The Basics
Himachal Pradesh at a Glance
A small, prosperous Himalayan state of high literacy and good governance — wholly mountainous, deeply forested, and famous for its apples, its hydropower and its temples.
- Shimla Capital and largest city; Dharamshala was declared the second/winter capital in 2017
- 25 Jan 1971 Full statehood — India's 18th state; first formed as a province on 15 April 1948
- 55,673 km² Area — around the 17th-largest state, entirely in the western Himalayas
- 12 districts From Kangra and Shimla to the high tribal belts of Kinnaur and Lahaul & Spiti
- Hindi Official language; Sanskrit is the second official language (2019); many Pahari dialects
- Dev Bhoomi "Land of the Gods" — its popular epithet, for its thousands of temples and shrines
- 68 seats Legislative Assembly (unicameral); 4 Lok Sabha & 3 Rajya Sabha seats
- Borders Ladakh & J&K (UTs), Tibet/China, Uttarakhand, Haryana & Punjab
- Five rivers The Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab and Yamuna — the basis of its hydropower
- Reo Purgyil At ~6,816 m, in Kinnaur on the Tibet border — the state's highest peak
- State symbols Animal: snow leopard · Bird: western tragopan (jujurana) · Tree: deodar · Flower: pink rhododendron
People
Population & Society
A small, overwhelmingly rural and Hindu population with one of India's highest literacy rates and strongest human-development records — a hill state often ranked just behind Kerala. Census 2011 is the last full count.
- 68.6 lakh Population, 2011 (6,864,602) — India's 21st most populous; about 75 lakh today (projected)
- 12.9% Decadal growth, 2001–2011 — below the national average
- 123 /km² Population density, 2011 — low, as befits a mountain state
- 972 Sex ratio — females per 1,000 males, 2011 — well above the national average
- 82.8% Literacy rate, 2011 — among India's highest, close behind Kerala & Mizoram
- ~10% Urbanisation, 2011 — one of India's least-urbanised, most rural states
- 25% SC Scheduled Castes ~25% (among the highest); Scheduled Tribes ~5.7% — the Gaddi, Kinnaura, Gujjar & Pangwala communities
- Towns All small — Shimla (~1.7 lakh), then Dharamshala, Solan, Mandi, Palampur, Baddi & Nahan
- Faith Hindu ~95% (one of India's most Hindu-majority states); Buddhists in Lahaul-Spiti & Kinnaur
Economy
Apples, Power & Pharma
A high-income hill economy built on horticulture, Himalayan hydropower, the pharma factories of Baddi and a thriving tourism trade — though carrying one of India's heaviest debt loads.
- ₹2.54 L cr GSDP 2025-26 (revised estimate, current prices)
- ~10% Nominal GSDP growth, 2025-26
- Top tier Among the highest per-capita incomes of the hill states, above the national average
- ~40%+ Outstanding debt as % of GSDP — one of India's highest; a fiscally stressed state
What the economy is made of — share of GSVA (2025-26)
- ~46% Services — tourism, trade & public services
- ~40% Industry — pharma, cement & hydropower (a notably high share)
- ~14% Agriculture & allied — led by the apple & horticulture economy
The engines of the economy
- Hydropower A Himalayan power giant — ~27,000 MW of assessed potential (about a quarter of India's); a power-surplus state that sells electricity
- Baddi (BBN) The Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh belt — often called Asia's largest pharmaceutical manufacturing hub
- Apples The "Apple State" — horticulture is the backbone of the rural economy across the Shimla, Kinnaur & Kullu belt
- Cement & tourism A major limestone-and-cement producer; tourism a pillar across Shimla, Manali & Dharamshala
- Power, not just orchards: the five rivers give Himachal a huge hydroelectric resource, and the Baddi pharma belt makes industry an unusually large ~40% of the state's output for a hill state.
- Figures here are the latest Himachal Pradesh Budget / Economic Survey estimates (2025-26). The India GDP page compares all states at FY2024-25, so its Himachal figure is for that earlier year.
Horticulture & Apples
The Apple State of India
Himachal is India's apple bowl — its second-largest apple producer after Jammu & Kashmir — and a temperate-fruit basket whose orchards transformed the hill economy.
