The Basics
Haryana at a Glance
A compact, prosperous state on the plains around Delhi — an ancient land of epic battlefields that has become one of modern India's economic engines.
- Chandigarh Capital — a Union Territory shared with Punjab, not part of Haryana itself; Faridabad is the largest city
- 1 Nov 1966 Carved out of Punjab on linguistic lines — the Hindi-speaking areas
- 44,212 km² Area — India's 21st-largest state, but among its richest
- 22 districts Across 6 administrative divisions
- Hindi Official language (Punjabi is the 2nd official); Haryanvi is the spoken dialect
- Around Delhi Wraps around the national capital on three sides; much of it lies in the NCR
- 90 seats Legislative Assembly (unicameral); 10 Lok Sabha & 5 Rajya Sabha seats
- Borders Punjab, Himachal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi & the Chandigarh UT
- The Yamuna Its eastern boundary; with the Ghaggar and the ancient Saraswati
- Karoh Peak At ~1,467 m in the Shivalik hills (Morni), the highest point of a flat state
- State symbols Animal: blackbuck · Bird: black francolin · Tree: peepal · Flower: lotus
People
Population & Society
A prosperous, largely agrarian society — but one long marked by the lowest sex ratio of any Indian state, the spur for the national "Beti Bachao" campaign. Census 2011 is the last full count.
- 2.53 cr Population, 2011 (25,351,462) — India's 18th most populous; about 3 crore today (projected)
- 19.9% Decadal growth, 2001–2011 — above the national average
- 573 /km² Population density, 2011 — above the national average
- 879 Sex ratio — females per 1,000 males, 2011 — the lowest of any Indian state
- 75.6% Literacy rate, 2011 — above the national average
- 34.9% Urbanisation, 2011 — concentrated in the Delhi NCR belt
- 20% SC Scheduled Castes ~20%; Haryana has almost no Scheduled Tribes
- Cities Faridabad (largest), Gurugram, Panipat, Ambala, Rohtak & Hisar
- Faith & culture Hindu ~87%, Muslim ~7%, Sikh ~5% (2011); a strong rural, Jat-agrarian khap culture
Economy
Cars, Corporates & Cyber City
One of India's richest states per head — its economy powered by the corporate towers of Gurugram and the car and bike factories of the Gurugram–Manesar belt.
- ₹13.5 L cr GSDP 2025-26 (budget estimate, current prices)
- ~11% Nominal GSDP growth, 2025-26 (budget estimate)
- Top tier Among the highest per-capita incomes of any large state (long the leader)
- ~26% Outstanding debt as % of GSDP
What the economy is made of — share of GSVA (2023-24)
- ~53% Services — IT, finance, trade & the corporate hub of Gurugram
- ~29% Industry — automobiles, engineering & textiles
- ~18% Agriculture & allied — a smaller share than its farm reputation suggests
The engines of growth
- Gurugram The "Millennium City" — DLF Cyber City and one of India's leading corporate & IT hubs, home to many Fortune-500 offices
- Auto capital Around two-thirds of India's cars are made here — Maruti Suzuki & Hero MotoCorp, in the Gurugram-Manesar belt
- Faridabad A major industrial city of engineering and manufacturing
- Panipat India's home-textiles hub — carpets, durries and recycled yarn — plus a large oil refinery
- From farm to factory floor: though a Green-Revolution breadbasket, Haryana now earns far more from industry and services — its NCR districts host much of India's car-making and corporate back-office.
- Figures here are the latest Haryana Budget estimates (2025-26). The India GDP page compares all states at FY2024-25, so its Haryana figure is for that earlier year.
Agriculture & Dairy
A Breadbasket & the Murrah
Haryana is the second-biggest contributor to India's grain stores after Punjab, and a dairy giant — the home of the Murrah buffalo, the "black gold" of the plains.
- #2 to the pool The second-largest contributor (after Punjab) to India's central wheat-and-rice pool
- Wheat & basmati High-yield wheat and a leading basmati state — the Karnal region bred the famous Pusa Basmati
- Murrah buffalo India's top dairy-buffalo breed — Haryana's "black gold"; with the Hariana cattle
- Milk-rich Among India's highest per-capita milk availability; home of the NDRI dairy institute at Karnal
- >90% irrigated Among India's most-irrigated farmland — by canals and tubewells
- Other crops Mustard, sugarcane, cotton and bajra; CCS Haryana Agricultural University at Hisar
- Water stress Like Punjab, much of the state is over-extracting groundwater for the paddy-wheat cycle
Administrative
The Districts
Haryana has 22 districts across six divisions — from the NCR districts of Gurugram and Faridabad to the farm country of Hisar and Sirsa. Pick a district on the interactive map to highlight it above.
The map and this list share the same data. Clicking a district highlights it on the interactive map in the hero.
What Makes Haryana Unique
Champions, Battles & the Gita
A state that fills India's medal tables, decided its history on the field at Panipat, and holds the ground where the Bhagavad Gita was first spoken.
Sport & the Gita
- Medal nursery With ~2% of India's people, Haryana produces a huge share of its Olympic medalists — including three of India's seven at Tokyo 2020
- Neeraj Chopra India's Olympic javelin champion, from Panipat — with wrestlers and the boxers of Bhiwani ("Little Cuba")
- Kurukshetra By tradition the field of the Mahabharata, where Krishna gave the Bhagavad Gita at Jyotisar
- Gita Mahotsav The great International Gita Mahotsav, held at Kurukshetra's Brahma Sarovar
History in the soil
- Rakhigarhi In Hisar — the largest Harappan (Indus Valley) site in India
- Three Panipats The three Battles of Panipat (1526, 1556, 1761) turned the course of Indian history
- Auto & corporate India's car-making capital and a leading corporate hub — its modern economic strength
- Beti Bachao The national "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" campaign was launched from Panipat in 2015
Culture & Traditions
Saang, Ragini & the Mela
A robust, rustic Haryanvi culture of folk theatre and song, a famous crafts fair, and a dairy-rich village cuisine — now carried far by viral Haryanvi music.
