Uttar Pradesh-Location

Uttar Pradesh is a state located in the Northern part of India. It shares an international border with Nepal to the north along with the Indian state of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh to the north-west, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan on the west, Madhya Pradesh on the south, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand on the south east and Bihar on the east. It is situated between 23° 52'N and 31° 28' N latitudes and 77° 3' and 84° 39'E longitudes. This is the fourth largest state in the country . It has an area of about 113,673 square miles (294,411 square km).

The administrative and legislative capital of Uttar Pradesh is Lucknow. Hindus and Muslims together constitute above 98% of the State's population. The remaining nearly 2% include Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Christians, and also the tribal population. Hindi is the official language of the state.

Uttar Pradesh has an important place in the culture of India; it is considered to be the birthplace of Hinduism, has been the ancient seat of Hindu religion, learning and culture, and has many important sites of Hindu pilgrimage. The State is also important to Buddhism since its early days. The Chaukhandi Stupa marks the spot where Buddha met his first disciples. The Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath commemorates Buddha's first sermon. Also the town of Kushinagar is where Gautama Buddha died.

Historically the state has also been a centre stage for great events. Over two thousand years ago this was a part of Ashoka's great Buddhist empire. More recently it was part of the Moghul Empire and for some years Agra was its capital. Today, of course, Agra is famed for that most perfect of Moghul master pieces, the Taj Mahal. More recently still it was in Uttar Pradesh that the Mutiny broke out in 1857 (at Meerut) and some of its most dramatic (Lucknow) and unfortunate (Kanpur) events took place here.

The area has undergone several different definitions, nomenclatures and territorial demarcations since the early 19th century, i.e. after the British East India Company had established its supremacy in the Gangetic plains. In 1833 the then Bengal Presidency of the Company was divided into two parts, one of which became Presidency of Agra; in 1836 the Agra area was named North-Western Provinces and placed under a Lieutenant Governor by the Company. In 1877, the two provinces of Agra and Oudh (Oudh was occupied by the Company, in 1858), were placed under one Colonial administrator of the British Crown; he was called Lieutenant Governor of the North-Western Provinces and Chief Commissioner of Oudh. In 1902 the name was changed to United Provinces of Agra and Oudh with Lieutenant Governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh as administrator; in 1921 Lieutenant Governorship was elevated to Governorship and the name of the province was changed to United Provinces of British India. In 1935, the name was shortened to United Provinces. On independence from the British colonial rule in 1947, the princely states of Rampur, Banares and Tehri-Garwal were merged into the United Provinces. In 1950, the name of United Provinces was changed to Uttar Pradesh. In 1999 a separate Himalayan state, Uttaranchal, (now named Uttarakhand), was carved out of Uttar Pradesh.

80 percent of the population of Uttar Pradesh works in agriculture. The state is India's largest producer of food grains, sugarcane, and oil seeds. About 10 million to 13 million hectares.Other potatoes, cotton, tobacco, and jute are also grown. Major industrial towns are Lucknow, Agra, Aligarh, Bareilly, Meerut, and Allahabad and Kanpur, which is its largest city.