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Uttar Pradesh covers a large part of the highly fertile and densely populated upper
Gangetic plain. It shares an international border with Nepal and is bounded by the
Indian states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. The administrative and legislative
capital of Uttar Pradesh is Lucknow, and the financial and industrial capital is
Kanpur. The state is also home to the tourism capital of India, Agra.

Uttar Pradesh (UP) is the most populous state in India, even after losing Uttarkhand,
with an estimated population of 186.7 million  as of 2007 and a land area of 238,566
km². One-sixth of the world’s population lives in India and one-sixth of India’s
population lives in UP. Only five countries of the world, China, the United States,
Indonesia, Brazil and India itself have populations larger than that of UP, and UP and
Uttarkhand have more than Brazil. The population density of the state at 783 persons
per km². is the fourth highest among major states in the country. The Indo-Gangetic
plain spans most of the state, has been the seat of ancient Hindu culture, religion
and learning and has always played a prominent role in Indian political and cultural
movements.

Control over this region was often vital to the power and stability of all of India's major
empires, including the Mauryan (320-200 BC), Kushan (100-250 AD) Gupta (350-
600 AD) empires. After the Guptas, the region was the heart of Harshavardhana's
empire, from Punjab to Bengal, with its capital at Kannauj. Many modern
communities in different parts of India—Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Bihar and
Bengal—often trace their lineage to Kannauj.

Beyond 1000 AD, Uttar Pradesh became part of several Muslim Sultanates who
ruled from Delhi. In Mughal times, U.P. became the heart land of what was called
'Hindustan' (a name referring to India), even today UP-ites often refer to themselves
as 'Hindustani'(Bhartiya/ Indian) rather than Uttar Pradeshi.

Agra and Fatehpur Sikri were important as the capital city of Akbar, the great Mughal
Emperor of India. After the decline of the Moghuls, a number of kingdoms arose:
Oudh of the Nawabs, Rohilkhand by Afghans, Bundelkhand by the Marathas and
Benaras by its own king, while Kumaon-Garhwal were independent kingdoms in
their own right (these two regions formed the new state of uttarakhand). The city of
Lucknow was established by the Muslim Nawabs of Oudh in the 17th century.

Starting from the latter half of the 18th century, a series of battles finally gave British
accession to the last Mughal territory -- the Doab, as also Bundelkhand, Kumaon
and Banaras divisions. Delhi, Ajmer and Jaipur were also included in this territory.
They called it the North western provinces (of Agra). Its capital shifted twice between
Agra and Allahabad. The area may seem big compared to today's mini states the
size of earlier divisions, but at the time it was one of the smallest British province.

After the failed freedom war of 1857, when things settled, the British made a major
revamp and truncated the Delhi region and gave it to Punjab, and the Ajmer-Merwar
region to Rajputana


GENERAL INFORMATION

Time zone         IST (UTC+5:30)
Area                   238,566 km² (92,111 sq mi)
Capital               Lucknow
Largest city        Kanpur
District(s)          701
Population        186,755,000 (1st)
Density              783/km² (2,028/sq mi)