Administrative Divisions of India – Regional Administration

Concept of Administrative Divisions of India

There are 28 states and 8 Union territories in India, and they are further divided into various districts. As per Census 2011, there are 640 districts in India.

The states and the UTs are mainly divided based on administrative convenience, spoken languages, etc. These states are further divided into various districts for convenience. Mainly the classification of the districts due to the geographical aspects of the state.

At the root level, the Administrative Divisions of India are villages in rural areas. As per the Constitution of India, the states need to form Panchayats in three tiers and districts where a population of fewer than 20 lakhs.

Administrative Divisions of India List

India has states and union territories (UTs) clubbed into zones, while each state is further divided into districts. The districts have sub-divisions that are further classified into various blocks and villages.

Creating Administrative divisions in India serves many purposes like it offers convenience to the administrative services, focusing on the development of particular regions of India, and preserving the rights of the tribal people as required in the constitution.

Zones Wise Administrative Divisions of India

The states and UTs of India are categorised into five zones. The motive behind this is to develop the habit of corporate working among these states. These zonal councils came into existence with the State Recognition Act of 1956. The zonal Administrative Divisions of India are

Zones of India	Location
The Northern Zone	Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Chandigarh (UT).
The Central Zone	Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh.
The Eastern Zone	Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Sikkim and West Bengal.
The Western Zone.	Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli (UT).
The Southern Zone	Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry (UT).

Cultural zones of India

Each zone in parts of India has a zonal headquarters where a cultural centre has been accepted. Each zone of India is responsible for cross-promoting and creating exposure to other cultural zones of India by organising functions and inviting artists from different zones. Have a look at the cultural zones of India below.

Zone	Centre of Zone	Stretch
North East Culture Zone	North East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur, Nagaland	Sikkim, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland
North Central Culture Zone	North-Central Zone Cultural Centre, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh	Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand
South Culture Zone	South Zone Cultural Centre, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu	Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Telangana
North Culture Zone	North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, Punjab	Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Haryana, Ladakh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand
East Culture Zone	East Zone Cultural Centre, Kolkata, West Bengal	Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal
South Central Culture Zone	South-Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur, Maharashtra	Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Maharashtra, Telangana
West Culture Zone	West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur, Rajasthan	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan

States Wise Administrative Divisions of India

India is a union of states where the supreme law of the land is the Constitution. In 1956, The States Reorganisation Act was enacted, reorganising the states according to languages and culture.

According to the Administrative Divisions of India, we have 28 states. These are mentioned in the table below.

S.No.	Regions of India	Capital
1	Andhra Pradesh	Amaravati
2	Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar
3	Assam	Dispur
4	Bihar	Patna
5	Chhattisgarh	Raipur
6	Goa	Panaji
7	Gujarat	Gandhinagar
8	Haryana	Chandigarh
9	Himachal Pradesh	Shimla
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	Kolkata

Divisions of States and Union Territories in India

The table represents the number of divisions in each state or Union Territory. There are 102 Divisions in India. Also, some regions of India in any form have no official administrative governmental status. For instance, the Regions of Assam and Gujarat.

Name of State or Union Territory	Number of Divisions
Andhra Pradesh	–
Arunachal Pradesh	2
Assam	5
Bihar	9
Chhattisgarh	5
Goa	–
Gujarat	–
Haryana	6
Himachal Pradesh	3
Telangana	–
Jharkhand	5
Karnataka	4
Kerala	–
Madhya Pradesh	10
Maharashtra	6
Manipur	–
Meghalaya	2
Mizoram	–
Nagaland	1
Odisha	3
Punjab	5
Rajasthan	7
Sikkim	–
Tamil Nadu	–
Tripura	–
Uttar Pradesh	18
Uttarakhand	2
West Bengal	5
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	–
Chandigarh	–
Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu	–
Jammu and Kashmir	2
Lakshadweep	–
Delhi	1
Puducherry	–
Ladakh	1
Total	102

Union Territories Wise Administrative Divisions of India

For a long time, India had 7 UTs. With the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two UTs – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

On 26th January 2020, Daman and Diu, Dadra, and Nagar Haveli were recognised as 1 UT. According to the Administrative Divisions of India, there are 8 UTs.

S.NO.	Union Territories	Capital
1	Andaman and Nicobar Island	Port Blair
2	Chandigarh	Chandigarh
3	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	Daman
4	NCT of Delhi	Delhi
5	Ladakh	Leh
6	Lakshadweep	Kavaratti
7	Jammu and Kashmir	Jammu(winter), Srinagar(summer)
8	Puducherry	Puducherry

Districts Wise Administrative Divisions of India

• States are divided into various districts, and to have administrative convenience; these districts are grouped to form zones.
• Each state has a different number of zones/divisions. E.g., Maharashtra has 6 divisions, while Odisha has 3.
• According to the Administrative Divisions of India, currently, there are 742 districts in India.
• Each district is further divided into sub-districts, which are named differently in different parts of India. These administrative sections may be known as Taluka, Tehsil, Block etc.
• The smallest administration unit is a village in a rural area and a town in an urban area.
• States with a population of more than 20 lakhs are required to create Panchayats at three levels – village, intermediate and district levels.

The Administrative Divisions of India pave the way for institutions to reach out to every corner of the country. This systematic federal system makes the administration of this country run smoothly, ensuring justice and equality for its citizens.

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