Himāchal Himachal Pradeshstate of India. It is located , in the extreme northern part of the subcontinent and occupies a region of scenic splendour in the western Himalayas. It has towering snow-clad mountains divided by deep valleys with thick woods, green fields, lakes, and cascading streams. It is bounded on the north Asian subcontinent. It is bounded by the state of Jammu and Kashmir to the north, on the east by the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the east, and , respectively, on the by the states of Uttarakhand to the southeast, Haryana to the south, and west by the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryāna, and Punjab. The area is 21,495 square miles (55,673 square kilometres). Shimla, at an elevation of about 7,100 feet, is the state capital and the largest and most popular hill resort in India. Himāchal means “Snowy Mountain” Punjab to the west. Himachal Pradesh occupies a region of scenic splendour in the western Himalayas, offering a multitextured display of lofty snow-clad mountains, deep gorges, thickly forested valleys, large lakes, terraced fields, and cascading streams. Indeed, the name of the state is a reference to its setting; Himachal means “snowy slopes” (Sanskrit: hima, “snow”; acal, “mountain”“slopes”); , and Pradesh means “State“state.”

The city of Shimla was the summer headquarters of preindependence British viceroys; it is now the state capital and, at an elevation of about 7,100 feet (2,200 metres), one of the largest and most popular mountain resorts in the country. Formerly a union territory, Himāchal Himachal Pradesh became a state of India on Jan. 25, 1971.

Physical and human geographyThe landThe terrain of Himāchal Pradesh is highly varied, with hills, snow-clad lofty mountains, and valleys carved by glaciers and rivers. Within this diversified terrain are three parallel physiographic regions

Area 21,495 square miles (55,673 square km). Pop. (2008 est.) 6,550,000.

Relief and drainage

Within the diverse terrain of Himachal Pradesh are several parallel physiographic regions corresponding to the northwest-southeast-trending ranges of the Himalayan mountain system. Nearest The region adjacent to the plains of Punjab are the Shiwālik Hills, or and Haryana consists of two stretches of the Siwalik (Shiwalik) Range (the Outer Himalayas, which have elevations averaging from ) separated by long, narrow valleys. Elevations in the southern tract of the region average about 1,600 feet (500 metres), while in the northern tract they range between 3,000 to and 5,000 feet (900 to and 1,500 metres). The valleys between these parallel ranges are called dūns. To the north of the Shiwāliks Siwaliks are the Lesser (or Lower) Himalayas (known in ancient times as Himāchal), which rise to about 15,200 feet000 feet (4,500 metres). Within this region are the spectacular snow-capped Dhaola Dhār Dhar and Pīr Panjāl Pir Panjal ranges. Farthest To the north are the Great Himalayas (Himādri) and the Zāskār Mountains, which tower over the other ranges of this region from heights reaching again is the Zaskar Range, which reaches elevations of more than 22,000 feet (6,700 metres), towering over the other ranges in the region. Many active mountain glaciers originate in the Great Himalayas. Major rivers in Himāchal Pradesh include Chenāb (Chandra-Bhāga), Rāvi, and Beās in the west and the Sutlej and Yamuna in the east.The climate in the Shiwālik region is akin to the adjoining Punjābī plains, with most of the rainfall occurring from June to Septemberthis area.



The Siwalik region has hot summers (March to June), with temperatures rising above 100 °F (38 °C), cool and dry winters (October to February), and a wet season (July to September), with rains brought by the southwestern monsoon. As elevations increase farther north in the Himalayas, the climate becomes cooler and winters wetter and cooler. In the Great Himalayas, winters are bitterly cold and snowy, with temperatures dropping below 0 °F (–18 °C).

Population composition



The population of Himāchal Himachal Pradesh is composed of a variety of distinctive distinct ethnolinguistic hill tribes groups and social groups, including the Gadīs (Gaddīs), Gūjarīs, Kinnaurīs, Lāhulīs, Pangwalīs, and Rājputs. In castes. Among the most prominent communities are the Gaddi (Gaddi), Gujari, Kinnauri, Lahuli, and Pangwali. Many Punjabi immigrants have settled in the major towns and cities , there are many immigrants from the plains of Punjab.More than 95 percent since Indian independence in 1947.

