Uttarakhand History, Geography, Economy, Polity and Districts
Through this chapter, we will know the detailed and important information of Uttarakhand, in which important and interesting information like history, geography, economy, education, culture and world famous tourist places located in the state have been added. Apart from this, the recent developments and changes in the state of Uttarakhand have also been explained in detail. This chapter is full of interesting facts for the competitive aspirants as well as the readers.
Quick General Knowledge
State Level
State
Capital
Dehradun
Statehood
9 November 2000
Largest City
Dehradun
Total Area
53,483 sq km
Districts
13
Current Chief Minister
Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami
Current Governor
Gurmit Singh
State Bird
Himalayan monalSarus cran
State Flower
Saussurea obvallata
State Animal
Alpine musk deer
State Tree
Rhododendron arboreum
Languages
Hindi
State Dance
Chappeli, Gadhwali, Kumayuni, Kajari, Jhora and Raslila.
Uttarakhand (उत्तराखंड)
Uttarakhand is the 27th state of India located in the north. The ancient name of Uttarakhand is Uttaranchal. From 2000 to 2006, it was known as Uttaranchal. The official name of the state was changed to Uttarakhand in January 2007 keeping in mind the sentiments of the local people. Uttarakhand means northern region or part in Hindi and Sanskrit. The capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun. The High Court of the state is in Nainital. Uttarakhand is also known as the birthplace of the Chipko movement.
Uttarakhand is mentioned in ancient scriptures as Kedarkhand, Manaskhand and Himavant. According to folklore, the Pandavas came here and the greatest epics of the world, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, were composed here. Much is said about this particular area, but despite the evidence of human habitation here in ancient times, very little is known about the history of this area. The present Uttarakhand state was part of the 'Agra and Awadh United Provinces'. . This province was created in 1902. In 1935, it was called the 'United Provinces'. In January 1950, the name of 'United Provinces' was 'Uttar Pradesh'. Uttarakhand was a part of Uttar Pradesh till November 9, 2000 before it became the 27th state of India.
The area of Uttarakhand state is 53,484 sq km. Uttarakhand is located in the north-central part of India. It is bounded by Tibet in the northeast, Himachal Pradesh in the northwest, Uttar Pradesh in the southwest and Nepal in the southeast. Most of the northern part of the state is part of the greater Himalayan range, which is covered by high Himalayan peaks and glaciers, while the lower foothills are covered by dense forests that were first exploited by British timber traders and post-independence forest contractors. The Himalayan ecological system is home to a large number of animals - such as bhadal, snow leopard, leopard, and tigers, plants, and rare herbs. The state has several important pilgrimage centers of Gangetic and Yamunotri, the sacred sites of Hinduism and the origin of the largest rivers of India, the Ganges and Yamuna respectively, and the Vedic culture on its banks. Apart from these, the major rivers in the state are Kali, Ramganga, Kosi, Gomti, Tons, Dhauli Ganga, Gauriganga, Pinder Nayar (East) Pinder Nayar (West), etc. Jim Corbett National Park, India's oldest national park, is located in Uttarakhand. The state tree of Uttarakhand is 'Ashoka'. The state flower of Uttarakhand is 'Brahma Kamal'. The state animal of Uttarakhand is the 'musk deer'. The state bird of Uttarakhand is 'Stork'.
The climate of Uttarakhand is temperate. The temperature varies according to the weather in the state. The weather of Uttarakhand can be divided into two parts: mountainous and less mountainous or planar. The coldest month in the state is January, when the temperature is below zero in the north and about 5 ° C in the southeast. it happens. July is the month of southwest monsoon. According to the data of the year 2008, the annual average rainfall in the state is 1606 mm. Had happened. Various types of green valleys, flora and fauna are the main feature of Uttarakhand.
In the year 2000, the mountainous districts of Uttar Pradesh were separated and made into a Uttarakhand state. There have been 8 Chief Ministers in this state so far, of which four are from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the remaining three are from the Indian National Congress. Nityananda Swamy was the first person to become the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He was sworn in as the first Chief Minister of the state on 09 November 2000. The present unicameral Vidhan Sabha of Uttarakhand has 70 members who are called MLAs. The current assembly has the largest party of the Bharatiya Janata Party with 57 MLAs. The tenure of the government is for five years or the government can be dissolved even before the foot years.
At present, there is a Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttarakhand. The current Chief Minister of Uttarakhand is Pushkar Singh Dhami. He was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state on 04 July 2021.
The current governor of Uttarakhand is Gurmeet Singh (General). He is sworn in as the Eighth Governor of Uttarakhand on 15 September 2021.
The state of Uttarakhand is the second fastest growing state in India. Like most of India, agriculture is one of the most important sectors of Uttarakhand's economy. Other major industries include tourism and hydropower, and there is potential growth in the IT, ITeS, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and automobile industries.
The economy of the state is mainly based on agriculture and related industries. About 90% of the population of Uttarakhand is dependent on agriculture. The total cultivable area in the state is 7,84,117 hectares (7,841 km²). Apart from this, hydroelectric projects also contribute well due to the abundance of rivers flowing in the state. There are many hydroelectric projects in the state which also contribute to irrigation in about 5,914,418 hectares of agricultural land in the state. Uttarakhand has reserves of limestone, rock phosphate, dolomite, magnesite, copper, graphite, gypsum etc. A total of 54,047 handicraft industries are operational in the state.
Education in Uttarakhand is provided by various public and private institutions. Uttarakhand had a long tradition of learning and culture. In Uttarakhand there are 15,331 primary schools with 1,040,139 students and 22,118 working teachers (Year 2011). As per Census 2011 the literacy rate of the state was 78.82% with 87.40% literacy for males and 70.01% literacy for females. The language of instruction in the schools is either English or Hindi.
