Districts of India

Districts of India

The divisions of a district. Goa is a state divided into two districts. Each district is further divided into several talukas.

A district (Hindi: ज़िला Zilā) is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. Districts are further subdivided, in some cases into Sub-Divisions, and otherwise directly into tehsils or talukas.

District officials include:

  • the Deputy Commissioner or District Magistrate or District Collector, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service, in charge of administration and revenue collection
  • the Superintendent of Police or Deputy Commissioner of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service, responsible for maintaining law and order
  • the Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service, entrusted with the management of the forests, environment and wildlife of the district

Each of these officials is aided by officers of the appropriate branches of state government.

Most districts have a distinct headquarters; Mumbai is an example of a city which, despite coming under a district, does not have a district headquarters, though it does have a Collector.

Contents

Overview

No. of districts in each state or UT
Map key Name of State or Union Territory Dist.
1 Andhra Pradesh 23
2 Arunachal Pradesh 16
3 Assam 27
4 Bihar 38
5 Chhattisgarh 18
6 Goa   2
7 Gujarat 26
8 Haryana 21
9 Himachal Pradesh 12
10 Jammu and Kashmir 22
11 Jharkhand 24
12 Karnataka 30
13 Kerala 14
14 Madhya Pradesh 50
15 Maharashtra 35
16 Manipur   9
17 Meghalaya   7
18 Mizoram   8
19 Nagaland  11
20 Orissa 30
21 Punjab 20
22 Rajasthan 33
23 Sikkim   4
24 Tamil Nadu 32
25 Tripura   4
26 Uttar Pradesh 72
27 Uttarakhand 13
28 West Bengal 19
A Andaman and Nicobar   3
B Chandigarh   1
C Dadra and Nagar Haveli   1
D Daman and Diu   2
E Lakshadweep   1
F National Capital Territory of Delhi   9
G Puducherry   2
 % Total   640
States and territories of India, numbered as per the table

Naming

The majority of districts are named after their administrative center. Some are referred to by two names, a traditional one and one that uses the name of the town that is the headquarters. Since most of the districts are named after a town, the word "district" or "District" is appended to distinguish between the town and the district. Official websites very often use District with a capital D in this context.

Ambiguous names

The names of the 640 districts are mostly unique. There are some exceptions:

  • Within India five names are ambiguous, representing 10 districts: Aurangabad (BR, MH), Bijapur (CT, KA), Bilaspur (CT, HP), Hamirpur (HP, UP), Pratapgarh (RJ, UP).
  • Seven districts share names with districts in other countries in South Asia: Bhojpur (BR/Nepal), Daman (DD, Afghanistan), Ghaziabad (UP, Afghanistan), Gopalganj (BR, Bangladesh), Hyderabad (AP/Pakistan), Lalitpur (UP/Nepal), Poonch (JK, Pakistan)
  • One outside South Asia: Mansa District (PB, Zambia)

City districts

  • Bangalore Urban district
  • Ahmedabad District
  • Calcutta District
  • Chandigarh
  • Mumbai City District
  • Kanpur (city)
  • Hyderabad
  • In Pondicherry U.T.
    • Pondicherry district
    • Karaikal district
    • Mahe district
    • Yanam district

Note: Chandigarh is the capital of two states and 1 Union territory.

See also

  • List of districts of India
  • Subdivisions of India
  • Local Governance in India


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