List of districts in India

district (zilā) is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. In some cases districts are further subdivided into sub-divisions, and in others directly into tehsils or talukas. As of 2021 there are a total of 718 districts, up from the 640 in the 2011 Census of India and the 593 recorded in the 2001 Census of India.

District officials include:

  • District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner or District Collector, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service, in charge of administration and revenue collection
  • Superintendent of Police or Senior Superintendent of Police or Deputy Commissioner of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service, responsible for maintaining law and order
  • Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service, entrusted with the management of the forests, environment and wildlife of the district

Each of these officials is aided by officers from the appropriate branch of the state government.

Most districts have a distinct headquarters; but the districts of Mumbai City, in Maharashtra, Hyderabad in Telangana and Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, are examples where there is no distinct district headquarters, although there are district collectors.

Overview

Afghanistan Myanmar China Tajikistan Indian Ocean Bay of Bengal Andaman Sea Arabian Sea Laccadive Sea Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chandigarh Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Delhi Lakshadweep Puducherry Puducherry Goa Kerala Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Sikkim Tripura Pakistan Nepal Bhutan Bangladesh Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Siachen Glacier Disputed territory in Jammu and Kashmir Disputed territory in Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir Ladakh Chandigarh Delhi Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Puducherry Puducherry Puducherry Puducherry Goa Gujarat Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Assam Meghalaya Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Nagaland Manipur Mizoram Telangana Tripura West Bengal Sikkim Bihar Jharkhand Odisha Chhattisgarh Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand Haryana Punjab Himachal Pradesh

A clickable map of the 28 states and 8 union territories of India

Number of districts in each state or UT
Map key Name of State or Union Territory Number of districts Population Population/district
1 Andhra Pradesh 13 49,577,103 3,813,623
2 Arunachal Pradesh 25 1,383,727 55,349
3 Assam 34 31,205,576 917,811
4 Bihar 38 104,099,452 2,739,459
5 Chhattisgarh 28 25,545,198 912,329
6 Goa 2 1,458,545 729,273
7 Gujarat 33 60,439,692 1,831,506
8 Haryana 22 25,351,462 1,152,339
9 Himachal Pradesh 12 6,864,602 572,050
10 Jharkhand 24 32,988,134 1,374,506
11 Karnataka 31 61,095,297 1,970,816
12 Kerala 14 33,406,061 2,386,147
13 Madhya Pradesh 55 72,626,809 1,396,669
14 Maharashtra 36 112,374,333 3,121,509
15 Manipur 16 2,570,390 160,649
16 Meghalaya 11 2,966,889 269,717
17 Mizoram 11 1,097,206 99,746
18 Nagaland 12 1,978,502 164,875
19 Odisha 30 41,974,218 1,399,141
20 Punjab 23 27,743,338 1,261,061
21 Rajasthan 33 68,548,437 2,077,225
22 Sikkim 4 610,577 152,644
23 Tamil Nadu 38 72,147,030 1,898,606
24 Telangana 33 35,003,674 1,060,717
25 Tripura 8 3,673,917 459,240
26 Uttar Pradesh 75 199,812,341 2,664,165
27 Uttarakhand 13 10,086,292 775,869
28 West Bengal 23 91,276,115 3,968,527
A Andaman and Nicobar Islands 3 380,581 126,860
B Chandigarh 1 1,055,450 1,055,450
C Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 3 586,956 195,652
D Jammu and Kashmir 20 12,258,093 612,905
E Ladakh 2 290,492 145,246
F Lakshadweep 1 64,473 64,473
G Delhi 11 16,787,941 1,526,176
H Puducherry 4 1,247,953 311,988
36 Total 742 1,210,576,856 1,640,348

Naming

The majority of districts are named after their administrative centre. Some are referred to by two names, a traditional one and one that uses the name of the town that is the headquarters. Since most of the districts are named after a town, the word “district” is appended to distinguish between the town and the district.

