The Basics
Uttar Pradesh at a Glance
Uttar Pradesh sits across the upper Ganga plain in north India. It is the country's most populous state and the heart of its political and cultural life.
- Lucknow Capital city (Kanpur is the largest city & the old industrial hub)
- 24 January 1950 The United Provinces were renamed Uttar Pradesh — marked as UP Day
- 2.43 lakh km² Area (~2,43,286 km²) — India's 4th-largest state
- 75 Districts (18 divisions) — see the interactive map above
- Hindi Official language; Urdu is the state's additional official language
- 403 seats Legislative Assembly — the largest in India; a 100-member Council; 80 Lok Sabha seats
- Borders Nine states & Delhi — from Uttarakhand and Haryana to Bihar; Nepal lies to the north
- 5 regions Braj, Rohilkhand, Awadh, Bundelkhand & Purvanchal; rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Ghaghara & Gomti
- State symbols Animal: swamp deer (barasingha) · Bird: sarus crane · Flower: palash
People
Population & Society
If Uttar Pradesh were a country, it would be among the five most populous on earth. Census 2011 is the last full count, so current totals are projections; figures below are Census 2011 unless marked.
- 19.98 cr Population, 2011 (199,812,341) — India's most populous state; comfortably past 20 crore today
- 20.2% Decadal growth, 2001–2011
- 829 /km² Population density, 2011 — well above the national average
- 912 Sex ratio — females per 1,000 males, 2011
- 67.7% Literacy rate, 2011 (a little below the national average)
- 22.3% Urban — UP is still a largely rural state
- ~16.5% of India's people live here — about 1 in 6 — while the state makes roughly 9% of national output
- 7 cities Million-plus urban areas — Kanpur, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Agra, Varanasi, Meerut & Prayagraj
- Diaspora The Bhojpuri–Awadhi east was a main source of the 19th-century Girmitiya migration to Mauritius, Fiji and the Caribbean
Economy
A ₹30-Lakh-Crore Economy
Uttar Pradesh is among India's two or three largest state economies, close behind Tamil Nadu. With about a sixth of India's people but a tenth of its output, per-person income is still low — though growth has run ahead of the national rate.
- ₹29.8 L cr GSDP, 2024-25 (current prices); about ₹31 L cr in 2025-26 (revised estimate)
- ~9% Real GSDP growth, 2024-25 — faster than the national rate (~6.5%)
- ₹1.24 lakh Per-capita GSDP, 2024-25 — about half the national average
- ~30% Outstanding liabilities as % of GSDP (2024-25)
What the economy is made of — share of the state economy (2024-25)
- ~47% Services — trade, finance, real estate & public services
- ~27% Agriculture & allied — among the highest farm shares of any large state
- ~26% Manufacturing — led by the Noida–Ghaziabad belt
Minerals & resources
- Limestone Cement-grade limestone in Sonbhadra & Mirzapur feeds the state's cement plants
- Glass sand Silica sand around Prayagraj & Chitrakoot supplies Firozabad's glassworks
- Bundelkhand Rock phosphate at Lalitpur and a large prospective potash deposit near Chitrakoot
- Diaspore One of India's main sources of diaspore & pyrophyllite (refractory minerals)
- People vs output: UP has roughly 16.5% of India's population but makes about 9% of its GDP — the mirror image of the smaller, richer states.
- Minerals are confined to the southern hard-rock belt (Bundelkhand and the Vindhyas); the Gangetic plain that covers most of the state holds little. UP is not a coal or metal producer.
- Figures here are the latest UP Budget estimates (via PRS) and MoSPI. The India GDP page compares all states at FY2024-25.
Agriculture
India's Farm & Dairy Heartland
The fertile Ganga–Yamuna plain makes Uttar Pradesh the country's biggest producer of foodgrains, sugarcane, wheat, milk and potatoes — the single most important farm state in India.
