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Punjab
or Panjab -
India
Punjab
also spelled Panjab, is a state in northwest India. The Indian state
borders the Pakistani province of Punjab to the west, Jammu and
Kashmir to the north, Himachal Pradesh to the northeast, Haryana to
the south and southeast, Chandigarh to the southeast and Rajasthan
to the southwest. The total area of the state is 50,362 square kilometres (19,445 square miles). The population is 24,289,296
(2000). Punjab's capital is Chandigarh, which is administered
separately as a Union Territory since it is also the capital of
neighbouring Haryana. Other major cities of Punjab include Ludhiana,
Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala. The state is the location of one of
the world's first and oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley
Civilization, India's first civilization.
The Indian Punjab historically forms a part of the larger Punjab
region, which includes some parts of Afghanistan, Pakistani province
of Punjab and the North West Frontier Province, the Indian states of
Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, parts of J&K and Delhi and the Union
Territory of Chandigarh, and a small part of China. Indian Punjab
was trifurcated in the year 1966 leading to the formation of Haryana
and Himachal Pradesh.
The most common language spoken in
Punjab is Punjabi. It is also the state language of Punjab. Hindi and
English are less widely spoken , mainly in major cities
(Amritsar,Ludhiana,Chandigarh,Patiala, Jalandhar) . Get yourself
aquainted with local punjabi words which can be very helpful in
initiating a conversation for daily basis.
Chandigarh is the capital city of
Punjab. Chandigarh serves not only as the Capital of Punjab, but also
the mainly Hindi speaking state of Haryana which was formerly part of
Punjab as well. Chandigarh however administratively is not under the
jurisdiction of either state, it is administered by the Central
government and hence classified as a union territory.
Main cities in Punjab are
- Amritsar
- Barnala
- Jagraon
- Jalandhar
- Kapurthala
- Ludhiana
- Pathankot
- Patiala
- Sangrur
- Mohali
- Chandigarh
- Anandpur Sahib
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