Similar names

  • The names of the districts are mostly unique. However, some districts share their name with another district in India:
    • Aurangabad district, Bihar and Aurangabad district, Maharashtra
    • Bijapur district, Karnataka and Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh
    • Balrampur district, Chhattisgarh and Balrampur district, Uttar Pradesh
    • Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh and Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh
    • Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh and Chittorgarh district, Rajasthan.
    • Hamirpur district, Himachal Pradesh and Hamirpur district, Uttar Pradesh
    • Pratapgarh district, Rajasthan and Pratapgarh district, Uttar Pradesh
    • Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh and Raigad district, Maharashtra
  • Some districts share their name with a district in a neighbouring country in South Asia:
    • Bhojpur district, Bihar shares a name with Bhojpur District, Nepal
    • Daman district, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu shares a name with Daman District, Afghanistan
    • Dang district, Gujarat shares a name with Dang District, Nepal
    • Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh shares a name with Ghaziabad District, Afghanistan
    • Gopalganj district, Bihar shares a name with Gopalganj District, Bangladesh
    • Hyderabad district, Telangana shares a name with Hyderabad District, Pakistan
    • Lalitpur district, Uttar Pradesh shares a name with Lalitpur District, Nepal
    • Poonch district, Jammu and Kashmir, shares a name with Poonch District, Pakistan (the two were, prior to Partition, one district – which got split by the Line of Control, since then the two parts have been administered separately)
  • A few districts share names with those outside of South Asia entirely:
    • Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh, with Dhar District, Yemen
    • Banda district, Uttar Pradesh with Banda District, Republic of the Congo and Banda District, Ghana
    • Mansa district, Punjab, with Mansa District, Zambia.
    • Salem district, Tamil Nadu with Salem district, Massachusetts, United States and Salem, Oregon, United States
  • In some districts the name of the district headquarters is different from that of the district:
    • East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, its headquarters being Kakinada.
    • West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, its headquarters being Eluru.
    • Krishna District district in Andhra Pradesh, its headquarters being Machilipatnam.
    • Ganjam district in Odisha state, its headquarters being Chhatrapur.
    • Mahendergarh district in Haryana state, its headquarters being Narnaul.
    • Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh, its headquarters being Ongole
    • Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka state, its headquarters being Mangalore.
    • Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka state, its headquarters being Karwar.
    • Kodagu district in Karnataka state, its headquarters being Madikeri.
    • Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra state, its headquarters being Oros.
    • Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu state, its headquarters being Nagercoil (although there is a town named Kanyakumari).
    • Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu state, its headquarters being Udagamandalam.
    • Wayanad district of Kerala with its headquarters at Kalpetta.
    • Vaishali district in Bihar state, its headquarters being Hajipur.
    • Ambedkar Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh, its headquarters being Akbarpur, Ambedkar Nagar.
    • Amethi district in Uttar Pradesh, its headquarters being Gauriganj.
    • Farrukhabad district in Uttar Pradesh, its headquarters being Fatehgarh.
    • Gautam Buddha Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh, its headquarters being Greater Noida.
    • Jalaun district in Uttar Pradesh, its headquarters being Orai.
    • Kanpur Dehat district in Uttar Pradesh, its headquarters being Akbarpur, Kanpur Dehat.
    • Kanpur Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh, its headquarters being Kanpur.
    • Kaushambi district in Uttar Pradesh, its headquarters being Manjhanpur.
    • Sant Kabir Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh, its headquarters being Khalilabad.
    • Bhadohi district in Uttar Pradesh, its headquarters being Gyanpur.
    • Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh, its headquarters being Robertsganj.
    • Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh, its headquarters being Nahan.
    • Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh, its headquarters being lakhimpur.
    • East Nimar district in Madhya Pradesh, its headquarters being Khandwa.
    • West Nimar district in Madhya Pradesh, its headquarters being Khargone.
    • Singrauli district in Madhya Pradesh, its headquarters being Waidhan.
    • Koriya district in Chhattisgadh, its headquarters being Baikunthpur.
    • GPM district in Chhatisgarh, its headquarters being Pendra.
    • Bastar district in Chattisgarsh, its headquarters being Jagadalpur.
    • Balrampur district in Chhatisgarh, its headquarters being Ramanujganj.