- #2 in apples India's second-largest apple producer, after Jammu & Kashmir — about a fifth of the national crop
- ~80% Apples are about four-fifths of the state's horticultural output, across ~1.15 lakh hectares of orchards
- The apple belt Centred on Shimla, Kinnaur and Kullu — the classic high-altitude orchard districts
- Satyanand Stokes The American settler who launched Himachal's "Apple Revolution", planting Red Delicious at Thanedhar in 1916
- Stone fruits Cherries, plums, peaches, apricots, almonds, kiwi & pomegranate — a temperate- fruit basket
- Off-season veg Peas, tomato, capsicum & cauliflower grown for the plains when their own supply is gone — a big cash earner
- Kangra Tea The Kangra valley's tea — GI-tagged (2005), and granted a European Union GI in 2023
- Hill cereals Maize, wheat & barley on terraced fields — subsistence farming on small, fragmented holdings
Administrative
The Districts
Himachal Pradesh has 12 districts — from the populous Kangra and Mandi valleys to the high, sparsely-peopled tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul & Spiti. 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 Himachal Unique
Gods, Governance & Heritage
A land of temples and pilgrimage, home of the Dalai Lama, with two UNESCO sites and a reputation as one of India's best-governed, most human-developed states.
Faith & world heritage
- Dev Bhoomi The "Land of the Gods" — thousands of temples and the Shakti-Peetha shrines of Jwalaji, Chintpurni, Naina Devi, Brajeshwari & Chamunda Devi
- Dharamshala McLeod Ganj — home of the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile since 1960
- UNESCO ×2 The Great Himalayan National Park (2014) and the Kalka–Shimla Railway (2008, with the Mountain Railways of India)
- Atal Tunnel At ~9 km, recognised as the world's longest highway tunnel above 10,000 ft — all-weather access to Lahaul
Development & nature
- Good governance Consistently among India's top states on the NITI Aayog SDG India Index — 4th in 2023-24, and top-ranked in some earlier years
- High literacy One of India's highest literacy rates and strongest health & education outcomes — second only to Kerala on many measures
- Apple & power The "Apple State" and a Himalayan hydropower powerhouse — its two signature economic strengths
- Forest & fauna Vast deodar & pine forests; the snow leopard, western tragopan and Himalayan wildlife of its high parks
Culture & Traditions
Nati, the Dham & the Devtas
A living hill culture of village deities and great fairs, of the Nati folk dance, the Kangra miniatures, the woollen shawls and the leaf-plate feast known as the Dham.
- Kullu Dussehra The week-long international festival that begins when Dussehra ends elsewhere — a grand gathering of village deities before Lord Raghunath
- The fairs Mandi's International Shivratri ("Chhoti Kashi"), the Minjar fair of Chamba, the Lavi trade fair at Rampur, and Spiti's Losar
- Nati The Himachali folk dance — a mass Kullu Nati set a Guinness World Record as the largest folk dance (2015)
- Kangra painting The Kangra school of Pahari miniature painting — delicate Radha-Krishna themes born at Guler
- Shawls & crafts The GI-tagged Kullu Shawl, Kinnauri Shawl & Chamba Rumal embroidery; the Himachali topi (cap)
- The Dham The festive vegetarian feast served on leaf plates by hereditary cooks (botis) — madra, siddu, chha gosht & babru
Places to Visit
Hill Stations & the Cold Desert
From the colonial charm of Shimla and the valleys of Manali to the Tibetan town of Dharamshala, the meadows of Khajjiar and the high cold desert of Spiti.
- Shimla The "Queen of Hills" and former summer capital of British India — the Ridge, the Mall and the toy train
- Manali & Kullu The Beas valley resorts, Hidimba temple, Rohtang and the gateway to Lahaul via the Atal Tunnel
- Dharamshala McLeod Ganj — "Little Lhasa", the Dalai Lama's seat, below the Dhauladhar range
- Khajjiar The "Mini Switzerland of India" — a meadow ringed by deodar near Chamba
- Spiti & Lahaul A high Himalayan cold desert of Buddhist monasteries — Key Monastery, Kaza and the ancient villages
- Bir-Billing A world-class paragliding destination near Baijnath — host of the 2015 Paragliding World Cup
- Dalhousie & Kasauli Quiet colonial-era hill stations, with Chail's famously high cricket ground
- Pilgrim trails The Shakti-Peetha temples and the high Manimahesh yatra in Chamba
Modern Himachal
Dams, Drugs & Green Energy
A modern hill economy of giant hydropower dams, Asia's pharma factories at Baddi, and a drive to become India's first "green energy state" — set against the risks of a fragile mountain environment.