The vast majority of the population is Hindu, although Buddhists form a majority the dominant group in the district sparsely populated districts of Lāhul Lahaul and Spiti and are a significant minority in the district of Kinnaur, which borders both of which share a border with Tibet. The state also has small minorities of Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians.

Although every former princely state within Himachal Pradesh has a local dialect named after it, Hindi (the official state language) and Pahāṛī Pahari are the principal languages in Himāchal Pradesh, except in the sparsely populated Kinnauer and Lāhul and Spiti, where . Both are Indo-Aryan languages. In Lahaul and Spiti and in Kinnaur, however, the most widely spoken dialects languages belong to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages.Himāchal

Settlement patterns

Himachal Pradesh is one of the least-urbanized state states in India. Its In the early 21st century its urban population accounts accounted for less than 10 percent of the total. There are about 55 more than 50 towns, of which only and the capital, Shimla, has a population exceeding 80,000. Other major towns are Bilāspur Chamba, Dalhousie, Dharmshāla, Hamīrpur, Kāngra, Kasauli, Kulla, Mandi, Nāhan, Pālampur, Solan, and Sundarnagar.

The economy


Agriculture and manufacturing

Most people in Himachal Pradesh depend for their livelihood on agriculture, pastoralism, transhumance (seasonal herding), horticulture, and forestry. The Gadī pastoralists practice transhumance and make use of seasonal pastures.The However, the government of Himāchal Himachal Pradesh has encouraged the development and dispersal of industry. Among the state’s main industrial products are manufacturing, with different towns—mostly in the southern part of the state—often specializing in the manufacture of particular goods. The town of Nahan, for instance, is known for its production of agricultural implements, turpentine, and resin at Nāhan, while television sets, fertilizer, beer, and liquor at Solan, cement at Rājban, processed fruit at Parwānoo, and electronics near Shimla. Thousands of artisan-based, small-scale industrial units are also in operation.have been among the major manufactures of Solan. Meanwhile, Rajban is identified with cement production, and Parwanoo is recognized for its processed fruits, tractor parts, and electronics. Shimla is also known for its manufacture of electrical goods, while paper and hardboard products generally have come from Baddi and Barotiwala. Alongside the growth of heavier industry, thousands of artisan-based small-scale manufacturing units have remained in operation across the state.

Resources and power

The state has implemented a series of development plans based on the utilization of its abundant hydropower potential and mineral and forest resources, as well as on the promotion of tourism. Himāchal Pradesh, with its perennially snow-fed rivers, has the potential to produce about 20 percent of the nation’s . Himachal Pradesh produces a significant portion of India’s hydroelectric power. Existing hydropower plants include the a station on the Uhl Ulh River at Jogindarnagar, the massive Bhākra Bhakra Dam across on the Sutlej River, the Pong Dam across on the Beās Beas River, and the Giri River project in Sirmaur district. In a joint venture with the union government, the state has embarked upon new hydropower projects, including the Dam on the Giri River. Himachal Pradesh also has embarked on joint-venture hydropower projects with the central government, such as the large Nathpa Jhakri project in Shimla district. To combat a serious soil-erosion problem in the Shiwāliks Siwaliks and to protect the fragile Himalayan ecosystem, the state has launched a reforestation program. Also important has been the It also has instituted stricter enforcement of already existing environmental laws.Except for the scenic,


Despite its remote location, Himachal Pradesh has a reasonably well-developed infrastructure that not only has aided domestic mobility but also has helped in the promotion of tourism. Scenic narrow-gauge rail line from Kālka (in Haryāna) lines run from Kalka to Shimla and the narrow-gauge track connecting Pathānkot (from Pathankot (in Punjab) and Jogindarnagar through the Kāngra valley, there are no railways or waterways in the state. Roads are the communications lifeline of Himāchal Pradesh. The state-owned transport system operates more than 140 bus routes in Himāchal Pradesh.

Administration and social conditionsGovernmentThe head of the state is the


Government and society
Constitutional framework


, is

and responsible to the directly elected Legislative Assembly (

Vidhān Sabhā

Vidhan Sabha),

which is elected directly on the basis of adult suffrage

assists and advises the governor.

