States and union territories of IndiaIndia is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories in turn are each subdivided into districts, of which a total of around 800 exist. Districts contain further levels of administrative subdivisions. Under the Indian Constitution and laws, the states of India are self-governing administrative divisions, each having a state government.
List of states and union territories of India by populationIndia is a union consisting of 28 states and 8 union territories. As of 2026, with an estimated population of 1.47 billion, India is the world's most populous country. India occupies 2.4% of the world's area and is home to 17.5% of the world's population. The Indo-Gangetic Plain has one of the world's biggest stretches of fertile not-deep alluvium and are among the most densely populated areas of the world.
Portuguese IndiaThe State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the Kingdom of Portugal. The capital of Portuguese India served as the governing centre of a string of military forts and maritime ports scattered along the coasts of the Indian Ocean.
PanajiPanaji (formerly Nova Goa; ; Goan Konkani: Ponnjem, IPA: [pɵɳd͡ʑɛ̃] ; Portuguese: Pangim), also known as Panjim, is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of the North Goa district. It was previously the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India (Estado da Índia). It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary in the Tiswadi sub-district (taluka).
MaharashtraMaharashtra is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to the southeast and Chhattisgarh to the east, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to the north, and the Indian union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to the northwest.
KarnatakaKarnataka is a state on the southwestern coast of India. It was formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, and renamed Karnataka in 1973. The state is bordered by the Lakshadweep Sea to the west, Goa to the northwest, Maharashtra to the north, Telangana to the northeast, Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the southeast, and Kerala to the southwest.
Vasco da Gama, GoaVasco da Gama (, Portuguese: [ˈvaʃku ðɐ ˈɣɐmɐ]), often shortened to Vasco, is a city in the state of Goa on the west coast of India. It is named after the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. It is the headquarters of the Mormugão taluka (subdistrict).
KonkanThe Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan Plateau to the east. The hinterland east of the coast has numerous river valleys, riverine islands and the hilly slopes known as the Western Ghats; that lead up into the tablelands of the Deccan.
Konkani languageKonkani ( KONG-kə-nee), formerly Concani, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language of the Indian state of Goa. It is also spoken in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and in some parts of Kerala, Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Western GhatsThe Western Ghats, also known as the Sahyadri, is a mountain range that stretches 1,600 km (1,000 mi) along the west coast of India. Covering an area of 160,000 km (62,000 mi), it traverses the Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. The range forms an almost continuous chain of mountains along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, from the Tapti River to Swamithoppe in Kanyakumari district at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula.
Malabar CoastSouthwestern coast of IndiaRegion in IndiaThe Malabar Coast (Malayalam:) is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regions of the subcontinent, which includes the southern tip of Goa, Kanara region of Karnataka, all of Kerala and Kanyakumari region of Tamil Nadu.
Deccan PlateauThe Deccan Plateau, Deccan ( DEK-ən ), or Peninsular Plateau, is a plateau that extends over an area of 422,000 km2 (163,000 sq mi) in the western, central, and southern regions of India. The plateau forms the bulk of the Deccan Peninsula, and stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in the north to the northern fringes of the Nilgiri Hills in the south.
Arabian SeaMarginal sea of the northern Indian OceanMax. width2,400 km (1,500 mi)Surface area3,862,000 km (1,491,000 sq mi) (3,600,000–4,600,000 km in various sources)Max.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.