The Basics
Odisha at a Glance
A state on India's east coast, on the Bay of Bengal — the ancient land of Kalinga, rich in temples and minerals, forests and a long shoreline.
- Bhubaneswar Capital and largest city — with Cuttack, the state's "twin cities"
- 1 April 1936 Formed — India's first province created on a linguistic basis; observed as Utkal Dibasa
- 155,707 km² Area — India's 8th-largest state
- ~480 km coast A long Bay of Bengal coastline (recently re-measured higher)
- 30 Districts · 3 divisions — see the interactive map above
- Odia Official language — one of India's six designated Classical Languages (2014)
- 147 seats Legislative Assembly (unicameral); 21 Lok Sabha seats
- Borders West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh & Andhra Pradesh; the Bay of Bengal to the east
- Rivers & lake The Mahanadi, Brahmani & Baitarani; and Chilika, Asia's largest brackish lagoon
- Renamed 2011 "Orissa" became "Odisha", and "Oriya" became "Odia"
- State symbols Animal: sambar · Bird: Indian roller · Tree: peepal · Flower: ashoka
People
Population & Society
A largely rural state with India's richest tribal diversity — and a high sex ratio. Census 2011 is the last full count, so current totals are projections.
- 4.20 cr Population, 2011 (41,974,218) — India's 11th most populous; about 4.9 crore today (projected)
- 14.0% Decadal growth, 2001–2011 — below the national average
- 270 /km² Population density, 2011 — below the national average
- 979 Sex ratio — females per 1,000 males, 2011 — well above the national average
- 72.9% Literacy rate, 2011
- 16.7% Urbanisation — among India's lowest; a largely rural state
- ~23% ST Scheduled Tribes; with ~17% Scheduled Castes, about two in five people are SC or ST
- Most tribes India's greatest tribal diversity — 62 communities, including 13 particularly vulnerable groups (PVTGs)
- Tribes The Kondh, Santal, Gond, Saora & Munda among them
Economy
India's Mineral Powerhouse
Odisha sits on a huge share of India's minerals, and that drives a fast-growing, industry-heavy economy — run, unusually, with one of the lowest debt burdens of any Indian state.
- ₹10.6 L cr GSDP 2025-26 (budget estimate, current prices) — growing faster than the national average
- ~12% Nominal GSDP growth, 2025-26 (BE); real growth ~8%, above India's
- ~₹2 lakh Per-capita GSDP (2024-25) — below the national average, but rising fast
- ~13% Outstanding debt as % of GSDP — among India's lowest; a fiscally prudent state
What the economy is made of — share of GSVA (2025-26)
- ~41% Industry — minerals, steel & aluminium; an unusually high share for an Indian state
- ~39% Services — trade, transport & government
- ~20% Agriculture & allied — the base of rural livelihoods
India's mineral storehouse
- ~98% of India's chromite reserves are in Odisha — virtually the whole country's
- ~60% of India's bauxite reserves — the largest of any state
- Iron ore India's largest iron-ore reserves — and its largest producer
- Coal & more About a quarter of India's coal reserves (after Jharkhand), plus manganese
- Steel & aluminium Rourkela (India's first public-sector steel plant, 1959), NALCO & Vedanta
- ~42% of India's mineral output by value — the country's leading mineral state
- Minerals, fast growth, low debt: Odisha's mineral wealth and a steel-and-aluminium base give it one of India's most industrial economies, growing above the national rate while keeping its debt among the lowest of all states.
- Figures here are the latest Odisha Budget and Economic Survey estimates (2025-26). The India GDP page compares all states at FY2024-25, so its Odisha figure is for that earlier year.
Agriculture & Fisheries
Rice, Fish & the Forests
Rice dominates Odisha's fields, fish its coast and lagoons — and a celebrated millets revival is bringing the old grains of its tribal hills back to the table.
- Rice The dominant crop, on most of the cropped land — Odisha is a major rice producer
- Pulses An unusually large share of the cropland goes to pulses
- Fisheries India's 4th-largest fish producer — from the sea, the rivers and Chilika
- Chilika Asia's largest brackish lagoon — a great prawn, crab & hilsa fishery
- Millets Mission Odisha's flagship revival of ragi (mandia) across its tribal districts
- GI produce Kandhamal turmeric, Koraput Kalajeera rice & the Similipal red-ant chutney
- Odisha Rasagola The state's own GI-tagged version of the beloved sweet (2019)
Administrative
The 30 Districts
Odisha is organised into 30 districts across 3 revenue divisions, from the tribal highlands of Koraput to the temple town of Puri. Pick a district below and it will light up on the map above — district pages are coming next.
The map and this list share the same data. Clicking a district highlights it on the interactive map in the hero; soon each will open its own page.
What Makes Odisha Unique
Temples, Wildlife & Resilience
From a UNESCO sun temple and the seat of Jagannath to a turtle coast, a dolphin lagoon and a world-renowned way of weathering cyclones — a few things Odisha is known for.
