Administrative divisions of India
India is divided into 36 first-level administrative divisions:
Largest cities in India
| # | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mumbai | 12,691,836 |
| 2 | Delhi | 11,034,555 |
| 3 | Bengaluru | 8,495,492 |
| 4 | Hyderabad | 6,993,262 |
| 5 | Ahmedabad | 6,357,693 |
| 6 | Chennai | 4,681,087 |
| 7 | Kolkata | 4,631,392 |
| 8 | Surat | 4,591,246 |
| 9 | Pune | 3,124,458 |
| 10 | Jaipur | 3,046,163 |
Mumbai is the largest city in India with about 12,691,836 people. All 511 largest cities of India →
Terrain, rivers & lakes
Highest terrain in India: ≈ 7,595 m — read from the global elevation model, so summit heights are approximate. The physical map paints elevation bands from green lowlands to brown highlands.
🌊 Rivers
- Kaladan
- Son
- Betwa
- Parbati
- Indravati
- Ravi
- Balak
- Gandak
- Godävari
- Sutlej
- Mahäna Nadï
- Krishna
- Yamuna
- Narmada
- Chenab
- Jhelum
- Cauvery
- Chambal
- Ghäghara
- Sapt
- Dihang
- Mamas
- Brahmaputra
- Bhima
- Tista
- Mahi
- Tapi
- Sankh
- Ganges
- Penner
- Indus
- Brahmani
- Beas
- Tungabhadra
- Wainganga
- Banas
- Tel
- Palar
- Luhit
- Kolidam
🏞️ Lakes
- Lake
- Banggong Co
- Krishna Raja Sagar
- Bhadra Reservoir
- Tungabhadra
- Gobind Sagar Reservoir
- Hinakud Dam
- Nagarjuna Sagar Dam
- Stanley Reservoir
- Gandhi Sagar Dam
Ethnic groups in India
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, and other 3% (2000)
Regionally, Indo-Aryan is the most common ethnic group across most of the 36 divisions, while Dravidian predominates in 7 divisions (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Puducherry, …); other predominates in 6 divisions (Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya).
Source: CIA World Factbook · regional dominance compiled by Glostats from censuses and surveys
Religions in India
Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, other and unspecified 2% (2011 est.)
Regionally, Hindu is the most common religious group across most of the 36 divisions, while Christian predominates in 4 divisions (Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh); Muslim predominates in 3 divisions (Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep); Sikh predominates in 1 division (Punjab).
Source: CIA World Factbook (2011 est.) · regional dominance compiled by Glostats from censuses and surveys
Languages in India
Hindi 43.6%, Bengali 8%, Marathi 6.9%, Telugu 6.7%, Tamil 5.7%, Gujarati 4.6%, Urdu 4.2%, Kannada 3.6%, Odia 3.1%, Malayalam 2.9%, Punjabi 2.7%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.1%, other 5.6%; English is the subsidiary official language but is the most important one for national, political, and commercial communication (2011 est.)
Regionally, Hindi is the most common language group across most of the 36 divisions, while Bengali predominates in 3 divisions (West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar); Gujarati predominates in 2 divisions (Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu); Telugu predominates in 2 divisions (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana); Malayalam predominates in 2 divisions (Kerala, Lakshadweep).
Source: CIA World Factbook (2011 est.) · regional dominance compiled by Glostats from censuses and surveys
Explore more
China
Indonesia
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Japan
Philippines
Vietnam
IranSources: boundaries, cities, rivers and lakes from Natural Earth (public domain, 1:10m); elevation from the AWS Open Data terrain tiles (SRTM/GMTED); ethnic, religious and language shares from the CIA World Factbook; regional dominance compiled by Glostats from national censuses and surveys. Page generated 2026-10-20. More about our data.