Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh उत्तर प्रदेश ਉੱਤਰ ਪ੍ਰਦੇਸ਼
State of India
Taj Mahal
Seal
Location of Uttar Pradesh in the Republic of India
Map of Uttar Pradesh
Coordinates: 26.85°N 80.91°E / 26.85; 80.91
Country	India
Region	North India
Capital	Lucknow
Largest city	Lucknow
Government
• Legislature	Unicameral (295* seats)
Area
• Total	243,286 km2 (93,933 sq mi)
Population  (2023)
• Total	240,581,477
Time zone	UTC+05:30 (IST)
Official languages	Hindi,Awadhi,Kumaoni
^* 294 elected, 1 nominated

A 12th-century sandstone statue of an Apsara from Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow

Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश, Urdu: اتر پردیش‎) is a state in northern India. For short, people call it “UP.” Lucknow is the capital city of UP.

The population of the state is 199,581,477 (census 2011). Uttar Pradesh has more people than any other state of India. It covers an area of 93,933 mi² (243,286 km²). It is bigger than the United Kingdom but smaller than Guinea. In traditional Indian geography it falls under the North Indian zone.

Geography

Uttar Pradesh has a long border with Nepal to the north. Next to it are also the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. There are 3 geographical main regions:-

• The larger Gangetic Plain in the north: it includes the Ganga-Yamuna Doab; the Ghaghra plains; the Ganga plains and the Terai. It has highly fertile soils and flat topography. There are also many ponds, lakes and rivers.
• The Vindhya range: Smaller hills and plateau region in the south. There are hills, plains, valleys and plateau. It is harder to get water.
• The Shivalik Range
• The Bhabar

Lists of Mountains and Hills in Uttar Pradesh

• Govardhan parvat
• Amsot peak
• Kaimur hill

Divisions and Districts of Uttar Pradesh

Divisions

• Agra Division
• Aligarh Division
• Azamgarh Division
• Bareilly Division
• Basti Division
• Chitrakoot (Dham) Division
• Devipatan Division
• Faizabad Division
• Gorakhpur Division
• Jhansi Division
• Kanpur Division
• Lucknow Division
• Meerut Division
• Mirzapur Division
• Muradabad Division
• Prayagraj Division
• Saharanpur Division
• Varanasi Division

Religion in Uttar Pradesh
Religion			Percent
Hindu			78%
Islam			21%
Others			1%

Climate

The climate of Uttar Pradesh is mostly subtropical. However weather conditions change a lot depending on where one lives and the season.

Temperature: The average temperatures vary from 12.5 to 17.5 °C (54.5–63.5 °F) in January to 27.5–32.5 °C (81.5–90.5 °F) in May and June. The highest temperature recorded in the State was 49.9 °C (121.8 °F). It was at Gonda on May 8, 1958.

Rainfall: Rainfall is between 1,000 and 2,000 mm (40–80 inches) in the east and between 600 and 1,000 mm (24–40 inches) in the west. Most of the rain is due to the southwest monsoon. It lasts from June to September. Consequently, floods are a problem during those seasons. They badly damage crops and property.

Droughts: They occur when the monsoon does not come in the usual season. It leads to crop failure.

Snowfall: In the Himalayan region of the State it usually snows from 3 to 5 metres (10 to15 feet) between December and March.

Transportation

Expressway

Airways: The state has four important airports and 23 air strips. They are in Agra, Kanpur,[Prayagraj],Lucknow and Varanasi. Lucknow is the biggest and most important airport of the state.

Railways: Almost all the major cities and even some smaller cities are linked. The state has the largest railway network in the country. Its total length is 8,546 km (2006). It has the sixth largest railway density.

Roadways: The state has the largest road network in the country. The biggest is Maharashtra. There are 31 National Highways (NH). In total they are of 4,942 km (8.5% of total NH length in India). It has the seventh highest road density in the India (1,027 km per 1000 km² in 2002). It also has the largest surfaced urban road network in the country (50,721 km, as on 2002). Cities of Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Allahabad, Varanasi, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Mathura, Agra and Ghazipur are connected to many National Highways.

Waterways: The river Ganges - from Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) to Haldia (West Bengal) - has been declared as National Waterway (NW)-I and 600 km of the total NW-I lies in Uttar Pradesh.

Provincial symbols of Uttar Pradesh

• 
  Provincial bird of Uttar Pradesh, the Sarus Crane
• 
  Provincial animal of Uttar Pradesh
• 
  Provincial tree of Uttar Pradesh
• 
  Provincial flower of Uttar Pradesh