Indian States With Capitals & Union Territories 101: Guide

This is a comprehensive guide to Indian states with capitals and union territories.

India also called Bharat hardly needs any introduction. It is the second most populous and rapidly developing country. Located in the South of Asia, it is the seventh biggest country (area-wise) in the World. Also, it is the largest democracy in the World. As of February 3, 2023, India’s population stands at a whopping 1,415,051,674 people. That constitutes 17.7% of the World’s population.

With the Great Himalayas in the north, The Indian Ocean in the south, the Arabian Sea in the west, and the Bay of Bengal in the west, the massive land of India stretches over 3,287,263 sq. km

The Republic of India comprises 28 states and 8 union territories.

India States With Capitals

#	States	Capital
1.	Andhra Pradesh	Amravati
2.	Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar
3.	Assam	Dispur
4.	Bihar	Patna
5.	Chattisgarh	Atal Nagar (Naya Raipur)
6.	Goa	Panaji
7.	Gujarat	Gandhinagar
8.	Haryana	Chandigarh
9.	Himachal Pradesh	Shimla/Dharamshala*
10.	Jharkhand	Ranchi
11.	Karnataka	Bengaluru
12.	Kerala	Thiruvananthapuram
13.	Madhya Pradesh	Bhopal
14.	Maharashtra	Mumbai
15.	Manipur	Imphal
16.	Meghalaya	Shillong
17.	Mizoram	Aizawl
18.	Nagaland	Kohima
19.	Odisha	Bhubaneswar
20.	Punjab	Chandigarh
21.	Rajasthan	Jaipur
22.	Sikkim	Gangtok
23.	Tamil Nadu	Chennai
24.	Telangana	Hyderabad
25.	Tripura	Agartala
26.	Uttar Pradesh	Lucknow
27.	Uttarakhand	Dehradun
28.	West Bengal	Kolkatta

*Please Note: Shimla is the summer capital of Himachal Pradesh while Dharamshala is the winter capital.

Indian Union Territories

#	Union Territories	Capital
1.	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	Port Blair
2.	Chandigarh	Chandigarh
3.	Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu	Daman
4.	Delhi (National Capital Territory)	New Delhi
5.	Jammu & Kashmir	Srinagar/Jammu**
6.	Ladakh	Leh
7.	Lakshadweep	Kavaratti
8.	Puducherry	Puducherry

**Please Note: Srinagar is the summer capital of UT Jammu & Kashmir while Jammu is the winter capital.

Let’s know a little bit more about all India states with capitals.

States Of India

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh got its statehood on 1st October 1950.
Hyderabad was the initial capital of Andhra Pradesh. On 22nd October 2015, the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the city of Amravati and which became the capital city soon after.
Andhra Pradesh is the 7th largest state and 10th most populated state in India.
The state has a literacy rate of 67.41% and the official spoken languages in the state are Telugu and English.

Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh got its statehood on 20th February 1987.
The capital of the state is Itanagar, which is also the largest city in Arunachal Pradesh.
Arunachal Pradesh is the 14th largest state area wise and the 27th most populated state of India. In other words, it’s the second least populated state of India.
The state has a literacy rate of 66.95% and the official spoken language in the state is English.

Assam

Assam got its statehood on 26th January 1950.
The capital of Assam is Dispur.
Guwahati is the largest city in Assam and the largest metropolitan city in North-eastern Indian territory.
Assam is the 16th largest state area wise and the 15th most populated state of India.
The state has a literacy rate of 72.19% and the official spoken language in the state is Assamese.

Bihar

Bihar got its statehood on 26th January 1950.
The capital of Bihar is Patna which is also the largest city in Bihar.
Bihar is the 12th largest state (area-wise) in India and is the 3rd most populous state of India.
The literacy rate in the state of Bihar is 63.82% and the official language in the state is Hindi.

Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh got its statehood on 1st November 2000.
Bilaspur is the judicial capital of Chhattisgarh. Naya Raipur is the legislative capital of the state.
Raipur followed by Bilaspur are the largest cities of Chhattisgarh.
Chhattisgarh is the 9th largest state of India (area-wise) and is the 17th most populated state.
The literacy rate for the state stands at 70.01% while the official spoken language is Chhattisgarhi and Hindi.

Goa

Goa got its statehood on 30th May 1987.
Panaji is the capital city of Goa while Vasco Da Gama is the largest of its city.
Goa is the smallest state of India, therefore ranked 28th area-wise. It’s however the 26th most populated state in India or the third least populated.
The literacy rate in Goa stands at an impressive 88.70% which is the third-highest rank in India. The official language of Goa is Kokani.

Gujarat

Gujarat got its statehood on 1st May 1960.
Gandhinagar is the capital of the state of Gujarat.
Ahmedabad is the largest city.
Gujarat is the 5th largest state of India, area-wise. It is 9th most populated state of India.
The literacy rate for the state of Gujarat stands at 78.03% and the official language if the state is Gujarati.

