Uttarakhand State

Uttrakhand is a hilly state, situated in northern India. Uttarakhand is popularly known as “Devbhumi” (Land of the Gods) because there are many Hindu religious shrines present in Uttrakhand.

Basic information about Uttarakhand:

1. Capital of Uttrakhand:  Gairsain(Summer) & Dehradun(Winter)

2. Official language: Hindi, Sanskrit(second language)

3. Chief Minister of Uttrakhand: Sh. Trivendra Singh Rawat

4. Governor of Uttarakhand: Baby Rani Maurya

5. Chief Justice of High Court: Shri Ravi Malimath

6. High Court of Uttarakhand: Nainital

7. Legislative assembly of Uttarakhand: Vidhan Sabha(Dehradun)

8. Members of Legislative Assembly: 70

9. Lok Sabha Seats: 05

10. Rajya Sabha Seats: 03

Etymology:  

(A) In the Hindu scriptures, Uttarakhand is mentioned as a region of Manaskhand(Kumaon region) and Kedarkhand(Garhwal region) in Sakandpuran and “Devbhumi” in Rig Veda. 

(B) In Buddhist Pali scriptures, this region is known as “Himvant”. 

(C) Uttrakhand is made from a combination of two words, Uttara(North) and Khand(land) that means northern land.

Uttarakhand state formation: 

1. Uttrakhand carved out from Uttar Pradesh by Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation bill 2000 and got Statehood status on 09 November 2000. 

2. During state formation, the state was known as “ Uttaranchal” but the Union government consented to rename the state in August 2006 and renamed it “ Uttarakhand” on 01 January 2007. Nityanand Swami was the first Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

Geography: 

(A) Uttarakhand situated on the Himalayan mountain ranges. Most part of Uttrakhand is hilly(approximately 86%) and the rest part is the Terai region. 

(B) Many rivers originate from glaciers of the Himalayan mountains in Uttrakhand. The Ganga river and the Yamuna river originate from Gangotri glacier and Yamunotri glacier respectively in Uttrakhand. The Ganga and its tributaries made the great northern plain in India and the most fertile region in India. Other rivers are Ramgamga, Kaliganga and Tons etc.

Ganga River at Haridwar

(C) Nanda Devi(7861 m) is the highest point and Sharda Sagar reservoir is the lowest point in Uttrakhand.  Uttrakhand covers 53483 sq. Km area(19th  rank in area wise in India).

(D) Major Dams in Uttarakhand:

Dam	River	Purpose
Tehri Dam	Bhagirathi	Multipurpose
Ichari Dam	Tons	Hydro-electricity
Ramganga Dam or Kalagarh Dam	Ramganga	Multipurpose

Boundaries of Uttarakhand State:

Uttrakhand shares its boundaries with 2 states and 2 international boundaries.

East: Nepal       West and North-west: Himachal Pradesh  

North: China     South: Uttar Pradesh

 Uttarakhand state symbol:

State symbol	Name
State Animal	Alpine Musk Deer
State Bird	Himalayan Monal
State Flower	Brahma Kamal
State Tree	Burans

Districts of Uttarakhand:

Uttarakhand state divided into 13 districts:

Almora	Bageshwar	Chamoli
Champawat	Dehradun	Haridwar
Nainital	Pauri Garhwal	Pithoragarh
Rudraprayag	Tehri Garhwal	Udham Singh Nagar
Uttarkashi

Rishikesh 

The districts of Uttarakhand are divided into two administrative divisions :

(A)   Garhwal administrative division:

Chamoli	Dehradun	Haridwar
Pauri Garhwal	Rudraprayag	Tehri Garhwal
Uttarkashi

(B)   Kumaon administrative division:

Almora	Bageshwar	Champawat
Nainital	Pithoragarh	Udham Singh Nagar

Facts about districts of Uttarakhand:

Largest district(Areawise)	Uttarkashi
Smallest district(Areawise)	Rudraprayag
Largest district(population)	Haridwar
Largest district(population density)	Haridwar
Highest literacy rate district	Dehradun
Lowest literacy rate district	Udham Singh Nagar
Highest sex ratio district	Almora
Lowest sex ratio district	Haridwar

Uttarakhand consists of Parliamentary form of Government and the chief minister is head of state government. Uttarakhand has a unicameral legislative assembly with 70 seats.

Economy:

(A) Uttarakhand consists of hilly areas mostly not suitable for intensive agriculture production but cropland areas situated in terai region. Basmati rice, coarse cereals, wheat and soybeans are main crops in Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand's basmati rice is famous internationally especially Dehradun’s basmati rice. Tej Patta is the Geographical indication of Uttarakhand 

(B) Many industries are also present, especially pharmaceuticals, agro products and automobiles in Uttrakhand. There are many integrated industrial estates at Haridwar, Pantnagar and Sitarganj.

