Uttarakhand (2000-2006: Uttaranchal); (Sanskrit:उत्तरखन्द्), is a state in northern India. The state had 8,479,562 people as of the 2001 census. It covers an area of . It is bigger than Bosnia and Herzegovina, but smaller than Croatia, although the border with China is still disputed. The land contains high mountains. In traditional Indian geography, it falls within the North Indian zone.
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (, ) is a state in northern India. For short, people call it UP. Lucknow is the capital city of UP.
The population of the state is 199,581,477 (census 2011). Uttar Pradesh has more people than any other state of India. It covers an area of 93,933 mi² (243,286 km²). It is bigger than the United Kingdom but smaller than Guinea. In traditional Indian geography it falls under the North Indian zone.
Uttar Pradesh has a long border with Nepal to the north. Next to it are also the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. There are two geographical main regions:-
The climate of Uttar Pradesh is mostly subtropical. However weather conditions change a lot depending on where one lives and the season.
"Temperature": The average temperatures vary from 12.5–17.5°C (54.5–63.5°F) in January to 27.5–32.5°C (81.5–90.5°F) in May and June. The highest temperature recorded in the State was 49.9°C (121.8°F). It was at Gonda on May 8, 1958.
"Rainfall": Rainfall is between 1,000 and 2,000 mm (40–80 inches) in the east and between 600 and 1,000 mm (24–40 inches) in the west. Most of the rain is due to the southwest monsoon. It lasts from June to September. Consequently, floods are a problem during those seasons. They badly damage crops and property.
"Droughts": They occur when the monsoon does not come in the usual season. It leads to crop failure.
"Snowfall": In the Himalayan region of the State it usually snows from 3 to 5 metres (10 to15 feet) between December and March.
Airways: The state has four important airports and 23 air strips. They are in Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow and Varanasi. Lucknow is the biggest and most important airport of the state.
Railways: Almost all the major cities and even some smaller cities are linked. The state has the largest railway network in the country. Its total length is 8,546 km (2006). It has the sixth largest railway density.
Roadways: The state has the largest road network in the country. The biggest is Maharashtra. There are 31 National Highways (NH). In total they are of 4,942 km (8.5% of total NH length in India). It has the seventh highest road density in the India (1,027 km per 1000 km in 2002). It also has the largest surfaced urban road network in the country (50,721 km, as on 2002). Cities of Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Allahabad, Varanasi, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Mathura, Agra and Ghazipur are connected to many National Highways.
Waterways: The river Ganges - from Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) to Haldia (West Bengal) - has been declared as National Waterway (NW)-I and 600 km of the total NW-I lies in Uttar Pradesh.
West Bengal
West Bengal () is a state in India. It is in the eastern part of the country. West Bengal is the fourth most populous state in India. It is also the seventh most populous sub-national entity in the world. West Bengal is the sixth largest contributor to India's GDP.
Both West Bengal and Bangladesh are parts of historical and geographic region of Bengal. Kolkata is the capital city of West Bengal. In 2001, 80,221,171 people lived in West Bengal. With an area of 34,267 mi² (88,752 km²), it is bigger than Serbia but smaller than Jordan. In traditional Indian geography it falls under the East Indian zone.
West Bengal has a tropical climate, so it is very hot and humid in summer and cool in winter. The people who live here are called Bengalis. Bengalis also live in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a country to the east of West Bengal
All of India was once ruled by the British Empire. The Indians wanted freedom, but the Hindus and the Muslims of India always argued. So it was decided to divide the country into two parts—one part for Muslims and the other part for Hindus. In 1947 Bengal, which was a province of India, was divided into West Bengal and East Bengal,which is now called Bangladesh. West Bengal went to India, and East Bengal went to Pakistan and was called East Pakistan. In 1971, Bangladesh became independent, as a result of the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Famous people from West Bengal include:
Szczecin
Szczecin () is a large city in Poland in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. As of 2005, 411,119 people live there. The city is on the river Odra (), near the border to Germany. It is one of the largest sea ports on the Baltic. It is the historical capital of the German province of Pomerania. Szczecin has got one of the biggest harbours on the Baltic Sea.
Szczecin borders with Police, a district town at the Oder River.
Metropolitan area
A metropolitan area is a city and its surrounding suburbs. The word "metropolitan" comes from two Greek language words meaning "mother" and "city". A metropolitan area may be much larger than its inner city, and its suburbs may be smaller towns and villages which are now connected to the larger city as it has grown. The biggest such metropolitan area is that of Tokyo. 8.5 million people live in Tokyo itself, 36.5 million live in the "metropolitan area".
A metropolitan area is a large urban area. The inner city may look little different from the surrounding area of buildings and lights. The entire built-up area is the metropolitan area. The inner city may be near the middle, or to one side. Some urban areas have more than one inner city.
Some places, such as in Australia, have metropolitan government. The entire metropolitan area is included as a part of the city, and the population of the suburban area is considered to be part of the city's population.
Sydney, for example, has a population of approx. 4.5 million people, which includes the population of the suburbs, although there are some places which are part of the Greater Sydney Area, whose population does not count toward the population of Sydney.
Marathi language
Marathi ("") is the language spoken in Maharashtra, India. It is also Maharashtra's official language. The written script is Devanāgarī.
People living in Maharashtra and parts of neighboring states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, union-territories of Daman-diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli speak Marathi.
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language. It is spoken in Gujarat, India and also in neighbouring Pakistan. It was the "mother tongue" of Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. There are millions of Gujaratis who speak it as their first language. Gujarati is the 20th most common language in the United States of America.
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language. It is the first language of about 130 million people, and is the 10th most spoken language in the world. Most of the people who speak this language live in the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is also widely spoken in Haryana, India Himachal Pradesh, India and Delhi, India, uttarpradesh rajasthan, Bihar, Jammu amd Kashmir and other states as well . It is spoken by the majority of the population of Pakistan.
Punjabi developed from the ancient language of Prakrit developed simultaneously with Sanskrit. Punjabi is known to have been spoken by the Indus Valley civilization according to DR Jaspal Singh Mayell. "Possibly, Punjabi is the only major South Asian language that has this kind of tonal character. There does seem to have been some speculation among scholars about the possible origin of Punjabi's tone-language character but without any final and convincing answer..."