Uttarakhand lacks mineral and energy resources sufficient for rapid industrialization. Aside from silica and limestone, which are the only minerals that are found—and mined—in considerable quantities, there are small reserves of gypsum, magnesite, phosphorite, and bauxite.
According to 2001 census, Uttarakhand has a population of 8,479,562. Of which 43,25,924 were males and 9,63,825 females, the highest population is 5,30,263 in the capital, Dehradun.
Uttarakhand state is very rich in terms of folk art. Folk art is first seen in the decoration of the house itself. On auspicious occasions like Dussehra, Deepawali, Naming, Janeu, etc., women make an amban (alpana) in the house. For this, the house, aangan or stairs are taken from the ocher. Rock paintings are also found in the ancient caves and in the Udairas. The folk tunes of Uttarakhand are also different from other regions. Among the Badhyantras here are Nagada, Dhol, Damua, Ransing, Bheri, Hudka, Bean, Doura, Kuruli, Alagaja. Dhol-Damua and Bean Baja are special instruments which are commonly used in every event. The folk songs here include niyoli, jod, jhoda, chhapeli, hatred and fag. The Choliya dance of Uttarakhand is quite famous. In this dance, the dancers fight with long-drawn swords and shields made of rhinoceros skin. Among the dances, snake dance, Pandava dance, Jaunsari, Chanchari are also prominent.
Traditionally, women from Uttarakhand wore ghagra and angdi, and men wore churidar pajamas and kurtas. Now they have been replaced by petticoats, blouses and sarees. Woolen clothes are used in winter (winter). In many areas, on the occasion of auspicious functions such as marriage etc., there is still the tradition of wearing a skirt of sunil. There is a tradition of wearing goitre, throat, jay mala, nath in the nose, earful in the ears, kundal in the neck. Shrishphool in the head, gold or silver paunji in the hands and nettle, pajeb, paonta are worn in the feet. There is a tradition of wearing jewelery at family gatherings. The married woman is identified by wearing a sore throat. It is also common practice to wear backyard on auspicious occasions like marriages etc.
Hindi and Sanskrit are the official languages of Uttarakhand. Apart from this, the main languages spoken in Uttarakhand are Brajbhasha, Garhwali, Kumauni. Jaunsari and Bhotia are two other dialects spoken by the tribal communities in the west and north respectively. But Hindi is spoken and understood all over the state and the urban population mostly speaks Hindi.
Each state of India has its own habits of food and drink. Uttarakhand also has its own eating habits. Traditional Uttarakhandi food is very nutritious and easy to make. Potato Tomato Pudding, Chansu, Zhao, Kapilu, Peanaloo Vegetable, Bathu Paratha, Bal Mithai, Gauhot Dal, Mawa Roti, Kumauni Raita, hemp sauce or sesame sauce, Potato Gut, Sisson Greens, Dubuk Or Dubuque has some special catering here.
In Uttarakhand also, like other states, religion caste people celebrate their 2 festivals year-round with joy. Apart from the major festivals of India like Deepawali, Holi, Dussehra, etc., there are some local festivals such as: Devidhura Mela (Champawat), Purnagiri Mela (Champawat), Nanda Devi Mela (Almora), Gauchar Mela (Chamoli), Vaishakhi (Uttarkashi) , Magh Mela (Uttarkashi), Uttarayani Mela (Bageshwar), Vishu Mela (Jaunsar Bawar), Harela (Kumaon), Ganga Dussehra, Nanda Devi Rajajat Yatra which takes place every twelfth year.
Tribes of Uttarakhand mainly comprise five major groups namely Jaunsari tribe, Tharu tribe, Raji tribe, Buksa tribe and Bhotiyas. In terms of population Jaunsari tribe is the largest tribal group of the state. Tribes of Uttarakhand represent the ethnic groups residing in the state.
There are many tourist places in Uttarakhand, where not only India but also foreign tourists come from other places of the world. Nainital, Mussoorie, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, Almora, Rishikesh, Hemkund Sahib, Nanakmatta, Valley of Flowers, Dehradun, Haridwar, Auli, Chakrata, Ranikhet, Bageshwar, Bhimtal, Kausani and Lansdowne are the major tourist destinations of the state.
There are 13 districts in Uttarakhand which are grouped into two divisions:
Kumaon Circle
Garhwal Circle
The Kumaon division has 6 districts: Almora, Udham Singh Nagar, Champawat, Nainital, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar.
There are 7 districts of the Garhwal division: Uttarkashi, Chamoli Garhwal. , Tehri Garhwal, Dehradun, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag and Haridwar.
Uttarakhand is one of the fastest-growing states in India, thanks to the massive growth in capital investment arising from conducive industrial policy and generous tax benefits. Between 2015-16 and 2019-20, the Gross State Domestic Product expanded at a CAGR of 9.39% to reach Rs. 2.54 trillion.
Uttarakhand state offers a wide range of benefits in terms of interest incentives, financial assistance, subsidies, and concessions.
As of April 2021, the state had total installed power generation capacity of 3,731.34 MW. Of this, hydro (renewable) power contributed 1,975.89 MW, followed by thermal power at 1,011.26 MW and renewable sources at 712.95 MW.
With the establishment of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) earth station at Dehradun, Uttarakhand now offers high-speed connectivity.
Under the State’s Vision 2030, the processing capacity of horticulture produce will be enhanced from 7.5% to 15% of the total horticulture production by 2030.