The state is divided into

12 districts—Bilāspur, Chamba, Hamīrpur, Kāngra, Kinnaur, Kullu, Lāhul and Spiti, Mandi, Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, and Una.Education and welfareHimāchal



Since the late 20th century, Himachal Pradesh has made great efforts

at expanding education and public health facilities and improving communications. Most of the people, however, remain at the subsistence level, and the state’s vast natural resources have yet to be tapped systematically. Higher education was aided by the founding in 1970 of Himāchal Pradesh University, located at Shimla. The university has more than 50 affiliated or associated colleges. There is also a medical college at Shimla, an agricultural university at Pālampur, and



. Research is conducted at



in Shimla


and the Central Research Institute


in Kasauli



Since the late 1960s there has been a remarkable rise in the number of schools in primary, middle, and higher education and a corresponding increase in school enrollment.
Cultural life

The fairs and festivals of the

hill people are occasions of joyful song and dance. Exquisitely designed shawls of Kinnaur, the distinctive woolen caps of Kullu, and the embroidered handkerchiefs of Chamba accent their colourful, festive clothing. Himāchal Pradesh is also known for its Kāngṛa Valley school of paintings.The Shimla hills, the Kullu valley (including the town of Manāli), and Dalhousie are tourist attractions. Skiing, golfing, fishing, trekking, and mountaineering are activities for which Himāchal Pradesh is ideally suited


Pilgrims from neighbouring states and from within



Kullu valley is known as the valley of the gods; its pine and deodar forests, flower-spangled meadows, and fruit orchards provide the setting for the colourful Dussehra festival held each autumn. The temple gods are taken in caparisoned palanquins accompanied by bands of singers and dancers. Recently sacred for Buddhists (especially Tibetans) is the town of Dharmshāla, because it has become the home of the Dalāi Lāma since




The history of this mountainous state is complex and fragmented. It is known that a number of so-called Aryan groups filtered into the more productive valleys during the Vedic Period period (c. 1500 to 500 BC BCE) and assimilated the pre-Aryan population. Later, successive Indian empires—such as the Mauryans Mauryan (c. 321–185 BC BCE), the Guptas Gupta (c. 320–540 CE), and the Mughals Mughal (1526–1761), all emerging in the Indo-Gangetic Plain—sought to exercise varying degrees of control over trade and pilgrimage routes into this the area and between India and Tibet across the Himalayas.

The remote, predominantly Buddhist area that is now the district of Lāhul Lahaul and Spiti was controlled by Ladākh Ladakh from the decline of the Mughal Empire (about the mid-18th century) until the early 1840s, when it briefly came under Sikh rule. Also during this period, warring , semiautonomous , petty rulers controlled the trade routes, as well as desirable segments of agricultural and pastoral land, in the other areas of what is now Himāchal Pradesh. Owing to relative isolation, some parts of this state, such as Chamba, escaped the destructive impact of invasions and were thus able to preserve many aspects of ancient Hinduism. present-day Himachal Pradesh. British domination of this region followed the Anglo- Sikh Wars of the 1840s and continued, directly or indirectly, for the next 100 years.

In 1948 Himāchal Pradesh was constituted as an administrative unit comprising 30 princely states. This event, however, was preceded by a movement for the end of feudalism, and one of the princely states, Suket, virtually surrendered to the peaceful demonstrators, hastening the process of change.


Between 1948 and its achievement of statehood in 1971, Himāchal Himachal Pradesh went through various changes in size and administrative form. Initially It became a substate and then a union territory directly administered by the central government, Himāchal Pradesh was enlarged in 1954 by the merger of Bilāspur under the Indian constitution of 1950. In 1954 it joined with Bilaspur (a former Indian state and then a chief commissioner’s province), and again in in 1956 it became a union territory. Himachal Pradesh was enlarged in 1966 by the merger and absorption of numerous Punjab hill areas, including the regions surrounding Shimla, KāngraKangra, and Kullu, ; the district of Lāhul Lahaul and Spiti, ; and parts of Ambāla, Hoshiārpurthe districts centred at Ambala, Hoshiarpur, and Gurdāspur districts. Gurdaspur. Early in 1971, Himachal Pradesh became the 18th state of India; Y.S. Parmar, who since the 1940s had led the hill people of Himāchal Pradesh been a leader in the quest for self-government in Himachal Pradesh, became the state’s first chief minister.