- Hydropower Giant dams on the Sutlej — Bhakra, Nathpa Jhakri (1,500 MW), Karcham Wangtoo and Kol Dam — anchor a power-surplus grid
- Baddi pharma The BBN belt in Solan — hundreds of drug-makers and a new Bulk Drug Park; a huge share of India's medicines
- Atal Tunnel Opened 2020 — the ~9 km tunnel under Rohtang gives year-round access to Lahaul and onward to Ladakh
- Green ambition A stated goal to become India's first "green energy state" — hydro plus new solar & green hydrogen
- Institutions IIT Mandi, IIM Sirmaur, AIIMS Bilaspur and central & agricultural universities
- Fragile hills Landslides & flash floods — the severe 2023 monsoon caused heavy damage — and peak-season tourist congestion
Road, Rail & Air
Toy Trains & Mountain Roads
A famous heritage railway, three small mountain airports, a vast network of hill roads, and strategic new rail and tunnel links climbing towards Ladakh.
- Kalka–Shimla The UNESCO "Toy Train" — a narrow-gauge line of 1903 with over a hundred tunnels, climbing to Shimla
- Kangra Valley The scenic Pathankot–Jogindernagar narrow-gauge railway through the Kangra valley
- Airports ×3 Small airfields at Kangra (Gaggal, the busiest), Kullu (Bhuntar) & Shimla (Jubbarhatti)
- Mountain roads A dense hill-road network and the HRTC bus fleet; four-laning of the Kiratpur–Manali and Parwanoo–Shimla highways
- Strategic rail The Bhanupli–Bilaspur–Manali–Leh and Chandigarh–Baddi lines are under construction — not yet open
- Atal Tunnel The all-weather link to Lahaul-Spiti, cutting the old Rohtang route by hours
People & Heritage
Kings, Saints & the Architect
An ancient line of hill kings, a great patron of painting, the founder who built the state, and the spiritual leader who made Dharamshala his home.
- The Katoch The Katoch dynasty of Kangra (ancient Trigarta) — described as one of India's oldest royal lines
- Sansar Chand The Katoch ruler (c. 1775–1823) who made Kangra supreme and patronised the Kangra school of painting
- Y. S. Parmar Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar — the architect of Himachal and its first Chief Minister
- The Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama, who settled at Dharamshala in 1960 and made it the seat of Tibetan Buddhism in exile
- Satyanand Stokes The American settler who brought the apple to the hills and sparked the "Apple Revolution"
- Hill principalities Chamba, Kullu, Mandi, Bilaspur, Sirmaur & Bushahr — the old princely states that became Himachal
Through the Ages
A Short History of Himachal Pradesh
From the ancient hill kingdoms and the Gorkha wars to the British summer capital and a state of its own — a few milestones that shaped Himachal.
| When | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Antiquity | Kangra (Trigarta) — ruled by the Katoch dynasty, one of India's oldest royal lines |
| Medieval | A patchwork of princely hill states — Kangra, Chamba, Kullu, Mandi, Bilaspur, Sirmaur, Bushahr |
| c. 1775–1823 | Sansar Chand of Kangra at his height — the Kangra Fort and the Kangra school of painting |
| 1814–1816 | The Anglo-Gorkha War; the Treaty of Sugauli — the British gain the Sutlej hills |
| 1864 | Shimla becomes the summer capital of British India (until 1947) |
| 15 Apr 1948 | Himachal Pradesh is formed by integrating ~30 princely hill states |
| 1960 | The 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile settle at Dharamshala |
| 1 Nov 1966 | The Punjab hill areas are merged into Himachal Pradesh |
| 25 Jan 1971 | Full statehood — India's 18th state (Dr Y. S. Parmar, first Chief Minister) |
| 2008 | The Kalka–Shimla Railway is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site |
| 2014 | The Great Himalayan National Park is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site |
| 2020 | The Atal Tunnel opens, giving all-weather access to Lahaul |