One day, Mrs. Anita, our Geography teacher brought a huge map to the class. “Children, today we are going to learn about India and its states. Did you know that we have 28 states and 9 union territories in our vast country?” “India is located in the northern hemisphere. The Tropic of Cancer passes almost halfway through the country.” “Do you know the names of all the states and their capitals?” All of us shook our heads.

Mrs. Anita continued, "Then, let's take a look at the states and their capitals."

1. Andhra Pradesh (Amaravati) - Hyderabad is the joint capital of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for 10 years, after which Amaravati will be capital of Andhra Pradesh. Both these states are situated in south India.
2. Arunachal Pradesh (Itanagar) - Itanagar, which has been the capital of Arunachal Pradesh since April 20, 1974, is a large state in the Northeast/ region.
3. Assam (Dispur) - Dispur became the capital of Assam in 1972. Earlier, Shillong was the capital of Assam.
4. Bihar (Patna) - Patna is the largest city in the state of Bihar. It is the 19^th most populated city and the fifth fastest growing city in the country.
5. Chhattisgarh (Raipur) - The town of Raipur is very old and has been in existence since the 9^th century.
6. Goa (Panaji) - Panaji, also known as Panjim in English, is the capital of Goa.
7. Gujarat (Gandhinagar) - Gandhinagar got its name from the Father of the Nation.

8. Haryana (Chandigarh) - Chandigarh derives its name from the temple of 'Chandi Mandir' in the city.
9. Himachal Pradesh (Shimla/Dharamshala) - In 2017, Dharamshala became Himachal Pradesh’s winter capital and its summer capital is Shimla.
10. Jammu and Kashmir (Srinagar/Jammu) - Jammu and Kashmir was the only state that had two capital cities till 2017.
11. Jharkhand (Ranchi) - Jharkhand is one of the richest mineral zones in the world and possesses 40% and 29% of India's mineral and coal reserves respectively.
12. Karnataka (Bengaluru) - Bengaluru, earlier known as Bangalore, is the capital of Karnataka.
13. Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram) - Thiruvananthapuram, formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of Kerala.
14. Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal) - Bhopal is also known as the 'city of lakes' for its various natural as well as artificial lakes.
15. Maharashtra (Mumbai) - Mumbai was formerly known as Bombay
16. Manipur (Imphal) - Imphal is the capital of Manipur.
17. Meghalaya (Shillong) - Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, is the only hill station that is accessible from all sides.
18. Mizoram (Aizawl) - About 91% of the state is covered by forests.
19. Nagaland (Kohima) - Kohima is the land of the Angami Naga tribe.
20. Odisha (Bhubaneswar) - Bhubaneswar is also popularly known as the 'temple city of India'.
21. Punjab (Chandigarh) - Chandigarh is the shared capital of the two states Haryana and Punjab.
22. Rajasthan ( Jaipur) - Jaipur is popularly known as the 'Pink city' because of its pink coloured buildings there.
23. Sikkim (Gangtok) - The name Gangtok has come from a Tibetan word, which means 'top of the hill'.
24. Tamil Nadu (Chennai) - Chennai, formerly known as chennapatnam or Madras, is a 380-years-old city.
25. Telangana (Hyderabad) - Telangana was created as the 29^th state of India on 2 June 2014. Hyderabad is the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
26. Tripura (Agartala) - The word Agartala is made of two words-Agar, a kind of oily perfume tree and tala, a storehouse.
27. Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow) - Lucknow is popularly known as 'The City of Nawabs'.
28. Uttarakhand (Dehradun) - Dehradun is also called the Abode of Guru Drona.
29. West Bengal (Kolkata) - Earlier Kolkata was known as Calcutta.

Amit stood up and said, "Ma'am, what about the Union Territories? Please tell us about them."

Ma'am replied, "I am going to talk about the nine Union Territories too."

1. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands consist of tiny islands located in the Bay of Bengal. The capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is Port Blair.
2. Delhi is also known as the national capital territory of India. The capital of the Government of India is located in New Delhi.
3. Puducherry is a union territory located in South India.
4. Lakshadweep consists of small islands and is located in the Arabian Sea. The capital of Lakshadweep is Kavaratti.
5. Chandigarh is located in the state of Punjab and is also its capital. Chandigarh is also the capital of the state of Haryana.
6. Dadra and Nagar Haveli is a tiny region located in the state of Maharashtra. Its capital is Silvassa.
7. Daman and Diu is located a long the coast of the Arabian Sea.