called "the Land of the Gods" (Dev Bhoomi) because of the presence of a multitude of Hindu pilgrimage spots. A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical The Pauravas, Kushanas, Kunindas, Guptas, Katyuris, Palas, the Chands, and Parmars or Panwars and the British have ruled Uttarakhand in turns. The Pauravas ( Sanskrit: पौरव was the name given to the many petty kingdoms and tribes of ancient northwestern India (including modern Pakistan) The Kushan Empire (c 1st &ndash 3rd centuries) was a Bactrian state that at its cultural zenith Circa 105 &ndash 250 The Kingdom of Kuninda (or Kulinda in ancient literature was an ancient central Himalayan kingdom from around the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century The Gupta Empire ( Hindi: गुप्त राजवंश was ruled by members of the Gupta dynasty from around 320 to 550 C Katyuri Kings (कत्यूरी नरेश were a medieval ruling clan of Uttarakhand, who ruled over the Kumaon region between 7th and 11th centuries AD Chand Kings (चंद नरेश were a Medieval Somavanshi Rajput ruling clan of Kumaon region of the Uttarakhand state of For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British ^[4]

The region was originally settled by Kols, an aboriginal people of the Dravidian physical type who were later joined by Indo-Aryan Khas tribes that arrived from the northwest by the Vedic period. The Kol people is a generic name for the Munda, Ho, and Oraon tribes (Adivasi of eastern India who live in the states Originally the Khas were the mountain dwellers living in the south shadow of the Himalayan range from Kashmir to Bhutan, but mostly in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand The Vedic Period (or Vedic Age) is the period in the History of India during which the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, were being At that time, present-day Uttarakhand also served as a haunt for Rishis and Sadhus. A rishi (ṛṣi denotes a Vedic poet by whom Vedic hymns were composed or according to post-Vedic tradition a "sage" to whom they were "originally revealed" (Ṛṣis In Hinduism, sadhu is a common term for an Ascetic or practitioner of Yoga ( Yogi) who has given up pursuit of the first three It is believed that Sage Vyasa scripted the Mahabharata here as the Pandavas are believed to have traveled and camped in the region. Vyāsa ( Devanāgarī: व्यास is a central and revered figure in the majority of Hindu traditions In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava (or Pandawa brothers ( Sanskrit: पाण्‍डव pāṇḍavaḥ are the five acknowledged sons of Among the first major dynasties of Garhwal and Kumaon were the Kunindas in the 2nd century B. The Kingdom of Kuninda (or Kulinda in ancient literature was an ancient central Himalayan kingdom from around the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century C. who practiced an early form of Shaivism. Shaivism, also spelled "Saivism" names the oldest of the four sects of Hinduism. They traded salt with Western Tibet. Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European It is evident from the Ashokan edict at Kalsi in Western Garhwal that Buddhism made inroads in this region. Ashoka ( Devanāgarī: अशोकः IAST: Aśokaḥ, aɕoːkə(hə Prakrit Imperial title Devanampriya Priyadarsi Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Folk shamanic practices deviating from Hindu orthodoxy also persisted here. However, Garhwal and Kumaon were restored to nominal Brahmanical rule due to the travails of Shankaracharya and the arrival of migrants from the plains. Shankaracharya, ( IAST: Śankarāchārya) is a commonly used title of heads of maţhas (monasteries in the Advaita tradition In the fourth century, the Kunindas gave way to the Naga Dynasties. Between the 7th and 14th centuries, the Katyuri dynasty of Khas origin dominated lands of varying extent from the Katyur (modern day Baijnath) valley in Kumaon. Katyuri Kings (कत्यूरी नरेश were a medieval ruling clan of Uttarakhand, who ruled over the Kumaon region between 7th and 11th centuries AD Other peoples of the Tibeto-Burman group known as Kiratas are thought to have settled in the northern highlands as well as in pockets throughout the region, and believed to be the ancestors to the modern day Bhotiya, Raji, Buksha, and Tharu peoples. The Tibeto-Burman family of languages (often considered a sub-group of the Sino-Tibetan Language family) is spoken in various central and south Asian countries including The Kirata ( Sanskrit: किराट is a generic term in Sanskrit literature for people who lived in the mountains particularly in the Himalayas and The Bhotiya ( they actually call themselves RANG tribe are an ethno-linguistic group of people living in the trans-Himalayan region that divides India from Tibet. The Tharu people are Indigenous people living in the Surkhet Valley in the west mountain region Chitwan Valley Dang ValleyDeukhuri ValleySindhuli and Udyapur ^[5]

