Administrative divisions of India

The administrative divisions of India are the way the country is organized into smaller parts to help manage and govern its large population. India is divided into 28 States and 8 Union Territories, which are further split into districts. Some states group several districts together into larger areas called divisions.

After districts come smaller areas known as subdistricts. These have different names in different parts of India, such as tehsils or talukas. These subdistricts are then divided into blocks, which contain villages. In rural areas, these blocks and villages are important for local governance.

In cities and towns, the system is different. Instead of blocks and villages, there are urban local bodies that take care of city services and management. Different states sometimes use special names for these areas, like mandals in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which are similar to tehsils in other regions.

Tiers of India

Main articles: State governments of India, Union Territory of India, and Local government in India

India has a structured system of local areas where people live and are governed. The country is made up of 28 states and 8 special areas called Union Territories. These are then split into smaller parts called districts. Some states group several districts together into areas called divisions, but not all states use this step.

Inside each district, there are even smaller areas known by different names such as tehsils or taluks. These help manage land and resources. There are also special blocks focused only on supporting rural, or countryside, areas. Different states may use different words for these smaller areas, like "taluk" in Tamil Nadu or "mandal" in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Sub-national zones

Administrative zones

India's states are grouped into six zones. These zones have special groups of leaders who help the states work together. These groups were created in 1956 to help states cooperate better. There is also a special group for the states in the northeast, created in 1971, to address their unique challenges.

The zones include:

• The Northern Zonal Council, with Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, and Rajasthan.
• The North Eastern Council, with Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. Sikkim joined this group in 2002.
• The Central Zonal Council, with Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
• The Eastern Zonal Council, with Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal.
• The Western Zonal Council, with Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.
• The Southern Zonal Council, with Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep are not part of any zone but are invited to join the Southern Zonal Council.

Cultural zones

Each zone has a main city where a special center promotes the culture of that zone. These centers also help share cultures from different zones by organizing events and inviting artists from other areas.

Divisions within states and UT

Main article: Autonomous administrative divisions of India

Some parts of India have special areas called autonomous divisions. These areas have their own elected groups that help make decisions. The sixth schedule of India's Constitution allows these special areas to have more freedom.

Right now, there are 10 special councils in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura. These were created because of the sixth schedule. Other special councils were made by laws passed by the state governments.

There are 10 special district councils made by the sixth schedule of the Constitution of India:

Some states have also made special councils by passing their own laws. The two special councils in the union territory of Ladakh were created by the state of Jammu and Kashmir before 2019.

Some states have areas called regions. These are just geographic areas and do not have official government status. They are based on historic countries, states, or provinces. A region may include one or more divisions, but the boundaries of regions and divisions do not always match perfectly. So far, there has been no effort to give these regions official status. If this were to happen, the boundaries might need to be changed to match exactly with the districts.

• Regions of Assam
• Regions of Gujarat
• Regions of Maharashtra

Districts within divisions

Main article: List of districts in India

India is divided into 797 districts, which are the main areas managed by the government. Each district is led by a civil servant who handles many important tasks, like land records and local services. These districts are used by many parts of the government, such as police and schools, to organize their work better.

Subdivisions

This section is transcluded from Subdivision in India.

Some areas in India have smaller parts called sub-divisions, which help manage land and taxes. These are led by officers who work on land records and policies. They sit between the larger districts and the smaller areas called tehsils or taluks.

Subdistricts

Main article: List of subdistricts in India

This section is transcluded from List of subdistricts in India

Tehsils, also known as taluks or mandals, are smaller parts of districts that help with land and taxes. They are led by officers who manage land records and collect taxes. Sometimes, tehsils are similar to community development blocks, which are led by different officers and focus on rural development.

Each tehsil is divided into smaller areas called revenue circles or villages, which also help with land records and taxes.

Development Blocks

Each district is divided into Blocks, also known as Community Development Blocks (CD Block), to help with rural development. These Blocks include several rural areas and are led by officers who work on development projects.

Local government

Further information: Local government in India

Urban level

Main articles: Municipal governance in India and List of towns in India by population

India has special ways to organize towns and cities. Some towns have special local governments, like municipalities. Others are places with lots of people but no special town government.

Urban agglomerations

See also: Urban agglomerations in India

Sometimes, many cities grow close together and form a big group called an urban agglomeration. One example is Delhi NCR.

Metropolitan area

Main articles: List of metropolitan areas in India and List of million-plus urban agglomerations in India

Big cities in India are grouped into tiers from Tier-I (the largest) to Tier-IV (the smallest). Tier-I cities include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Pune. Some Tier-II cities are Faridabad and Gurugram.

Statutory towns

Areas with special local governments, like Municipal Corporation or Municipal council, are called Statutory Towns.

Census towns

See also: Census town § India

Census towns have many people and look like cities but are not officially called towns by state governments. They are usually managed by rural local bodies.

Rural level

Main article: Panchayati raj

Blocks

Main article: Community development block

Blocks are smaller parts of districts, mainly used for developing rural areas and supporting local governments.

Villages

Villages are the smallest parts of India's administrative system. Each village or group of small villages is managed by a body called a Gram Panchayat.

Habitations

Some activities, like clean water and education, are tracked at an even smaller level than villages, called habitations. India has many of these small places.

Others

India

• Akhand Bharat
• Greater India
• Indosphere
• Mandala (political model)
• Names of India

India outside India

• Indian Antarctica
• Overseas military bases of India
• Little India (disambiguation)

Historical administrative divisions

Listed from higher to lower:

• Historic India

  • Meluhha

• Province or state level

  • Subah

• Division level

  • Chakla, a large division, often comprising several Parganas, and sometimes serving as a replacement or intermediate unit between a Sarkar and Pargana, particularly in regions like Bengal and Awadh.

• District level

  • Sarkar or Taraf

• Sub-district

  • Pargana or Mahal

• Village level
  • Mauza or Gram

Present day habitation terms

• Chak, village in Punjab Canal Colonies

• Dhani, hamlet

Land forms

Sometimes unofficial and sometimes official classification by the land form:

• • Bagar tract
  • Barani, Nehri and Nalli
  • Doab
  • Khadir and Bangar