Haryana

Haryana got its statehood on 1 November 1966.
Chandigarh is the capital of Haryana, while Faridabad is the largest city in the state.
Haryana is the 21st largest state (area-wise) of India. It is 18th most populated state in India.
The official language in Haryana is Hindi. Haryanvi language is also widely spoken.

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh got its statehood on 25th January 1971. It was considered as a Union Territory of India before that.
Shimla and Dharamshala are the capital cities of Himachal Pradesh., Shimla is considered as the summer capital of the state while Dharamshala is considered the winter capital.
Himachal Pradesh is the 17th largest state of India, in terms of area. It’s the 21st most populated state in the country.
The literacy rate in the state of Himachal Pradesh stands at 83.78% and the official language of the state is Hindi. Sanskrit is also considered as an additional official language.

Jharkhand

Jharkhand found its statehood on 1 November 2000.
Ranchi is the capital city of Jharkhand while Jamshedpur is the largest city in the state.
Jharkhand is the 15th largest state, in terms of area. It is also the 14th most populated state of India.
The literacy rate in Jharkhand is at 67.6% and the official language of the state is Hindi.

Karnataka

Karnataka got its statehood on 1st November 1956. It was earlier known as Mysore State.
Bangalore/Bengaluru is the capital city of the state of Karnataka. It is also the largest city in the state.
It is the 6th largest state, area-wise, and is also the 6th most populated state of India.
The literacy rate in the state of Karnataka is 75.36% and the official language of the state is Kannada.

Kerala

Kerala got its statehood on 1st November 1956.
Thiruvananthapuram, formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of Kerala.
Kerala is the 21st largest state of India, in terms of area. It is the 13th most populated state in India.
Kerala state has achieved the highest literacy rate in India, standing at 96.2%. The official language of Kerala is Malayalam.

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh got its statehood on 1st November 1956.
Bhopal is the capital city and Indore is the largest city of the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh is the 2nd largest state of India in terms of area. It is the 5th most populated state of India.
The literacy rate in Madhya Pradesh stands at 70.6% while the official language of the state is Hindi.

Maharashtra

Maharashtra got its statehood on 1st May 1960. People of the state celebrate this day as Maharashtra Day.
Mumbai is the summer capital city of Maharashtra while Nagpur is the winter capital city of the state.
Maharashtra is the 3rd largest state of India in terms of area, while it is the 2nd most populated state of India.
The literacy rate in state of Maharashtra stands at 82.34% and the official language of the state is Marathi.

Manipur

Manipur got its statehood on 21 January 1972.
Imphal is the capital city of the state of Manipur.
Manipur is the 23rd biggest state of India, in terms of area. It is also the 23rd most populated state of India.
The literacy rate of the Manipur stands at 79.85% and the official language of the state is Manipuri, also known as Meitei.

Meghalaya

Meghalaya got its statehood on 21 January 1972.
Shillong is the capital city of the state. It is also the largest city in Meghalaya.
Meghalaya is the 22nd largest state in terms of area. It is also the 22nd most populated state in India.
The literacy rate of the state is 75.84% and the official language of the state of Meghalaya is English.

Mizoram

Mizoram was formed as Union Territory on 21 January 1972. However it got its statehood few years later on 20 February 1987.
Aizawl is the capital city of the state of Mizoram. It is also the largest city in the state.
Mizoram is the 25th largest state in India, in terms of area. It is 28th ranked state in terms of population. In other words it is the least populated state of India.
The literacy rate in the state of Mizoram is 91.58%. The state has three official languages namely, Mizo, English and Hindi.

Nagaland

Nagaland got its statehood on 1 December 1963.
Kohima is the capital city of Nagaland. Dimapur is the largest city of the state.
Nagaland is the 26th largest state of India, area-wise. It is the 25th most populated state of India.
The literacy rate in the state of Nagaland stands at 80.11%. The official language of the state is English.

Odisha

Odisha, formerly known as Orissa, got its statehood on 1 April 1936. The day is celebrated in the state as Utkala Divasa.
Bhubaneshwar is the capital city of Odisha.
Odisha is the 8th largest state of India, in terms of area. It is the 11th most populated state of India.
The literacy rate in the state of Odisha stands at 73.45% and the official language of the state is Odia.

Punjab

Punjab got its statehood on 1st November 1966.
Chandigarh is the capital city of the state of Punjab. Ludhiana is the biggest city of the state.
Punjab is the 19th biggest state of India, area-wise. It is 16th most populated state of India.
The literacy rate for the state of Punjab is 76.68%. The official language of Punjab is Punjabi.

Rajasthan

Rajasthan got its statehood on 30 March 1949.
Jaipur is the capital city of Rajasthan. It is also the largest city of the state.
Rajasthan is the biggest state in India. It is 1st in terms of area. It is 7th most populated state of India.
The literacy rate for the state of Rajasthan stands at 66.1%. The official language for the state is Hindi.