- Foodgrains India's largest producer of foodgrains overall
- Sugarcane India's largest sugarcane grower — close to half the national crop; most years the biggest sugar producer too
- Wheat India's largest wheat producer — roughly a third of the crop
- Milk India's largest milk-producing state — about a sixth of national output
- Potato India's largest potato producer — Agra is the leading district
- Mango A leading mango state; the Malihabadi Dussehri near Lucknow carries a GI tag (2009)
- Mentha Grows the bulk of India's mint (menthol) oil — the Barabanki belt; India supplies most of the world's mint oil
- Canals The Upper Ganga and Sharda canals water the doab — some of India's most fertile alluvial soil
- Sugar belt The western doab and the Terai run on a dense network of sugarcane co-ops & mills
Administrative
The 75 Districts
Uttar Pradesh has 75 districts grouped into 18 divisions — more than any other state. Select a district below to highlight it 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 Uttar Pradesh Unique
Strengths, Industry & Heritage
From the leather of Kanpur to the mobile phones of Noida, Uttar Pradesh makes a remarkable range of things — and it holds three of India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Industry & trade
- Noida Electronics, mobile phones, IT & services in Gautam Buddh Nagar; Samsung runs one of the world's largest phone factories here
- Kanpur India's historic leather & tanning city — once the "Manchester of the East"
- Firozabad India's glass & bangle capital
- Moradabad The "Brass City" — a major metalware export hub
- Bhadohi With Mirzapur, India's hand-knotted carpet belt
- ODOP One District One Product — a UP scheme backing a signature craft in every district
- Famous crafts Banarasi silk (Varanasi), Lucknawi chikankari, Aligarh locks, Kannauj attar & Meerut sports goods
Heritage, nature & wildlife
- Taj Mahal Shah Jahan's marble mausoleum at Agra — a UNESCO site and a wonder of the world
- Agra Fort & Sikri Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri — two more UNESCO World Heritage Sites near Agra
- Dudhwa Dudhwa National Park & Tiger Reserve in the Terai — a stronghold of the swamp deer
- Tiger country Pilibhit, Amangarh and the new Ranipur (2022) are the state's other tiger reserves
- Sarus crane The state bird — the world's tallest flying bird — nests across UP's wetlands
- Ganga dolphin India's national aquatic animal swims the state's rivers, helped by the Namami Gange clean-up
Culture & Traditions
Festivals, Food & Crafts
Uttar Pradesh hosts the world's largest gathering at the Kumbh, gave Kathak its Lucknow gharana, and sets a table of Awadhi food that few can match.
- Maha Kumbh The Prayagraj Kumbh is the world's largest human gathering; the 2025 Maha Kumbh ran Jan–Feb, with the state putting footfall at around 66 crore
- Kathak The Lucknow gharana of this classical dance grew in the court of the Awadh Nawabs
- Ramlila The month-long Ramlila of Ramnagar, Varanasi; the Ramlila tradition is on UNESCO's Intangible Heritage list (2008)
- Dev Deepawali Varanasi's ghats glow with rows of lamps on Kartik Purnima
- Awadhi food Lucknow's slow-cooked table — galouti and tunday kebabs, biryani, korma & nihari
- Banarasi & chikan Varanasi's gold-threaded silk and Lucknow's white chikankari — both GI-tagged
- Petha & paan Agra's translucent petha sweet and the much-loved Banarasi paan
Places to Visit
Faith, Heritage & Getaways
Few places hold as much faith and history — the Taj at Agra, the ghats of Kashi, Rama's Ayodhya and Krishna's Mathura.
- Taj Mahal Agra's marble mausoleum — a UNESCO site and one of the New 7 Wonders of the World
- Varanasi Kashi — one of the world's oldest living cities; the Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga and the evening Ganga aarti
- Ayodhya The Ram Janmabhoomi; the Ram Mandir was consecrated on 22 January 2024
- Mathura–Vrindavan Krishna's birthplace, at the heart of the Braj region
- Prayagraj Triveni Sangam — where the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati meet
- Sarnath Where the Buddha gave his first sermon, just outside Varanasi
- Kushinagar The site of the Buddha's Mahaparinirvana, on the Buddhist circuit
- Fatehpur Sikri Akbar's red-sandstone capital near Agra — a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Vindhyachal The Vindhyavasini Devi shrine at Mirzapur; Chitrakoot lies further south
Modern Uttar Pradesh
Finance, Energy & Infrastructure
UP has built India's largest network of expressways, its first rapid-rail line, and a fresh wave of metros, airports and defence manufacturing.