By the medieval period, the region was consolidated under the Garhwal Kingdom in the west and the Kumaon Kingdom in the east. The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, more commonly the United Provinces, was a Province of British India, which existed from 1902 to 1947 Garhwal was a Princely state in the present Uttarakhand, India, also known as Tehri Garhwal state From the 13th-18th century, Kumaon prospered under the Chand Rajas who had their origins in the plains of India. Chand Kings (चंद नरेश were a Medieval Somavanshi Rajput ruling clan of Kumaon region of the Uttarakhand state of During this period, learning and new forms of painting (the Pahari school of art) developed. Pahari (or Pahaari) is a general terms for a range of dialects spoken across the Himalayan range not limited to a single country in the subcontinent ^[6] Modern-day Garhwal was likewise unified under the rule of Parmar/Panwar Rajas, who along with a mass migration of Brahmins and Rajputs, also arrived from the plains. Brahmin ( Brāhmaṇa, sa ब्राह्मणः is the class of educators scholars and preachers in Brahminical Hinduism. Rajput constitute one of the major Hindu Kshatriya groups from India ^[7] In 1791, the expanding Gurkha Empire of Nepal, overran Almora, the seat of the Kumaon Kingdom. Prithvi Naraya Shahdev and Sri Teen Maharaja Jung Bahadur The Way of Sacrifice The Rajputs Pages 28-30 Graduate Thesis South Asian Studies Department Dr Nepal (नेपाल) is a Landlocked country in South Asia. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Almora ( Hindi: अल्मोड़ा is a Cantonment town in the Almora district In 1803, the Garhwal Kingdom also fell to the Gurkhas. With the conclusion of the Anglo-Nepalese War in 1816, a rump portion of the Garhwal Kingdom was reestablished from Tehri, and eastern British Garhwal and Kumaon ceded to the British as part of the Treaty of Sugauli. The Gurkha War ( 1814 – 1816) sometimes called the Gorkha War or the Anglo-Nepalese War, was fought between Nepal and the British WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Tehri is a city and a municipal board in Tehri Garhwal District in the Indian The Sugauli Treaty (also spelled Segowlee and Segqulee) was signed on December 2, 1815 and ratified by March 4, 1816

In the post-independence period, the Tehri princely state was merged into Uttar Pradesh state, where Uttarakhand composed the Garhwal and Kumaon Divisions. Uttar Pradesh (उत्तर प्रदेश اتر پردیش pronounced, Translation: Northern Province) referred to as '''U ^[8] Until 1998, Uttarakhand was the name most commonly used to refer to the region, as various political groups including most significantly the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Uttarakhand Revolutionary Party est. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal is a regional Political party in India. 1979), began agitating for separate statehood under its banner. Although the erstwhile hill kingdoms of Garhwal and Kumaon were traditional rivals with diverse lingual and cultural influences due to the proximity of different neighbouring ethnic groups, the inseparable and complementary nature of their geography, economy, culture, language, and traditions created strong bonds between the two regions. ^[9] These bonds formed the basis of the new political identity of Uttarakhand, which gained significant momentum in 1994, when demand for separate statehood (within the Union of India) achieved almost unanimous acceptance among the local populace as well as political parties at the national level. ^[10] Most notable incident during this period was the Rampur Tiraha firing case on the night of October 1, 1994, which led to public uproar and eventually to the division of the state of Uttar Pradesh in 1998 ^[11]. The Rampur Tiraha firing case refers to police firing on unarmed Uttarakhand activists at Rampur Tiraha (crossing in Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) Uttar Pradesh (उत्तर प्रदेश اتر پردیش pronounced, Translation: Northern Province) referred to as '''U

However, the term Uttaranchal came into use when the BJP-led central and Uttar Pradesh state governments initiated a new round of state reorganization in 1998 and introduced its preferred name. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP (भारतीय जनता पार्टी, Translation: Indian People's Party) founded in 1980 is a major Political Chosen for its allegedly less separatist connotations, the name change generated enormous controversy among the rank and file of the separate state activists who saw it as a political act ^[12], however they were not quite as successful as Jharkhand state that successfully thwarted a similar move to impose the name Vananchal. Jharkhand ( Hindi: झारखंड Bengali: ঝাড়খণ্ডdʒʰaːɽkʰəɳɖ is a state in eastern India. Nevertheless, the name Uttarakhand remained popular in the region, even while Uttaranchal was promulgated through official usage.

