Handbook for Asian Indians - 1997-1998 Heritage Edition - India: Fact Book for Children Indian Union India is a union of 25 States and seven centrally administered Union Territories. The States are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The centrally administered union territories are Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu Delhi, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. STATES TERRITORIES ANDHRA PRADESH Area: 275,068 sq km Population*: 6,65,08,008 Capital: Hyderabad Principal Languages: Telugu and Urdu ARUNACHAL PRADESH Area: 83,743 sq km Population: 8,64,558 Capital: Itanagar Principal Languages: Monpa, Miji, Aka, Sherdukpen, Bangni, Nisni, Apatani, Tagin, Hill Miri, Adi, Gallong, Digaru-Mishmi, Idu-Mishmi, Miju-Mishmi, Nocte, Khampti, Tangsa and Wancho ASSAM Area: 78,438 sq km Population: 2,22,94,562 Capital: Dispur Principal Language: Assamese BIHAR Area: 1,73,877 sq km Population: 8,63,74,465 Capital: Patna Principal Language: Hindi GOA Area: 3,702 sq km Population: 11,69,793 Capital: Panaji Principal Languages: Konkani and Marathi GUJARAT Area: 1,96,024 sq km Population: 4,13,09,582 Capital: Gandhinagar Principal Language: Gujarati HARYANA Area: 44,212 sq km Population: 1,64,63,648 Capital: Chandigarh Principal Language: Hindi HIMACHAL PRADESH Area: 55,673 sq km Population: 51,70,877 Capital: Shimla Principal Languages: Hindi and Pahari JAMMU AND KASHMIR Area: 2,22,236 sq km Population: 77,18,700 Capital:Srinagar (Summer) and Jammu (Winter) Principal Languages: Kashmiri, Urdu, Dogri, Pahari, Balti, Gujri, Ladakhi, Punjabi, and Dadri KARNATAKA Area: 1,91,791 sq km Population: 4,49,77,201 Capital: Bangalore Principal Language: Kannada KERALA Area: 38,863 sq km Population: 2,90,98,513 Capital: Thiruvananthapuram Principal Language: Malayalam MADHYA PRADESH Area: 4,43,446 sq km Population: 6,61,81,000 Capital: Bhopal Principal Language: Hindi MAHARASHTRA Area: 3,07,713 sq km Population: 7,89,37,187 Capital: Bombay Principal Language: Marathi MANIPUR Area: 22,327 sq km Population: 18,37,149 Capital: Imphal Principal Language: Manipuri MEGHALAYA Area: 22,429 sq km Population: 17,74,778 Capital: Shillong Principal Languages: Khasi, Garo and English MIZORAM Area: 21,081 sq km Population: 6,89,756 Capital: Aizawl Principal Languages: Mizo and English NAGALAND Area: 16,579 sq km Population: 12,09,546 Capital: Kohima Principal Languages: Angami, Lotha, Chang, Konyak, Sema, Ao, Sangtam, and Chakhesang ORISSA Area: 1,55,707 sq km Population: 3,16,59,736 Capital: Bhubaneswar Principal Language: Oriya PUNJAB Area: 50,362 sq km Population: 2,02,81,969 Capital: Chandigarh Principal Language: Punjabi RAJASTHAN Area: 3,42,239 sq km Population: 4,40,05,990 Capital: Jaipur Principal Languages: Hindu and Rajasthani SIKKIM Area: 7,096 sq km Population: 4,06,457 Capital: Gangtok Principal Languages: Lepcha, Bhutia, Nepali and Limbu TAMIL NADU Area: 1,30,058 sq km Population: 5,58,58,946 Capital: Madras Principal Language: Tamil TRIPURA Area: 10,491 sq km Population: 27,57,205 Capital: Agartala Principal Languages: Bengali, Kokbarak and Manipuri UTTAR PRADESH Area: 2,94,411 sq km Population: 1,39,112,287 Capital: Lucknow Principal Languages: Hindi and Urdu WEST BENGAL Area: 88,752 sq km Population: 6,79,82,732 Capital: Calcutta Principal Language: Bengali ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS Area: 8,249 sq km Population: 2,80,661 Capital: Port Blair Principal Languages: Hindi, Bengali, Nicobarese, Tamil, Malayalam, and Telugu CHANDIGARH Area: 114 sq km Population: 6,42,015 Capital: Chandigarh Principal Languages: Hindi, Punjabi, and English DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI Area: 491 sq km Population: 1,38,477 Capital: Silvassa Principal Languages: Gujarati, Hindi DAMAN & DIU Area: 112 sq km Population: 1,01,586 Capital: Daman Principal Language: Gujarati DELHI Area: 1,483 sq km Population: 94,20,644 Capital: Delhi Principal Languages: Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu LAKSHADWEEP Area: 32 sq km Population: 51,707 Capital: Kavaratti Principal Language: Malayalam PONDICHERRY Area: 492 sq km Population: 8,07,785 Capital: Pondicherry Principal Languages: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, English and French * ALL POPULATION FIGURES BASED ON 1991 CENSUS Constitution The country attained freedom on August 15, 1947. The Constitution of the Republic came into effect on 26 January, 1950. It provides for single and uniform citizenship for the whole nation and confers the right to vote on every person who is a citizen of India and 18 years of age or older. Fundamental Rights The Fundamental Rights of every Indian citizen include the freedom of speech, expression, belief, assembly and association, migration, and choice of occupation or trade. These rights also protect every Indian from discrimination on grounds of race, religion, creed or sex, and are enforceable in courts of law. Government The Legislature - India has a parliamentary form of government based on universal adult franchise. The executive authority is responsible to the elected representatives of the people in the Parliament for all its decisions and actions. Sovereignty rests ultimately with the people. Rajya Sabha (Council of States) - The Council of States consists of not more than 250 members, of whom 12 are nominated by the President of India and the rest elected. It is not subject to dissolution; one-third of its members retire at the end of every second year. The elections to the Council are indirect. The allotted quota of the representatives of each State are elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly of that State, in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. The nominated members are persons with special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service. The Rajya Sabha is presided over by the Vice-President of India. Lok Sabha (House of the People) - The House of the People consists of 545 members. Of these, 530 are directly elected from the 25 States and 13 from the seven Union Territories. Two members are nominated by the President to represent the Anglo-Indian community. Unless dissolved sooner, the term of the House is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting. The Lok Sabha elects its own presiding officer, the Speaker. The Executive - The President of India is the Head of the State and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He is elected by an electoral college composed of members of both the Houses of Parliament (Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha) and the legislatures of the constituent States. The President holds office for five years and can be re-elected. The President does not normally exercise any constitutional powers on his own initiative. These are exercised by the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, which is responsible to the popularly elected Parliament. The Vice-President is elected jointly by the members of both the Houses of Parliament. The person enjoying majority support in the Lok Sabha is appointed Prime Minister by the President. He then appoints other ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister can remain in office only as long as he or she enjoys majority support in the Parliament. The Judiciary - The Judiciary is independent of the executive. It is the guardian and interpreter of the Constitution. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial tribunal, standing at the apex of a single unified system for the whole country. Each State has its own High Court. A uniform code of civil and criminal laws applies to the whole country. The States - The States have their own Legislative Assemblies and in certain cases a second Chamber. All members of the Legislative Assemblies are elected by universal adult franchise. The Heads of the States are called Governors. Appointed by the President, they normally exercise the same powers in the States as the President does in the Union government. As in the Central Government, each State has a Cabinet headed by the Chief Minister responsible to the elected State Legislature. 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