Himachal At A Glance

The earliest
known inhabitants of the region were tribals called Dasas. Later, Aryans came
and they assimilated in the tribes. In the later centuries, the hill chieftains
accepted suzerainty of the Mauryan empire, the Kaushans, the Guptas and Kanuaj
rulers. During the Mughal period, the Rajas of the hill states made some
mutually agreed arrangements which governed their relations. In the 19th
century, Ranjit Singh annexed/subjugated many of the states. When the British
came, they defeated Gorkhas and entered into treaties with some Rajas and
annexed the kingdoms of others. The situation more or less remained unchanged
till 1947. After Independence, 30 princely states of the area were united and
Himachal Pradesh was formed on 15th April, 1948. With the recognition of Punjab
on 1st November, 1966, certain areas belonging to it were also included in
Himachal Pradesh. On 25th January, 1971, Himachal Pradesh was made a
full-fledged State.

The State is
bordered by Jammu & Kashmir on North, Punjab on West and South-West, Haryana on
South, Uttar Pradesh on South-East and China on the East.

General
	Location
	Latitude	30o 22′ 40" N to 33o 12′ 40" N
	Longitude	75o 45′ 55" E to 79o 04′ 20" E
	Height (From mean sea Level)	350 meter to 6975 meter
	Population [2001-Census]	6077248 persons
	Urban	594881 persons
	Rural	5482367 persons
	Geographical Area [2001]	55,673 sq. km
	Density (per Sq. Km.) [2001]	109
	Females per 1000 Males [2001]	970
	Birth Rate (per 1000) [2002(P)]	22.1
	Death Rate (per 1000) [2002(P)]	7.2
Administrative Structure [2002]
	State Capital	Shimla
	No. of Districts	12
	No. of tehsils	75
	No. of Sub Divisions	52
	No. of Blocks	75
	No. of  Nagar Panchyats
	No. of  Gram Panchyats
	No. of Villages	20118
	No. of Towns	57
	No. of Parliament Constituencies
	Lok Sabha	4
	Rajya Sabha	3
	No.of Assembly Constituencies	68

Development Indicators
	Per Capita Income [2000-01]	Rs. 10942
	Literacy [2001]	77.13 %
	Male	86.03%
	Female	68.08 %
	Total Villages Electrified	100 %
	Telephone sets	145505
	No. of Hospitals	632
	No. of Schools
	Primary
	Middle
	High/ Higher Secondary
	Colleges
	General
	Medical	2
	Engineering	4
	Universities	4
	No. of S.S.I. Units	30176
Land Use Pattern
	Net Area Sown	560154 Hects.

Forest Cover [1996-97]
	Reserved Forests Area	1896 sq.kms.
	Protected Forests Area	43043 sq.kms.
	Unclassed Forest Area	976 sq.kms.
	Other Forests Area	370 sq.kms.
	Forests not under control of forest Deptt.	748 sq.kms.
	No. of Wild Life Sanctuaries	32
Others
	Average Rainfall	1469 mm
	State Animal	Snow Leopard
	State Bird	Western Tragopan (Jujurana) (Tragopan melanocephalus)
	State Flower	Pink Rhododendron (Rhododendron campanulatum)
	State Language	Hindi & Local Dialects
	Major Rivers	Sutlej,  Beas, Ravi, Parbati
	Major Lakes	Renuka, Rewalsar, Khajjiar, Dal, Beas Kund, Dasaur, Brighu, Prashar, Mani Mahesh, Chander Tal, Suraj Tal, Kareri, Sreolsar, Gobind Sagar, Nako

src:
himachal.nic.in