Himachal Pradesh

(Hindi: हिमाचल प्रदेश, IPA: / /), formerly the Punjab Hill States, is a mostly mountainous state in northwest India. Neighbouring regions are Tibet to the east, Jammu and Kashmir to the north and northwest, Punjab to the southwest, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to the south and Uttaranchal to the southeast. With an area of 55,658 km² (21,490 sq mi), Himachal is one of the smaller states of the country and holds the 17th rank in the list of States and Union Territories of India.

The state capital is Shimla (formerly British India's summer capital under the name Simla), other major towns are Dharamsala, Kangra, Mandi, Kullu, Chamba, Hamirpur, Dalhousie and Manali. The western Himalaya lies in the north and east and the smaller Shiwalik (or Shivalik) range in the south.

Himachal has five major rivers. These are Sutlej, Ravi, Chenab, Beas and Yamuna.

History

Main article: History of Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh came under British control in the middle of the 19th century. The British annexed Kangra District, which includes present-day Kangra, Kullu, Hamirpur, and Lahul and Spiti districts, in 1846 at the conclusion of the First Anglo-Sikh War. The remainder of Himachal Pradesh was made up of a number of princely states; see Hill States.

Under the British Raj, Kangra District was part of the British province of Punjab, and the princely states, then known as the Simla Hill States, were under the authority of Punjab until the early 1930's, when the Punjab States Agency was created, under the direct authority of the Governor-General of India. The Punjab Hill States Agency, which included most of the princely states in present-day Himachal Pradesh, was separated from Punjab States Agency in 1936.

India became independent of the United Kingdom in 1947, and Himachal Pradesh was established as a state on April 15 1948, composed of the territory of some 30 Hill states (including feudatories) that acceded to the Government of India, while Bilaspur remained a separate state in the Indian Union till its merger with Himachal Pradesh on July 1, 1954 by an act of the Indian Parliament.

Himachal became a Part C State under a Lieutenant Governor, with a Legislative Assembly of 36 members and a Cabinet of three ministers in 1951. On July 1 1954, Bilaspur, another Part C State, was integrated with Himachal Pradesh by an act of the Indian Parliament and the strength of the Assembly was raised to 41 members. In 1956, the States Re-organization Commission recommended the unification of Himachal Pradesh with Punjab. But the people of Himachal Pradesh opposed and the proposal was overruled.

Himachal Pradesh became a union territory on November 1, 1956. The state was enlarged in 1966 by the transfer of the districts of Shimla, Kangra (which included present-day districts of Kangra and Hamirpur), Kullu, Lahul and Spiti, and Una from Punjab state.

Till October 1966, Himachal Pradesh comprised only of six hill districts of Mahasu, Mandi, Chamba, Sirmaur, Bilaspur and Kinnaur. In November 1966, it was expanded with the inclusion of some of the hilly towns of Punjab like Shimla, Kangra, Kullu, Lahaul, Spiti, Nalagarh tehsil of Ambala district, and areas of Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur districts. Himachal Pradesh was formed into 10 districts and was declared the 18th state of India on January 25, 1971, with Shimla as its capital. The 12 districts of Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kinnaur, Kullu, Lahaul & Spiti, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur, Solan and Una were re-organized into the districts of the state in 1972-73.History post independence

Geography and Climate

Main article: Geography of Himachal Pradesh

Districts

* Kangra
* Hamirpur
* Mandi
* Bilaspur
* Una
* Chamba
* Lahul and Spiti
* Sirmaur
* Kinnaur
* Kullu
* Solan
* Shimla, containing the state capital

Flora and fauna

Economy

Main article: Economy of Himachal Pradesh

The Himachali economy is mainly dependent on tourism and apples. There are also some natural minerals in the state. There are two large cement factories catering not only to the people of Himachal but also selling in other states.

Due to the abundance of perennial rivers, Himachal also sells hydro electricity to other states such as Delhi.

Transport

The geography of Himachal presents considerable challenge to the development of transport infrastructure. Nevertheless, the state has made significant progress in road connectivity in the last few decades. Himachal at present has the highest road density among all the hill states of India.Although Himachal also has three airports and two narrow gauge rail tracks, roads remain the main mode of transport in Himachal.

