Uttar Pradesh ('Home' page)

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This article has been sourced from an authoritative, official publication. Therefore, it has been ‘locked’ and will never be thrown open to readers to edit or comment on. After the formal launch of their online archival encyclopædia, readers who wish to update or add further details can do so on a ‘Part II’ of this article.

The source of this article

INDIA 2012

A REFERENCE ANNUAL

Compiled by

RESEARCH, REFERENCE AND TRAINING DIVISION

PUBLICATIONS DIVISION

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Uttar Pradesh

Area : 2,40,928 sq km

Population : 16,61,97,921 (Census 2001) 19,95,81,477 (Prov. Census 2011)

Capital : Lucknow

Principal Languages : Hindi and Urdu

HISTORY

The history of Uttar Pradesh is very ancient and interesting. It is recognised in the later Vedic Age as Brahmarshi Desha or Madhya Desha. Many great sages of the Vedic times like Bhardwaja, Gautam, Yagyavalkaya, Vashishtha, Vishwamitra and Valmiki flourished in this state. Several sacred books of the Aryans were also composed here. Two great epics of India, Ramayana and Mahabharata, appear to have been inspired by Uttar Pradesh.

In the sixth century BC Uttar Pradesh was associated with two new religions— Jainism and Buddhism. It was at Sarnath that Buddha preached his first sermon and laid the foundations of his order and it was in Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh where Buddha breathed his last. Several centres in Uttar Pradesh like Ayodhya,

Prayag, Varanasi and Mathura became reputed centres of learning. In the medieval period Uttar Pradesh passed under Muslim rule and led the way to new synthesis of Hindu and Islamic cultures. Ramananda and his Muslim disciple Kabir, Tulsidas, Surdas and many other intellectuals contributed to the growth of Hindi and other languages.

Uttar Pradesh preserved its intellectual excellence even under the British administration. The British combined Agra and Oudh into one province and called it United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. The name was shortened to the United Provinces in 1935. In January 1950 the United Provinces was renamed as Uttar Pradesh.

The State is bounded by Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in the north, Haryana in the west, Madhya Pradesh in the south and Bihar in the east. Uttar Pradesh can be divided into two distinct regions (i) Southern Hills and (ii) Gangetic Plain.

AGRICULTURE

Agriculture is the main occupation of 66 per cent of the population of the State. The net cultivated area in the state is 164.17 lakh hectare.

INDUSTRY AND MINERALS

There were 6,12,338 Small Scale Industries with involving a total investment of 7172 crores, as per earlier records.

Under the public sector, mining of limestone, magnesite, coal, rock phosphate, dolomite and silicon-sand is carried out. The bulk production of minor and some of the major minerals like limestone, silica-sand, magnesite, pyrophyllite and diaspore is mostly with the private sector. Important mineral based industries include large cement plants in Sonebhadra.

IRRIGATION AND POWER

UP Power Corporation, UP State Power Generation and UP Hydel Power Corporation had been formed by reorganising UP State Electricity Board on 14 January 2000. During 2001-02 the total installed capacity was 4659 MW, in 2006-07 it was 5011 MW which has now been raised upto 5077 MW. During 2001-02 the total power production was 226330 lakh KW and in the year 2006-07 it was 229692 which is at present 227099 during the year 2007-08. The total consumption of power during the year 2001-02 was 253302 lakh KW.

Power is an important input to accelerate the process of economic growth. The installed capacity of re-organized Uttar Pradesh during Tenth Five Year Plan was 7821.82 MW. Only 56.6 per cent of 97135 villages were electrified and 7.88 lakh private tubewells were energized. At the time of inception the total installed capacity of UPSEB, including thermal and hydro, was 2,635 MW which has now been raised to 5414 MW (derated 5,885.75 MW).

TRANSPORT

Roads : The total road length of PWD in the State is 146728 km. This includes 3820 km of national highways, 8391 km of state highways, 119726 of other district roads and 134517 km of rural roads.

Railways: Lucknow is the main junction of the northern network. Other important railway junctions are Agra, Kanpur, Allahabad, Mughalsarai, Jhansi, Moradabad, Varanasi, Tundla, Gorakhpur, Gonda, Faizabad, Bareilly and Sitapur.

Aviation: There are airports at Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi, Bareilly, Hindon (Ghaziabad), Gorakhpur, Sarsawa (Saharanpur) and Fursatganj (Rae-Barelli).

FESTIVALS

The biggest congregation, perhaps of the world, Kumbha Mela is held at Allahabad every twelfth year and Ardh kumbh Mela every sixth year. Magh Mela is also held at Allahabad in January when the people come in large numbers to have a dip in the holy Sangam. Among other fairs is the fortnight long Jhoola fair of Mathura, Vrindavan and Ayodhya, when dolls are placed in gold and silver jhoolas or cradles. A dip in the Ganga on Kartik Poornamasi is supposed to be the holiest and there are big congregations at Garhmukteshwar, Soran, Rajghat, Kakora, Bithur, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and Ayodhya. A famous cattle fair is held at Bateswar in Agra district. Dewa in Barabanki district has become famous because of the Muslim saint Waris Ali Shah. Besides, important festivals of the Hindus, Muslims, etc., are widely celebrated in the state.