Sikkim

Sikkim got its statehood on 16 May 1975.
Gangtok is the capital city of Sikkim. It is also the largest city in the state.
Sikkim is the 27th largest state in India, in terms of area. Or we can say it is the second smallest state in India. As for population, it is ranked 28th, which makes it the least populated state of India.
The literacy rate for the state of Sikkim stands at 82.6%. The state has four official languages namely, English, Nepali, Sikkimese, and Lepcha.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu got its statehood on 26 January 1950.
Chennai is the capital city of Tamil Nadu. It is also the largest city in the state.
Tamil Nadu is the 10th largest state of India, area-wise. It is the 6th most populated state of India.
The literacy rate for the state of Tamil Nadu stands at 80.33%. The official language of Tamil Nadu is Tamil.

Telangana

Telangana got its statehood on 2nd June 2014. It is the newest state in India.
Hyderabad is the capital city of Telangana.
Telangana is the 11th largest state of India, in terms of area. It is the 12th most populated state of India.
The literacy rate for the state of Telangana stands at 72.80%. The official language of the state is Telugu with an additional official language as Urdu.

Tripura

Tripura got its statehood on 21 January 1972. Earlier it was considered a union territory of India on 1 November 1956.
Agartala is the capital city of Tripura.
Tripura is the 26th largest state of India in terms of area. It is the 22nd most populated state in India.
The literacy rate for the state of Tripura stands at 87.75%. The official language for the state of Tripura is Bengali and English.

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh got its statehood on 24 January 1950.
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh state.
Uttar Pradesh is the 4th biggest state of India in terms of area. It is the most populated state of India as it ranks 1st in terms of population.
The literacy rate for the state of Uttar Pradesh stands at 67.68%. The official language of the state is Hindi and Urdu.

Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand got its statehood on 9 November 2000.
Gairsain is the summer capital city of Uttarakhand while Dehradun is the winter capital of the state. Dehradun is the largest city in the state.
Uttarakhand is the 19th largest state of India in terms of area. It is the 21st most populated state in India.
The literacy rate for the state of Uttarakhand stands at 78.82%. The official language of Uttarakhand is Hindi with an additional language as Sanskrit.

West Bengal

West Bengal got its statehood on 26 January 1950.
Kolkata is the capital city of West Bengal. It is also the largest city in the state.
West Bengal is the 13th largest state of India, in terms of area. It is the 4th most populated state in India.
The literacy rate in the state of West Bengal stands at 77.08%. The official language of West Bengal is Bengali and Hindi.

This completes the list of Indian states with capitals. Now let’s move on to the Indian Union Territories.

Union Territories Of India

The Republic of India has 8 Union Territories. Let’s read more about them in little detail.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Andaman & Nicobar Islands was established as a union territory on 1 November 1956.
Port Blair is the capital city of the Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. It is also the largest city of the U.T.
The official language for the U.T. of Andaman & Nicobar Islands is Hindi and English.

Chandigarh

Chandigarh was established as a union territory on 1 November 1966.
Chandigarh does not have a capital city of its own. However, it serves as the capital city of two states, namely Haryana and Punjab.
The effective literacy rate in the union territory of Chandigarh is 86.77%. The official language in the U.T. is English.

Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu

Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu On 26 January 2020.
Daman is the capital city of the union territory, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu used to be two separate union territories. They were governed by the same government officials, so the two were merged into one union territory in the year 2020.
The official languages of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu are Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, and English.

Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu Kashmir was the northmost state of India. But it was established as a Union Territory recently on 31 October 2019.
Srinagar is the summer capital, while Jammu is the winter capital of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The U.T. has 5 official languages namely, Kashmiri, Dogri, Urdu, Hindi, and English.

Ladakh

Ladakh was a part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. But the region was established as a separate union territory on 31 October 2019.
Leh and Kargil are both considered capital cities of the union territory of Ladakh.
The official languages of the U.T. of Ladakh are English and Hindi.

Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep was formed as a union territory of India on 1 November 1956.
Kavaratti is the capital city of the union territory Lakshadweep.
The literacy rate of the U.T. Lakshadweep is 91.85%. The official language in Lakshadweep is Malayalam and English.

National Capital Territory of Delhi

Delhi is the capital of India. It was established as a capital in the year 1911. It was later established as a union territory in the year 1956. It was later formed as a National Capital Territory on 1 February 1992.
New Delhi is the capital of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
The literacy rate for the union territory stands at 86.21%. The official language of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is Hindi and English.

Puducherry

Puducherry was established as a union territory of India on 16 August 1962.
Pondicherry is the capital of Puducherry and is also the largest city in the U.T.
The official language of the union territory of Puducherry is Tamil, English, and French.

All the dates and information about Indian states with capitals, alongside Indian union territories with capital have been thoroughly cross-checked multiple times. However, if it’s really important to you, I recommend checking the dates and data again through official websites.

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