- Expressways India's largest expressway network — the Agra–Lucknow, Purvanchal, Bundelkhand and Yamuna lines, now joined by the ~594 km Ganga Expressway (Meerut–Prayagraj)
- Noida Airport A greenfield international airport at Jewar, opening in 2026 — designed to be among India's largest once fully built
- Namo Bharat The Delhi–Meerut line is India's first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS)
- Metros Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra and Noida run metros; Meerut's, opened in 2026, is India's fastest
- Defence corridor The UP Defence Industrial Corridor links six nodes — Aligarh, Agra, Kanpur, Jhansi, Chitrakoot & Lucknow; BrahMos missiles are made at Lucknow
- Film City A large film city is being built near the Noida airport, on the Yamuna Expressway
- 5 airports International flights from Lucknow, Varanasi, Kushinagar, Ayodhya & the new Noida — the most international airports of any state
Rail, Metro & Air
Trains, Metro, Airports & Transit
Uttar Pradesh sits at the centre of India's road and rail map. The old Grand Trunk Road, two railway zones and a fast-growing metro and expressway network all run through it.
- Expressways Access-controlled lines now link most big cities — Agra–Lucknow (~302 km), Purvanchal (~341 km), Bundelkhand (~296 km), Yamuna (~165 km) and the new Ganga Expressway (~594 km)
- Railway zones Two of Indian Railways' zones are based here — North Central at Prayagraj and North Eastern at Gorakhpur
- Gorakhpur Its station held the record for the world's longest railway platform until 2023
- Namo Bharat India's first rapid-rail corridor, Delhi to Meerut, runs largely through western UP
- Vande Bharat Semi-high-speed trains link Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Gorakhpur & Meerut to Delhi
- National Highways UP has the most national highways of any state — the old Grand Trunk Road (NH 19) and NH 27 among the main corridors
- Airports Lucknow, Varanasi, Kushinagar & Ayodhya fly international; Agra, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Bareilly & Gorakhpur add domestic links
People & Freedom Movement
A Land of National Icons
Uttar Pradesh has shaped India's politics, freedom struggle and arts — and sent more Prime Ministers to Parliament than any other state.
- Most PMs UP has sent more Prime Ministers to Parliament than any other state — Nehru, Shastri and Indira Gandhi were all born here
- Rani Lakshmibai The queen of Jhansi — a leading figure of the 1857 uprising
- Mangal Pandey The sepoy from Ballia whose revolt helped spark the 1857 rebellion
- Munshi Premchand The great Hindi–Urdu novelist, born at Lamhi near Varanasi
- Amitabh Bachchan The actor, born in Allahabad (now Prayagraj)
- Saint-poets Kabir, Ravidas and Tulsidas — who wrote the Ramcharitmanas — all belong to Kashi & Awadh
- Kathak & letters Birju Maharaj of the Lucknow gharana; poets Mahadevi Verma, Harivansh Rai Bachchan & Firaq Gorakhpuri
- More Lucknow elected Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Varanasi elects Narendra Modi — both Prime Ministers who represent UP, though born elsewhere
Through the Ages
A Short History of Uttar Pradesh
From the kingdoms of the Ganga plain to Mughal Agra and modern Uttar Pradesh, a few of the milestones that shaped the state.
| When | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1st millennium BCE | Kashi (Varanasi) grows into one of the world's oldest living cities; the kingdoms of Kosala, Kashi & Panchala hold the Ganga plain |
| ~5th century BCE | The Buddha gives his first sermon at Sarnath, near Varanasi |
| 4th c. BCE – 6th c. CE | The Maurya and Gupta empires rule from the Gangetic heartland |
| 606–647 CE | Harsha rules northern India from Kannauj |
| 1394–1494 | The Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur — a centre of Indo-Islamic learning & architecture |
| 1571 | Akbar builds Fatehpur Sikri as his capital near Agra |
| 1632–1653 | The Taj Mahal is built at Agra under Shah Jahan |
| 1775 | The Nawabs of Awadh make Lucknow their capital |
| 10 May 1857 | The Revolt of 1857 breaks out at Meerut, spreading to Kanpur, Lucknow & Jhansi |
| 1947 | India wins independence; the United Provinces join the new republic |
| 24 January 1950 | The United Provinces are renamed Uttar Pradesh |
| 9 November 2000 | Uttarakhand is carved out of UP as a separate hill state |
| 22 January 2024 | The Ram Mandir is consecrated at Ayodhya |