Forest: 

Uttrakhand covers 65% area by Forest so that Uttrakhand gets special status by centre government. There are many national parks, sanctuaries and biosphere reserves situated in Uttarakhand. Many rare species of plants and animals are found here. Vegetation is found in mountains depending on attitudes and found from subtropical forest to alpine forest.

The national park of Uttarakhand:

1.       Jim Corbett National Park

2.       Nanda Devi National Park

3.       Valley of Flowers National Park

4.       Rajaji National Park

5.       Gangotri National Park

6.       Govind Pashu Vihar National Park

The Jim Corbett National Park is the oldest national park of India and Asia. Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers National Park are UNESCO world heritage sites under the natural category.  Valley of flowers is famous for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers.

Demographics:

According to 2011 census:

Population	10086292(21st Rank in India)
Annual Growth	18.8%
Population % in India	0.83%
Average Density	189 per Sq. KM
Sex Ratio	963
Sex ratio(between age 0 to 6 yrs)	890
Literacy Rate	79.63%

Religion in Uttrakhand:

Religion	Percentage
Hindu	82.97%
Muslim	13.95%
Sikh	02.34%
Christianity	0.37%
Others	02.63%

Language in Uttrakhand:

Hindi	43%
Garhwali	23%
Kumaoni	20%
Urdu	4.2%
Punjabi	2.6%
Bengali	1.5%
Jaunsari	1.3%
Others	4.4%

Transport:

(A) Uttrakhand is a hilly state so there is limited scope to develop airport and railway lines. Most parts of the state connect through road transport. Uttarakhand transport corporation is the main sources of bus transportation in Uttarakhand but private buses transport such as GMOU ltd. are available easily. 

(B) Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun and Pantnagar airport is the only fully developed airports in Uttarakhand and provide daily services to Delhi.

(C)  Railway lines in Uttarakhand come under the northern zone of Indian railway in the Ministry of Railways. Kathgodam railway station in Nainital and Dehradun railway station is terminus and famous stations of Uttarakhand. These stations have direct connectivity to Delhi, Howrah and Gujarat etc. Other important stations are Haridwar, Roorkee and Haldwani etc.

Tourism: 

Ganga aarti Haridwar 

(A) Uttarakhand is famous for its religious shrines, mountain peaks and meadows.  Char Chotta Dhams include four religious shrines Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri and people come across the world here to give reverence to gods. Haridwar is also a religious place, holds Kumbh Mela every 12 years and has great importance in the Hindu believers' faiths. Rishikesh is the centre of Yoga and world-famous Patanjali Yogpeeth situated here. Gurudwara Hemkund Sahib is the holy place for the Sikh community.

Badrinath Temple 

(B) Nainital, Mussoorie and Pauri Garhwal are famous hill stations. Auli has many tourist resorts and attracts tourists mainly for ice-skating.  Many national parks situated in Uttarakhand which gives great pleasure to tourists who love nature and wildlife. Valley of flowers attracts the tourists for mountain trekking and see the beautiful nature of endemic plant species. 

Naini lake Nainital 

Auli

(C) Meadows(locally called Bugyal) that is alpine pasture land are present in Joshimath and Auli etc. in Uttrakhand. These meadows are also Known as “ Nature own gardens”.  Pithoragarh is known as “ little Kashmir” or “Kashmir of Uttarakhand”

Culture and Festivals:

(A) Dance: Langvir Nritya, Barada Nati, Pandav, Chholiya and Chauphula etc.

(B) Music:  Mangal Basanti, Khuder and Chhopati ectc.

(C) Festivals: Purna Kumbh Mela, Vasant Panchami, Phul Dei, Nanda devi Raj Jat, Nauchandi Mela, Bissu Mela, and Vaikunth ekadashi etc.

Educational Institutes in Uttarakhand:

1. Indian Institute of Technology(IIT): Roorkee

2. Indian Institute of Management(IIM): Kashipur

3. All India Institute Medical & Science(AIIMS): Rishikesh

4. National Institute of Technology(NIT): Srinagar

5. Central University of Uttrakhand: Srinagar

6. Forest Research Institute: Dehradun

7. Indian Military Academy(IMA): Dehradun

8. G.B. Pant Agriculture University: Pantnagar

9. Kumaun University: Nainital

Famous Personalities of Uttarakhand:

1.       Govind Ballabh Pant: Bharat Ratna Awardee

2.       General Bipin Rawat: First Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in India

3.       Ajit Kumar Doval: Famous IPS officer and National security Advisor(NSA) of India

4.       Bachendri Pal: first Indian woman mountaineer reach summit of Mount Everest

5.       Sunderlal Bahuguna: Leader of Chipko movement(Forest Conservation movement)

6.       Narendra Singh Negi: Folk Singer

7.       Prasoon Joshi: Lyricist

8.       Sumitranandan Pant: Hindi Poet

9.       Ruskin Bond: English writer

10.   Ramchandra Guha: Historian

Uttarakhand is a state which has very important to India due to its physiographic structure, international boundaries with Nepal and China, and many hydroelectric producing Dams etc.