Temples & heritage
- Jagannath, Puri One of Hinduism's four Char Dham — and the source of the English word "juggernaut"
- Konark The 13th-century Sun Temple — a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1984), the "Black Pagoda"
- Ekamra Bhubaneswar's ancient temple-city — the Lingaraja, and Udayagiri's Kharavela caves
- Dhauli Where the Kalinga War turned Emperor Ashoka to Buddhism & non-violence
Wildlife & resilience
- Chilika Asia's largest brackish lagoon — and the world's single largest home of the Irrawaddy dolphin
- Gahirmatha One of the world's largest olive-ridley turtle rookeries; with the crocodile mangroves of Bhitarkanika
- Simlipal A tiger reserve and biosphere — famed for its rare melanistic (black) tigers
- Cyclone-ready A globally praised, near-zero-casualty disaster-management model, built after the 1999 super cyclone
Culture & Traditions
Festivals, Dance & Crafts
Odisha's culture flows from its temples — the great chariot festival of Puri, the temple-born Odissi dance, and crafts of cloth, appliqué and silver perfected over centuries.
- Rath Yatra The Jagannath chariot festival of Puri — one of the world's grandest
- Odissi One of India's classical dance forms — and among the oldest, born in Odisha's temples
- More festivals Raja Parba, Cuttack's ancient maritime fair Bali Jatra & the Konark Dance Festival
- Crafts Pattachitra scroll painting, Pipili appliqué & Cuttack's silver filigree (Tarakasi)
- Sambalpuri The famed ikat (bandha) handloom of western Odisha
- Cuisine Dalma, pakhala (water-soaked rice) & chhena poda, the "baked cheese" sweet
Places to Visit
Temples, Coast & Wild Country
From a golden triangle of temples to a dolphin lagoon, turtle beaches, tiger forests and ancient Buddhist edicts — Odisha rewards every kind of traveller.
- Golden Triangle Puri (Jagannath), Konark (the Sun Temple) & Bhubaneswar (the temple city)
- Chilika Lake Boating among dolphins and vast flocks of migratory birds
- Bhitarkanika Mangroves and saltwater crocodiles, beside the Gahirmatha turtle coast
- Simlipal The tiger reserve and waterfalls of the Mayurbhanj forests
- Dhauli Ashoka's rock edicts and the white Peace Pagoda above the Daya river
- Udayagiri The ancient Jain rock-cut caves of Udayagiri & Khandagiri, near Bhubaneswar
- Hirakud The great Mahanadi dam and its sprawling lake, near Sambalpur
- Daringbadi The "Kashmir of Odisha" — a cool hill retreat in Kandhamal
Modern Odisha
Industry, Ports & a Smart City
Odisha turns its minerals into metal, ships them from a leading port, and has built a smart capital — and, unusually, made itself the home of Indian hockey.
- Paradip India's largest government major port by cargo (2024-25) — the first to cross 150 million tonnes
- Aluminium hub Angul & Jharsuguda (NALCO & Vedanta) — India's largest aluminium output
- Steel Rourkela (SAIL) and the Kalinganagar steel hub (Tata Steel)
- Bhubaneswar A "temple city" turned smart city — with IIT, AIIMS, NISER & KIIT
- Hockey state Odisha sponsors India's national hockey teams; Bhubaneswar & Rourkela host World Cups
- Hirakud Dam One of the world's longest dams, on the Mahanadi (1957)
Sea, Rail & Air
Ports, Trains & Airports
A long coast and a mineral economy make Odisha a major freight and maritime state, its ports and railways moving the iron, coal and aluminium of eastern India.
- Ports Paradip, with the private ports of Dhamra & Gopalpur along the Bay of Bengal
- Railways East Coast Railway (HQ Bhubaneswar) — a top mineral-freight network; with Vande Bharat links
- NH-16 The coastal Kolkata–Chennai corridor runs the length of the state
- Airports Biju Patnaik International (Bhubaneswar), with Jharsuguda & Rourkela
- Twin cities Bhubaneswar & Cuttack — the transport and commercial core of the state
- A maritime state Odisha's long seaboard makes it one of India's major cargo-handling states
People & the Kingdom
Icons of Odisha
From the great kings of ancient Kalinga to the builders of modern Odisha and its artists and athletes — a few of the people who shaped the state.
- Biju Patnaik Freedom fighter, daring aviator and Chief Minister — an Odisha legend
- Naveen Patnaik Among India's longest-serving Chief Ministers, in office from 2000 to 2024
- Madhusudan Das "Utkala Gouraba" — the father of modern Odisha and its linguistic state
- Kharavela The great Kalinga emperor of the Hathigumpha inscription (1st century BCE)
- Pankaj Charan Das The guru who brought Odissi from the temple to the modern stage
- More The sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik and the Olympic sprinter Dutee Chand
Through the Ages
A Short History of Odisha
From the bloody war that changed an emperor to a state of its own — a few milestones that shaped Odisha.
| When | Milestone |
|---|---|
| c. 261 BCE | The Kalinga War — sickened by the bloodshed, Emperor Ashoka embraces Buddhism (Dhauli) |
| c. 1st c. BCE | King Kharavela rules Kalinga; his deeds carved in the Hathigumpha inscription |
| 12th–13th c. CE | The Eastern Ganga kings build the Jagannath Temple at Puri |
| c. 1250 CE | The Konark Sun Temple is built by Narasimhadeva I |
| 1568 | The last Gajapati king falls — the end of independent Odia rule |
| 1803 | The British conquer Odisha |
| 1866 | The Na'anka famine kills around a million people |
| 1 April 1936 | Odisha is formed as India's first province created on a linguistic basis |
| 1948 | The princely states merge into Odisha |
| 1999 | A super cyclone devastates the coast — prompting a new disaster-management model |
| 2011 | "Orissa" is renamed "Odisha" |
| 2014 | Odia is recognised as a Classical Language of India |