Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state of India and most populous country subdivision in the world. It is the fourth largest state of India with an area of 243,290 square kilometers.
| Symbols of Uttar Pradesh | |
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| Animal: Swamp Deer Bird: Sarus crane Flower: Palash Tree: Ashoka |
Language: Hindi Sport: Field Hockey Dance: Kathak Website: www.up.gov.in |
History
Ancient and Classical History
In Treta Yuga, King Rama ruled at Ayodhya, the region of modern Uttar Pradesh. Later in Dwapara Yuga, Krishna was also born in the city of Mathura.
Prehistory
The evidences of human settlements from Paleolithic and Mesolithic era, are still found near Pratapgarh. Signs of the civilization from Vedic period, extending into the Iron Age are also available at various spots of Uttar Pradesh.
Early History
India’s various major empires of ancient India, like Mauryan, Kushanas, Gupta and Gurjara-Pratihara controlled and ruled over this area of Ganges-Yamuna Doab, including Huns‘ and Kannauj empire. Rashtrakuta dynasty invaded the Kannauj several times from 8th to 10th century.
Medieval Period
In 16th century, Babur founded the Mughal Empire. During the Mughal era, Uttar Pradesh became the heartland of the empire. After the fall of Mughal empire in 18th century, the power vacuum of the region was filled by Maratha Empire.
Modern History
In 1803, Maratha Empire also broke-up. After 1818 the whole area came in the control of Britishers. A number of anti-ruler activities and protests took placed during British rule in India. Revolt of 1857 was one of the biggest activities of like this. Ballia also became known as “Baghi Ballia” for it’s significant role in 1942. After independence of India, the region was re-organized as “Uttar Pradesh” on 26 January 1950. In 2000, Uttarakhand formed as 27th state of Republic of India, by tearing-up the northern districts of Uttar Pradesh.
Geography
Uttar Pradesh lies between 26.85°N 80.91°E and is fourth largest state of India with an area of 243,290 square kilometers. State has the Himalayan county, Nepal, and Uttarakhand state in it’s north. It shares the boundary with Bihar in east, Madhya Praesh in south and Haryana in west. Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh also touch the boundary of state in north-eastern parts. The northern plains covers almost of the state but are totally different in climatic and geographic conditions from the neighboring high hills of Himalayas. Vindhya lies in south of these plains. In-between the Vindhyas and Himalayas, Bhabar and Terai runs parallel through a most part of the state. Uttar Pradesh has more than 32 large and small rivers including Ganges, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sarayu, Betwa, and Ghaghara. Uttar Pradesh has a humid subtropical climate. Temperature fluctuates between 0°C to 50°C in parts of the state, with an average annual temperature of 31°C. In 2011, forest area of state was recorded as 16,583 km2 (about 6.88% of total geographical area of state).
Economy
In terms NSDP, Uttar Pradesh is third largest economy in India after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Agriculture is leading occupation in the state which has 19% share in the country’s total food grain output. Wheat is principal food crop and sugarcane is the main commercial crop. State industries are localized in Kanpur region, the fertile purvanchal lands and Noida region. Mughalsarai is home to a number of major locomotive plants. Major manufacturing products include engineering products, electronics, electrical equipment, cables, steel, leather, textiles, jewellery, frigates, automobiles, railway coaches, and wagons. UPFC is working since 1954 to develop the small and medium scale industries in the state. State is also attracting foreign direct investment which has mostly come in the software and electronics fields. Noida and Lucknow are becoming a major hub for information technology (IT) industry.
Culture
There is a long literary and folk Hindi language tradition in the state including major native languages of Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Bundeli, Braj Bhasha, Kannauji. A number of musicians Uttar Pradesh has produced like Anup Jalota, Gopal Shankar Misra, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Kishan Maharaj, Naushad Ali, Ravi Shankar, Talat Mehmood, Ustad Bismillah Khan and Begum Akhtar. The regional folk heritage music includes rasiya, kajari, qawwali, thumri, chaiti etc. Kathak, a classical dance form, is connected to classical Hindustani music where the rhythmic nimbleness of performer’s feet is accompanied by Tabla or Pakhawaj.
Education
Hindi is used as a medium of instructions in most of the schools and junior colleges, also known as pre-university. There are more than 45 universities including IITs, IIM, NIT, Anchor, National Law University and several polytechnics, engineering colleges and industrial training institutes. Prestigious institutes like AMU, SG PGIMS, KGMU and BHU are known worldwide for the quality education and research. Uttar Pradesh has an overall literacy rate of 67.7% [77.3% (male) and 57.2% (female)].
Administration
Uttar Pradesh government is a democratically elected body with a Governor as its constitutional head. State has 80 seats of Lok Sabha and 31 seats of Rajya Sabha in the Parliament of India. State’s legislative body is divided in two parts: Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad with 100 members and Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha with 404 members. Uttar Pradesh is divided into following 18 divisions with a total of 75 districts: Saharanpur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Lucknow, Devipatan, Basti, Gorakhpur, Meerut, Aligarh, Agra, Kanpur, Faizabad, Azamgarh, Jhansi, Chitrakoot, Allahabad, Varanasi, Mirzapur . At the local level, state has a large number of village panchayats.
Demography
Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of population among the states of India with a total of 199,281,477 including 104,480,512 males and 95,331,831 females with a density of 828/km2. The rural population is recorded as 155,317,280 and urban as 44,495,063. Sex ratio is 912 which is lower than national average of 978. These stats are based on 2011 census of India.