In August 2006, India's Union Cabinet assented to the four-year-old demand of the Uttaranchal state assembly and leading members of the Uttarakhand movement to rename Uttaranchal state as Uttarakhand. Legislation to that effect was passed by the State Legislative Assembly in October 2006,^[13] and the Union Cabinet brought in the bill in the winter session of Parliament. The bill was passed by Parliament and signed into law by the President in December 2006. Since then, Uttarakhand denotes a state in the Union of India.

Demographics

According to 2001 India census, Uttaranchal had a population of approximately of 8. 48 million. People of Uttarakhand are generally called either Garhwali or Kumaoni depending on their place of origin in either the Garhwal or Kumaon region. The Garhwali are a people of the hilly Garhwal Division of Uttarakhand, India. The Kumaoni are a people of the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand, a region in the Indian Himalayas. Colloquially they are also referred to as Pahari meaning "hill person". Pahari (or Pahaari) is a general terms for a range of dialects spoken across the Himalayan range not limited to a single country in the subcontinent Many Punjabis, who migrated to India after partition, along with migrants from the adjoining plains, make up the majority of the Terai population. The Punjabi people ( Punjabi: ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پنجابی also Panjabi people) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group from South Asia. Nepalis, Bengalis, and Tibetans of Eastern Tibet region (Khampa) have also settled in the state. Nepal (नेपाल) is a Landlocked country in South Asia. The Bengali people are the ethnic community from Bengal (divided between Bangladesh and India) on the Indian subcontinent with a history dating The Tibetan people are indigenous to Tibet and surrounding areas stretching from Central Asia in the North and West to Myanmar and China Proper Another well known category is Gujjar, cattle herders in the southwestern Terai. The Gujjar ( Hindi: गुज्जर Urdu: گجر or Gurjar (Hindi गुर्जर Urdu گُرجر are an ethnic group in India and

Kumaoni and Garhwali dialects of Central Pahari are spoken in Kumaon and Garhwal region respectively. The Kumaoni are a people of the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand, a region in the Indian Himalayas. The Garhwali are a people of the hilly Garhwal Division of Uttarakhand, India. Pahari (or Pahaari) is a general terms for a range of dialects spoken across the Himalayan range not limited to a single country in the subcontinent Jaunsari and Bhotiya dialects are also spoken by tribal communities in the west and north respectively. The Bhotiya ( they actually call themselves RANG tribe are an ethno-linguistic group of people living in the trans-Himalayan region that divides India from Tibet. The urban population however converses mostly in Hindi. Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is

Hindus form the majority of the population at 85. 0%, Muslims form 12. 0%, Sikhs 2. 5% and Christians, Buddhists, Jains and others about 0. 5%ref>http://www.censusindia.net/religiondata/ 2001 Indian Census Data</ref>. It has male-female ratio of 964 and has a literacy rate of 72%. traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write or the ability to use Language to read, write, listen, The largest cities in the state are :Dehradun (530,263), Haridwar (220,767), Haldwani (158,896) and Roorkee (115,278). Dehradun (देहरादून, also sometimes spelled Dehra Doon, is the capital city of the state of Uttarakhand (earlier called Uttaranchal WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Haridwar (also spelled Hardwar Hindi: हरिद्वार भारत) is a holy city and WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Haldwani (हल्द्वानी is a city which along with its twin township of Kathgodam WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Roorkee (रुड़की is a town and a Municipal council in the Indian state The state government recognizes 15,620 villages and 81 cities and urban areas.

Geography

Uttarakhand has a total geographic area of 51,125 km², of which 93% is mountainous and 64% is covered by forest. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of A forest is an area with a high density of Trees There are many definitions of a forest based on various criteria Most of the northern parts of the state are part of Greater Himalaya ranges, covered by the high Himalayan peaks and glaciers, while the lower foothills were densely forested till denuded by the British log merchants and later, after independence, by forest contractors. Recent efforts in reforestation, however, have been successful in restoring the situation to some extent. The unique Himalayan ecosystem plays host to a large number of animals (including bharal, snow leopards, leopards and tigers), plants and rare herbs. The bharal or Himalayan blue sheep, Pseudois nayaur, is a caprid found in the high Himalayas of Nepal, Tibet, The snow leopard ( Uncia uncia) sometimes known as the ounce, is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia from Afghanistan Northern The leopard (lɛpɚd Panthera pardus) is an Old World Mammal of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four roaring The tiger ( Panthera tigris) is a member of the Felidae family the largest and the most powerful of the four " Big cats quot in the Genus Two of India's mightiest rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna take birth in the glaciers of Uttarakhand, and are fed by myriad lakes, glacial melts and streams in the region. The Ganges (ˈgænʤiːz also Ganga, Devanāgarī: hi गंगा in most Indian languages) is the major river in the Indian subcontinent For the goddess of the river who is sometimes called Yamuna see Yami The Yamuna (Sanskrit यमुना ^[14]