TOURIST CENTRES

Uttar Pradesh has varied attractions for all kinds of tourists. Besides ancient places of pilgrimage like Varanasi, Vindhyachal, Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, Prayag, Naimisharanya, Mathura, Vrindavan, Dewa Sharief, Dargah of Sheikh Saleem Chisti in Fatehpur Sikri, Sarnath, Shravasti, Kushinagar, Sankisa, Kampil, Piprahwa and Kaushambi, places like Agra, Ayodhya, Sarnath, Varanasi, Lucknow, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Kannauj, Mahoba, Devgarh, Bithur, and Vindhyachal have rich treasures of Hindu and Islamic architecture and culture.

GOVERNMENT

Governor : Shri B.L. Joshi

Chief Secretary : Shri Anoop Mishra (2012)/ Sh Jawed Usmani

Chief Minister : Kumari Mayawati

Jurisdiction of High Court

Uttar Pradesh

AREA, POPULATION AND HEADQUARTERS OF DISTRICTS

Sl. No. District Area (sq km) Population (Census 2001) Headquarters

1. 2 3 4 5

1. Agra 4,027 36,20,436 Agra

2. Aligarh 3,650 29,92,286 Aligarh

3. Allahabad 5,482 49,36,105 Allahabad

4. Azamgarh 4,054 39,39,916 Azamgarh

5. Bahraich 4,420 23,81,072 Bahraich

6. Balia 2,981 27,61,620 Balia

7. Banda 4,460 15,37,334 Banda

8. Barabanki 4,402 26,73,581 Barabanki

9. Bareilli 4,120 36,18,589 Bareilli

10. Basti 2,688 20,84,814 Basti

11. Bijnore 4,561 31,31,619 Bijnore

12. Badaun 5,168 30,69,426 Badaun

13. Bulandshahar 4,352 29,13,122 Bulandshahar

14. Deoria 2,538 27,12,650 Deoria

15. Etah 4,446 27,90,410 Etah

16. Etawah 2,311 13,38,871 Etawah

17. Faizabad 2,341 20,88,928 Faizabad

18. Ambedkar Nagar 2,350 20,26,876 Akbarpur

19. Fatehpur 4,152 23,08,384 Fatehpur

20. Farukkhabad 2,181 15,70,408 Fatehgarh

21. Gaziabad 1,148 32,90,586 Gaziabad

22. Gautam Buddha Nagar 1,442 12,02,030 Noida

23. Gazipur 3,377 30,37,582 Gazipur

24. Gonda 4,003 27,65,586 Gonda

25. Gorakhpur 3,321 37,69,456 Gorakhpur

26. Hamirpur 4,282 10,43,724 Hamirpur

27. Hardoi 5,986 33,98,306 Hardoi

28. Jalaun 4,565 14,54,452 Orai

29. Jaunpur 4,038 39,11,679 Jaunpur

30. Jhansi 5,024 17,44,931 Jhansi

31. Kanpur (Dehat) 3,021 15,63,336 Akbarpur Mati

32. Kanpur (City) 3,155 41,67,999 Kanpur

33. Lakhimpur Kheri 7,680 32,07,232 Kheri

34. Lalitpur 5,039 9,77,734 Lalitpur

35. Lucknow 2,528 36,47,834 Lucknow

36. Mainpuri 2,760 15,96,718 Mainpuri

37. Mathura 3,340 20,74,516 Mathura

38. Meerut 2,590 29,97,361 Meerut

39. Mirzapur 4,521 21,16,042 Mirzapur

40. Moradabad 3,718 38,10,983 Moradabad

41. Muzaffarnagar 4,008 35,43,362 Muzaffarnagar

42. Pilibhit 3,499 16,45,183 Pilibhit

43. Pratapgarh 3,717 27,31,174 Pratapgarh

44. Raibareilli 4,609 28,72,335 Raibareilli

45. Rampur 2,367 19,23,739 Rampur

46. Jyotiba Phule Nagar 2,249 14,99,068 Jyoitba Phule Nagar

47. Saharanpur 3,689 14,99,068 Saharanpur

48. Shahjahanpur 4,575 25,47,855 Shahjahanpur

49. Sitapur 5,743 36,19,661 Sitapur

50. Unnao 4,558 27,00,324 Unnao

51. Sultanpur 4,436 32,14,832 Sultanpur

52. Varanasi 1,535 31,38,671 Varanasi

53. Mau 1,713 18,53,997 Mau

54. Siddharthnagar 2,895 20,40,085 Navgarh

55. Firozabad 2,361 20,52,958 Firozabad

56. Sonbhadra 6,788 14,63,519 Robertsganj

57. Maharajganj 2,952 21,67,041 Maharajganj

58. Sant Ravidas Nagar 1,015 13,53,705 Bhadohi

59. Mahoba 2,884 7,08,447 Mahoba

60. Hathras 1,840 13,36,031 Hathras

61. Kaushambi 1,780 1293154 Kaushambi

62. Kushinagar 2,906 28,93,196 Podraune

63. Chandauli 2,541 16,43,251 Chandauli

64. Balrampur 3,349 16,82,350 Balrampur

65. Shrawasti 2,458 11,76,391 Shrawasti

66. Chitrakoot 3,164 7,66,225 Chitrakoot

67. Baghpat 1,321 11,63,991 Baghpat

68. Kannauj 2,093 13,88,923 Kannauj

69. Orriya 2,015 11,79,993 Orraiya

70. Sant Kabir Nagar 1,646 14,20,226 Khalilabad

71. Kanshi Ram Nagar - 92,485 Kanshi Ram Nagar

72. Chattrapati Sahuji 3,044 18,87,120 Gauriganj Maharaj Nagar