- Saang & Ragini Saang/Swang folk theatre and the Ragini folk songs — the heart of Haryanvi folk arts
- Folk dance Phag, Ghoomar, Dhamal & Loor — the dances of the seasons and harvest
- Surajkund Mela The Surajkund International Crafts Mela at Faridabad — a vast annual crafts fair since 1987
- Music & cinema Haryanvi pop has gone viral worldwide; a small but growing Haryanvi film scene
- Crafts Panipat's handloom durries and home textiles; Phulkari embroidery (shared with Punjab)
- Cuisine Rustic & dairy-rich — bajra & makki roti, kadhi-pakora, churma, singri, and lots of ghee, milk & lassi
Places to Visit
Sacred Tanks, Gardens & Birds
The pilgrim city of Kurukshetra, a Mughal garden in the hills, a famous bird park near Gurugram, and the bird-named highway retreats that pioneered Indian road tourism.
- Kurukshetra Brahma Sarovar, Jyotisar & the Sthaneshwar temple — the land of the Gita
- Pinjore Gardens The Mughal-era Yadavindra (Pinjore) terraced garden, near Panchkula
- Sultanpur A national park and famous bird sanctuary near Gurugram, for migratory birds
- Morni Hills Haryana's only hill station, in the Shivaliks above Panchkula
- Rakhigarhi The great Indus Valley site in Hisar — an open window onto a 5,000-year-old city
- Panipat The battlefield town and its memorials — and the textile bazaars
- Highway retreats Haryana pioneered roadside tourism with a chain of complexes named after birds
- Surajkund The ancient reservoir near Faridabad, and the great crafts mela each February
Modern Haryana
The NCR Powerhouse
Deeply woven into the Delhi NCR economy — a hub of cars and corporates, ringed by new expressways and a cluster of leading institutions.
- Gurugram Cyber City and Udyog Vihar — a leading corporate, IT and start-up hub of the NCR
- Auto belt The Gurugram-Manesar-Faridabad corridor — Maruti, Hero, Honda and a deep supplier base
- Ring expressways The KMP & KGP peripheral expressways ring Delhi through Haryana; the Dwarka Expressway is open
- Metro & rail Delhi Metro reaches Gurugram & Faridabad; a new Orbital Rail Corridor is under construction
- Airports Delhi's IGI is the main gateway; Hisar's new airport is being built into an aviation hub
- Institutions IIM Rohtak, NIT Kurukshetra, PGIMS Rohtak, and Ashoka & O.P. Jindal universities at Sonipat
Road, Rail & Air
Expressways & the NCR Web
A dense web of national highways, peripheral expressways and metro lines binds Haryana to Delhi, with new rail corridors and an airport in the works.
- Expressways The KMP & KGP rings and the Dwarka Expressway are open; the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway crosses the south
- Metro Delhi Metro runs to Gurugram and Faridabad; the Rapid Metro serves Cyber City
- Railways Served by Northern Railway, with major junctions at Ambala and Rohtak
- Orbital rail A Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor around Delhi is under construction
- Hisar airport Maharaja Agrasen Airport, newly flying, is being developed into Haryana's aviation hub
- Rapid rail planned RRTS corridors to Gurugram and Panipat are planned to speed the NCR commute
People & Heritage
Icons of Haryana
A 7th-century emperor, the heroes of 1857, a great peasant leader and a champion of the modern age — a few of the figures bound to this land.
- Harsha The 7th-century emperor who rose from Thanesar (Kurukshetra)
- Rao Tula Ram The hero of Rewari who led the 1857 revolt in the region
- Sir Chhotu Ram "Deenbandhu" — the great peasant leader and reformer of the early 20th century
- The three Lals Bansi Lal, Devi Lal & Bhajan Lal — the Chief Ministers who shaped modern Haryana
- Neeraj Chopra The Olympic javelin champion from Panipat — a symbol of Haryana's sporting rise
- The wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia & the akhara champions who put Haryana on the world map
Through the Ages
A Short History of Haryana
From the Indus Valley and the Mahabharata to the battlefields of Panipat and a state of its own — a few milestones that shaped Haryana.
| When | Milestone |
|---|---|
| c. 2600 BCE | Rakhigarhi (Hisar) — among the largest cities of the Indus Valley |
| Ancient (epic) | Kurukshetra — the Mahabharata war and the Bhagavad Gita |
| 606–647 CE | The emperor Harsha rules from Thanesar |
| 1191–1192 | The Battles of Tarain — Prithviraj Chauhan and Muhammad Ghori |
| 1526 | First Battle of Panipat — Babur founds the Mughal Empire |
| 1556 | Second Battle of Panipat — Akbar's forces defeat Hemu |
| 1761 | Third Battle of Panipat — the Afghans defeat the Marathas |
| 1857 | Rao Tula Ram of Rewari leads the revolt in the Haryana region |
| 1881–1945 | Sir Chhotu Ram, the great peasant leader, champions the farmers |
| 1 Nov 1966 | Haryana is carved out of Punjab on linguistic lines |
| 1960s–70s | The Green Revolution makes Haryana a food-surplus state |
| 1990s–2000s | Gurugram rises as the corporate "Millennium City" |