Uttarakhand lies on the south slope of the mighty Himalaya range, and the climate and vegetation vary greatly with elevation, from glaciers at the highest elevations to tropical forests at the lower elevations. The highest elevations are covered by ice and bare rock. The Western Himalayan Alpine Shrub and Meadows ecoregion lies between 3000-3500 and 5000 meters elevation; tundra and alpine meadows cover the highest elevations, transitioning to Rhododendron-dominated shrublands below. An ecoregion ( ecological region) sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or " Rhododendron (from the Greek: rhodos, "rose" and dendron, "tree" is a genus of flowering plants in the family The Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests lie just below the tree line; at 3000-2600 meters elevation they transition to the Western Himalayan broadleaf forests, which lie in a belt from 2,600 to 1,500 meters elevation. Below 1500 meters elevation lies western end of the drier Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands belt, and the Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests. This belt is locally known as Bhabhar. Bhabhar is the region south of the Lower Himalayas where the alluvial grade merges into the Indo- Gangetic Plain These lowland forests have mostly been cleared for agriculture, but a few pockets remain. ^[15]

Indian National Parks in Uttarakhand include the Jim Corbett National Park (the oldest national park of India) at Ramnagar in Nainital District, Valley of Flowers National Park and Nanda Devi National Park in Chamoli District, Rajaji National Park in Haridwar District, and Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Gangotri National Park in Uttarkashi District. This is a list of all national parks of India. India 's first National park (an IUCN category II Protected area) was established in 1935 Jim Corbett National Park —named after the hunter and naturalist Jim Corbett who played a key role in its establishment—is the oldest National park in Nainital is a district of Uttarakhand state India. The headquarter is at Nainital. Valley of Flowers National Park is an Indian national park, Nestled high in West Himalaya is renowned for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and outstanding The Nanda Devi National Park is a National park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi,, in the state of Uttarakhand in northern India Chamoli is a district of Uttarakhand state of India. It is bounded by the Tibet region to the north and by the Uttarakhand districts of Pithoragarh Rajaji National Park is an Indian National park that encompasses the Shivaliks, near the foothills of the Himalayas. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Haridwar (हरिद्वार is a district of Uttarakhand state India. Gangotri National Park is a National park located in Uttarkashi District Uttarakhand, India. Uttarkashi District, also known as Uttar Kashi District, is a district of Garhwal division of the Uttarakhand state in northern India.

Government and Politics

The Chief Minister is B.C. Khanduri. Maj Gen Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri AVSM (Retd, also known as Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri or B The last state elections in Uttarakhand were held on February 21, 2007. The Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the largest party with 34 seats in the 70-seat legislature. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP (भारतीय जनता पार्टी, Translation: Indian People's Party) founded in 1980 is a major Political One seat short of forming a majority, the BJP have had to rely on support from the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and the three independents to form the government. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal is a regional Political party in India. The Indian National Congress are the official opposition, holding 21 seats. Indian National Congress-I (also known as the Congress Party and abbreviated INC) is a major Political party in India.

Districts

There are 13 districts in Uttarakhand which are grouped into two divisions. Garhwal division includes Chamoli, Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal (commonly known as Garhwal), Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal and Uttarkashi whereas Kumaon division includes Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Nainital, Pithoragarh, Udham Singh Nagar. Garhwal, or Gurwal (गढ़वाल ɡəɽʱʋal is a region and administrative division of Uttarakhand state India, lying in the Himalayas. Chamoli is a district of Uttarakhand state of India. It is bounded by the Tibet region to the north and by the Uttarakhand districts of Pithoragarh Dehradun (देहरादून is a district of Uttarakhand state in northern India. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Haridwar (हरिद्वार is a district of Uttarakhand state India. Rudraprayag district, also known as Rudra Prayag district, is a district of Uttarakhand state of northern India. Uttarkashi District, also known as Uttar Kashi District, is a district of Garhwal division of the Uttarakhand state in northern India. Kumaon (or Kumaun) is one of the two regions and administrative divisions of Uttarakhand, a mountainous state of northern India, the other being Garhwal Almora is a district of Uttarakhand state India. The headquarters is at Almora. Bageshwar District is a district of Uttarakhand state in northern India. Champawat district is a district of Uttarakhand state in northern India. Nainital is a district of Uttarakhand state India. The headquarter is at Nainital. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Pithoragarh (पिथौरागढ़ is the easternmost Himalayan District in the Udham Singh Nagar is a district of Uttarakhand state in northern India.

