India is administratively divided into 28 states and 7 union territories. The states are broadly demarcated on linguistic lines. They vary in size; the larger ones are bigger and more diverse than some countries of Europe. The union territories are smaller than the states - sometimes they are just one city - and they have much less autonomy.



These states and union territories are grouped by convention into the following regions.



    * Himalayan North — Mountainous and beautiful, a tourist destination for the adventurous and the spiritual. This region contains some of India's most visited hill-stations and religious places. Also includes the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir

	

    * The Plains — India's Hindi-speaking heartland. The country's capital New Delhi is here. The rivers Ganga and Yamuna flow through this plain. Many of the events that shaped India's history took place in this region.

	

    * Western India — miles and miles of the Thar Desert. Home to the the colorful cities of Rajasthan - Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Goa, as well as the country's most vibrant and biggest Indian city Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), wonderful beaches and Bollywood (Indian film industry in Bombay)

	

    * Southern India — a strong bastion of indigenous culture, South India features famous and historical temples, tropical forests, backwaters in Kerala, beautiful hill stations in Tamil Nadu, beaches and cosmopolitan cities in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and wonderful lush islands.

	

    * Eastern India — India's mostly rural region, its largest city is Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta), the temple cities of Puri of Lord Jagannath fame and Bhubaneswar are both in Orissa.

	

    * North-Eastern India — remote and sensitive, the country's tribal corner, with beautiful landscapes and famous for Tea Gardens. Consists of seven tiny states (by Indian standards, some of them are larger than Switzerland or Austria) popularly nicknamed as The Seven Sisters.