Roads

Eight national highways (NH) pass through the state with a total length of 1235 km. NH 1-A touches Shahpur. NH 20 passes through Pathankot, Chakki, Dharamsala, Nurpur and Mandi. NH 21 connects Chandigarh with Manali through Mandi. NH 22 connects Ambala with Kaurik through Kalka, Simla and Wangtoo. NH 70 passes through Mubarakpur, Amb, Nadaun and Hamirpur. NH 21-A begins at Pinjore in Haryana, passes through Nalagarh and reaches Swarghat, where it connects with NH 21. NH 88 connects Shimla with Kangra through Hamirpur and Nadaun. NH 72 begins at Ambala and passes through Amb and Paunta Sahib in Himachal before terminating at Haridwar in Uttaranchal.

In addition to the National Highways, Himachal also a large mesh of state highways and village roads. Most tourist spots in Himachal such as simla, Manali, Dharamshala etc. are well connected through roads.

Some of the roads in Himachal are seasonal and get closed during winters and monsoons due to heavy snowfall, landslides and washouts. The Manali-Leh road for example remains closed for most part of the winters.

The government-owned Himachal Road Transport Corporation runs a network of buses across the state and Himachal Pradesh being a major tourist destination, there is no dearth of private buses and taxis.

Railway

Himachal has two narrow gauge rail tracks. The Kalka-Shimla Railway track has a length of 96 kilometers. It passes through 102 tunnels and crosses 864 bridges. The track has been in existence for over a century now. The Pathankot-Jogindernagar track has a length of about 113 kilometers. Both these tracks are commercially unviable but are operated because of their heritage value.

Air

The three airports in Himachal Pradesh are: Jubbarhatti near Shimla, Gaggal near Kangra and Bhuntar near Kullu. The flights operate only seasonally due to extreme weather conditions, especially during winters. All these airports have runways shorter than 4000 ft and therefore allow the operation of only the smaller aircraft such as the 18-seater Dornier, which is the most common aircraft operating on these runways.

Demographics

The population of Himachal in 2001 stood at 6,077,248 as per the provisional results of the Census of India 2001. The population of Himachal Pradesh includes estimated population of entire Kinnaur district, where the population enumeration of Census of India, 2001 could not be conducted due to natural calamity. In terms of population it holds the same position (twenty first) among States and Union territories as at the previous census. The population of the State rose by 17.53% between 1991-2001. The sex ratio (i.e., the number of females per thousand males) of population was recorded as 970, which has declined from 976 in the previous census. Total literacy of the State rose to 77.13% from 63.94% in 1991.

The tribal population of the state comprise of the Gaddis, Kinnars, Gujjars, Pangawals and Lahaulis. The Gaddis are the traditional shepherds who migrate from the alpine pastures to the lower regions during the winters. The Kinnars are the inhabitants of the Kinnaur region and have tradionally practiced polyandry and polygamy. The Gujjars are nomads who rear buffalo herds. Himachal also has a sizeable population of Tibetans.

About 90% of the population of Himachal Pradesh consists of Hindus. There main communities are Brahmins, Rajputs, Kannets, Rathis and Kolis. Other religions are Sikhism and Buddhism. The Lahaulis of Lahaul and Spiti region are mainly Buddhists.

The major spoken languages include Hindi, Pahari, Punjabi, Mahasui (in upper Shimla region), Kulluyi, Lahauli, Kinnauri, Chambyali, Sirmauri, Bilaspuri, Dogri, Kangri and Mandyali. Pahari, Dogri, Kangri and Mandyali are the dialects originating from Punjabi.

Government and politics

See Also: List of political parties in the state

In 2003 the state legislative assembly was won by the Indian National Congress. The main opposition is the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Media and communication

Though situated in a remote part of the country, Himachal Pradesh has an active community of journalists and publishers. Several newspapers and magazines are published in more than one language, and their reach extends to almost all the Hindi speaking states. Radio and TV have permeated well and, going by the way people write to these media, there is a very large media-aware population in this state.

Education

Himachal is home to many educational institutions offering a wide variety of courses.

There are five universities, two medical colleges, four dental colleges and two engineering colleges in the state. There are over 10000 primary schools, 1000 secondary schools and more than 1300 high schools in HimachalHimachal Govt. Website, link visited on 14 May 2006 .

Prestigious boarding schools such as Lawrence School, Sanawar and Bishop Cotton School, Shimla are located in Himachal as is the famed St. Bede's College, Shimla.