Economy

Uttarakhand's gross state domestic product for 2004 is estimated at $6 billion in current prices. Born out of partition of Uttar Pradesh, the new state of Uttarakhand produces about 8% of the output of the old Uttar Pradesh state. Consolidated Finvest and Holdings, a S&P CNX 500 conglomerate has its corporate office in Uttarakhand. It reported a gross income of Rs. 137 million for 2005.

In 2003, a new industrial policy for the state with generous tax benefits for investors was initiated that has led to a massive upsurge of capital investment. SIDCUL, the State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal (sic) has established seven industrial estates in the southern periphery of the state, while dozens of hydroelectric dams are being built in the upper reaches. However, hill development remains an uphill challenge as out migration of local peoples continues from the highland hinterlands.

Tourism

Leisure, adventure, and religious tourism play a prominent role in Uttarakhand's economy, with the Corbett National Park and Tiger Reserve and the nearby hill-stations of Nainital, Mussoorie, Almora and Ranikhet being amongst the most frequented destinations of India. Badrinath temple, sometimes called Badrinarayan temple, is situated along the Alaknanda river in the hill town of Badrinath in Uttarakhand state Jim Corbett National Park —named after the hunter and naturalist Jim Corbett who played a key role in its establishment—is the oldest National park in Nainital is a town in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and headquarters of Nainital district in the Kumaon Foothills WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Mussoorie is a city and a Municipal board, about 34 km from Dehradun and in Dehradun district WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Almora ( Hindi: अल्मोड़ा is a Cantonment town in the Almora district WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Ranikhet is a Hill station and Cantonment town in Almora district in the The state also contains numerous peaks of interest to mountaineers, although Nanda Devi, the highest and best-known of these, has been off-limits since 1982. Nanda Devi is the second highest Mountain in India and the highest entirely within the country ( Kangchenjunga being on the border of India and Other national wonders include the Valley of Flowers, which along with Nanda Devi National Park, form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Valley of Flowers National Park is an Indian national park, Nestled high in West Himalaya is renowned for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and outstanding The Nanda Devi National Park is a National park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi,, in the state of Uttarakhand in northern India United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex

To Uttarakhand, long called "abode of the gods" (Devbhumi), belong some of the holiest Hindu shrines, and for more than a thousand years, pilgrims have been visiting the region in the hopes of salvation and purification from sin. Gangotri and Yamunotri, the sources of both the Ganges and Yamuna fall in the upper reaches of the state and together with Badrinath (dedicated to Vishnu) and Kedarnath (dedicated to Shiva) form the Chardham of Uttarakhand, one of Hinduism most spiritually auspicious pilgrimage circuits. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Gangotri is a town and a Nagar panchayat in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand Yamunotri, the source of the Yamuna River and the seat of the Goddess Yamuna, is one of the four sites in India 's Char Dham pilgrimage The Ganges (ˈgænʤiːz also Ganga, Devanāgarī: hi गंगा in most Indian languages) is the major river in the Indian subcontinent For the goddess of the river who is sometimes called Yamuna see Yami The Yamuna (Sanskrit यमुना WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Badrinath is a Hindu holy town and a Nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state For other meanings see Vishnu (disambiguation. Vishnu ( IAST viṣṇu Devanagari विष्णु (honorific WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Kedarnath (केदारनाथis a Hindu holy town located in the Indian Shiva:(pronunciation; Sanskrit: शिव Śiva, lit "Auspicious one" One of the Trimurtis Shiva is the supreme God in the Shaiva The Char Dham ('the four abodes/seats' is the most important Hindu pilgrimage circuit in the Indian Himalayas Located in the Garhwal section Rishikesh near Haridwar is known as the preeminent yoga centre of India while the spectacular view from Hemkund is of special significance to Sikhs. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Hrishikesh (ऋषिकेश is a city and a Municipal board in Dehradun district in Hemkund, with a spectacular setting of a glacial lake surrounded by seven peaks is a popular pilgrimage site for Sikhs. Sikh (English or; ਸਿੱਖ sikkh, IPA) is the title and name given to an adherent of Sikhism. In addition, the state has an abundance of temples and shrines, many dedicated to local deities or manifestations of Shiva and Durga, references to many of which can be found in Hindu scriptures and legends. Shiva:(pronunciation; Sanskrit: शिव Śiva, lit "Auspicious one" One of the Trimurtis Shiva is the supreme God in the Shaiva In Hinduism, Durga ("the inaccessible" or "the invincible" or Maa Durga (Mother Durga is a form of Devi, the supreme Goddess ^[16] The architecture of most of these temples is typical of the region and slightly different from other parts of India, the ancient temples at Jageshwar being the most prominent for their distinct architectural features. Tibetan Buddhism has also made itself felt with the recent reconstruction of Mindroling Monastery and its Buddha Stupa, touted as the world's highest^[17], southwest of Dehradun. Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including Mindroling Monastery (pronounced MINH-droh-lyng, not Mind-Rolling) is one of the six major monasteries of the Nyingma school in Tibet Dehradun (देहरादून, also sometimes spelled Dehra Doon, is the capital city of the state of Uttarakhand (earlier called Uttaranchal

