Pradesh refers to a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

in various

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

n languages. It derives from the Sanskrit प्रदेश ''pradeśa'', meaning "sub-region" or "sub-country". The same word was borrowed into: *

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

as ประเทศ ''prathet'', * Lao as ປະເທດ ''pathet'' and * Khmer as ប្រទេស ''prâtés '', meaning "nation" or "country".

States of India

There are five

Indian states India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

whose official name bears the word ''pradesh'': *

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, Land of the

Andhras Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

, ''Aruna/Arunachal'' = ''Land of the Rising Sun'' or ''Land of the dawn-lit mountains'' *

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

, ''Hima/Himachal'' = ''Land of the Snow'' *

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, Central Province, replacing the former Central Provinces and Berar which was later renamed as

Madhya Bharat Madhya Bharat, also known as Malwa Union, was an Indian state in west-central India, created on 28 May 1948 from twenty-five princely states which until 1947 had been part of the Central India Agency, with Jiwajirao Scindia as its Rajpramukh. ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, Northern Province, although not the north-most province; it was formerly the

United Provinces of Agra and Oudh The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1921; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces (UP), by which the province had been ...

which was later renamed as United Provinces It is also found in the names of three proposed states: *

Harit Pradesh Harit Pradesh is a proposed new state of India comprising the western parts of Uttar Pradesh state. The etymology derives from Harit, meaning Green (which signifies the agricultural prosperity of the region), and Pradesh, meaning state. The r ...

, ''Green Province'', part of a proposed division of Uttar Pradesh *

Maru Pradesh Maru Pradesh is a geographical region and a proposed desert state in northwest India. Its proposed capital is Jodhpur. It would be carved out from the state of Rajasthan. The proposed state consists of Barmer district, Jaisalmer district, Bika ...

, ''Desert Province'', part of a proposed division of Rajasthan *

Vindhya Pradesh Vindhya Pradesh was a former state of India. It occupied an area of 23,603 sq. miles. It was created in 1948 as Union of Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand States, shortly after Indian independence, from the territories of the princely states in the e ...

, ''Land of the

Vindhya The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...

'', former state merged into Madhya Pradesh in 1956

Provinces of Nepal

Bagmati Pradesh Bagmati Province ( ne, बाग्मती प्रदेश, ''Bagmati Pradesh'') is one of the seven Provinces of Nepal, provinces of Nepal established by the constitution of Nepal. The province is Nepal's second-most populous province and f ...

* Gandaki Pradesh *

Karnali Pradesh Karnali Province ( ne, कर्णाली प्रदेश) is one of the seven federal provinces of Nepal formed by the new constitution which was adopted on 20 September 2015. The total area of the province is covering 18.97% of the cou ...

* Kosi Pradesh (proposed name) * Lumbini Pradesh *

Madhesh Pradesh Madhesh Province ( Nepali/ mai, मधेश प्रदेश) is a province of Nepal that was formed after the adoption of the Constitution of Nepal. It is Nepal's most populous province, and smallest province by area. It borders Province No. ...

* Sudurpashchim Pradesh

States of India

Provinces of Nepal

See also