The following tables list the population details of various states. The columns include the hierarchical administrative subdivision codes, the district name, district headquarters, 2011 census population, area in square kilometres, and the population density per square kilometre.

States

Andhra Pradesh (AP)

# Code District Headquarters Population
(2021)
Area
(km2)
Density
(/km2)
1 AN Anantapur Anantapur 4,083,315 19,130 213
2 CH Chittoor Chittoor 4,170,468 15,152 275
3 EG East Godavari Kakinada 5,151,549 10,807 477
4 GU Guntur Guntur 4,889,230 11,391 429
5 CU Kadapa Kadapa 2,884,524 15,359 188
6 KR Krishna Machilipatnam 4,529,009 8,727 519
7 KU Kurnool Kurnool 4,046,601 17,658 229
8 PR Prakasam Ongole 3,392,764 17,626 192
9 NE Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore Nellore 2,966,082 13,076 227
10 SR Srikakulam Srikakulam 2,699,471 5,837 462
11 VS Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam 4,288,113 11,161 384
12 VZ Vizianagaram Vizianagaram 2,342,868 6,539 358
13 WG West Godavari Eluru 3,934,782 7,742 490

Arunachal Pradesh (AR)

# Code District Headquarters Population
(2011)
Area
(km2)
Density
(/km2)
1 AJ Anjaw Hawai 21,089 6,190 3
2 CH Changlang Changlang 147,951 4,662 32
3 EK East Kameng Seppa 78,413 4,134 19
4 ES East Siang Pasighat 99,019 3,603 27
5  –  Kamle Raga 22,256 200 111
6  –  Kra Daadi Jamin  –  –  –
7 KK Kurung Kumey Koloriang 89,717 6,040 15
8  –  Lepa Rada Basar  –  –  –
9 EL Lohit Tezu 145,538 2,402 61
10 LD Longding Longding 60,000 1,200 50
11 DV Lower Dibang Valley Roing 53,986 3,900 14
12  –  Lower Siang Likabali  –  –  –
13 LB Lower Subansiri Ziro 82,839 3,508 24
14  –  Namsai Namsai 95,950 1,587 60
15  –  Pakke-Kessang Lemmi  –  –  –
16 PA Papum Pare Yupia 176,385 2,875 61
17  –  Shi Yomi Tato 13,310 2,875 5
18  –  Siang Pangin 31,920 2,919 11
19 TA Tawang Tawang 49,950 2,085 24
20 TI Tirap Khonsa 111,997 2,362 47
21 UD Upper Dibang Valley Anini 7,948 9,129 1
22 US Upper Siang Yingkiong 35,289 6,188 6
23 UB Upper Subansiri Daporijo 83,205 7,032 12
24 WK West Kameng Bomdila 87,013 7,422 12
25 WS West Siang Along 112,272 8,325 13
  1. ^ Kamle district was created in 2017 after bifurcation from Lower Subansiri district.
  2. ^ Kra Daadi district was created in 2015 after bifurcation from Kurung Kumey district.
  3. ^ Lepa Rada district was created in 2018 after bifurcation from Lower Siang district.
  4. ^ Lower Siang district was created in 2017 after bifurcation from West Siang & East Siang district.
  5. ^ Namsai district was created in 2014.
  6. ^ Pakke-Kessang district was created in 2018 after bifurcation from East Kameng district.
  7. ^ Shi Yomi district was created in 2018 after bifurcation from West Siang district.
  8. ^ Siang district was created in 2015.