Education

Uttarakhand has educational institutions of major importance to India and the world. The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration ( LBSNAA) is a research and training institute on Public policy and Public administration in It is home to the oldest engineering college in Asia, the Indian Institute of Technology at Roorkee (formerly University of Roorkee). The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs, are a group of fourteen autonomous Engineering and Technology -oriented institutes of Higher education established WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Roorkee (रुड़की is a town and a Municipal council in the Indian state Other universities of prime importance include the Graphic Era Institute of technology , dehradun (poised to become a deemed university very soon) , G. B. Pant University in Pantnagar,Gurukula Kangri University in Haridwar, Faculty of Engineering and Technology,Gurukula Kangri University, Kumaun University in Nainital and Almora, Doon University in Dehradun (http://gov.ua.nic.in/DoonUniversity/), and the H. N. B. Garhwal University in Srinagar. The later two were founded in 1973 as part of the upsurge of regional sentiment that led to Uttarakhand statehood.

Historically, Uttarakhand is believed to be the land where the Vedas and the Shastras were composed and the great epic, the Mahabharata, was written. "Veda" redirects here For other uses see Veda (disambiguation. Śāstra (anglicized either shastra or sastra) is a Sanskrit word used to denote Education /knowledge in a general sense Rishikesh is widely considered the Yoga capital of the world. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Hrishikesh (ऋषिकेश is a city and a Municipal board in Dehradun district in Yoga ( Sanskrit: योग, IAST: yóga, joːgə refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India, to the

Further reading

State symbols

State animal	Musk Deer
State bird	Monal
State tree	Rhododendron
State flower	Brahma Kamal

• Husain, Z. A state mammal is the official or representative Animal of a U Musk deer are Artiodactyls of the genus Moschus, the only genus of family Moschidae. This is a list of Indian state (and Union territory) birds A Monal is a Bird of genus Lophophorus of the Pheasant family Phasianidae. In a number of countries plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas Rhododendron (from the Greek: rhodos, "rose" and dendron, "tree" is a genus of flowering plants in the family In a number of countries plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas Saussurea is a genus of about 300 species of Flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to cool Temperate and Arctic regions (1995). Uttarakhand movement: the politics of identity and frustration, a psycho-analytical study of the separate state movement, 1815-1995. Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot. ISBN 8185897174
• Śarmā, D. (1989). Tibeto-Himalayan languages of Uttarakhand. Studies in Tibeto-Himalayan languages, 3. New Delhi, India: Mittal Publications. ISBN 8170991714
• Fonia, K. S. (1987). Uttarakhand, the land of jungles, temples, and snows. New Delhi, India: Lancer Books.
• Mukhopadhyay, R. (1987). Uttarakhand movement a sociological analysis. Centre for Himalayan Studies special lecture, 8. Raja Rammohunpur, Dt. Darjeeling: University of North Bengal.

References

External links

• Official web-site of Uttarakhand Government
• Uttarakhand Government Portal

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