The administrative divisions of India are subnational administrative units of India; they are composed of a nested hierarchy of administrative divisions.
The smaller subdivisions (villages and blocks) exist only in rural areas. In urban areas, urban local bodies exist instead of these rural subdivisions.
The states of India have been grouped into six zones having an Advisory Council "to develop the habit of cooperative working" among these States. Zonal Councils were set up vide Part-III of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The North Eastern States' special problems are addressed by another statutory body - The North Eastern Council, created by the North Eastern Council Act, 1971.[2] The present composition of each of these Zonal Councils is as under:[3]
Each zone has a zonal headquarters where a zonal cultural center has been established.[7] Several states have membership in multiple zones, but no state subdivisions are utilized in the zonal divisions. In addition to promoting the culture of the zones they are responsible for, each zonal center also works to cross-promote and create exposure to other cultural zones of India by organizing functions and inviting artistes from other zones.
^Khasi language has been declared as the Additional Official Language for all purposes in the District, Sub-Division and Block level offices of the State Government located in the Districts of Khasi-Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya.
^Andhra Pradesh was divided into two states, Telangana and a residual Andhra Pradesh on 2 June 2014.[27][28][29]Hyderabad, located entirely within the borders of Telangana, is to serve as the capital for both states for a period of time not exceeding ten years.[30] The Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Andhra Pradesh Legislature completed the process of relocating to temporary facilities in the envisaged new capital city Amaravati in early 2017.[citation needed]
^Bengali and Nepali are the Official Languages in Darjeeling and Kurseong sub-divisions of Darjeeling district.
The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India allows for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions which have been given autonomy within their respective states.[40]
Presently, 10 Autonomous Councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura are formed by virtue of the Sixth Schedule[41] with the rest being formed as a result of other legislation.
Many of the Indian states are subdivided into divisions, which have official administrative governmental status, and each division is headed by a senior IAS officer called Divisional Commissioner.
As of September 2022, divisions exist in 18 of the 28 states and 3 of the 8 union territories. As of September 2022, there are a total of 102 divisions in India.
Some states consist of regions, which have no official administrative governmental status. They are purely geographic regions; some correspond to historic countries, states or provinces. A region may comprise one or more divisions, averaging about three divisions per region. However, the boundaries of the regions and the boundaries of the divisions do not always coincide exactly. So far there has been no movement to give the regions official administrative status. If this was to be done, it would presumably require that the boundaries of the regions be slightly modified so that they correspond exactly with their constituent districts.
States and territories (or divisions) are further subdivided into districts (zilla), of which there are 766 (as of Aug 2022). Each District is headed by an IAS officer called District Magistrate.
The Community Development Block also known as CD Block or just block, is often the next level of administrative division (for development purposes, whereas tehsil is next to the district for revenue purposes).
Villages are often the lowest level of subdivisions in India. The governmental bodies at the village level are called Gram Panchayat, of which there were an estimated 256,000 in 2002.
Each Gram Panchayat covers a large village or a cluster of smaller villages with a combined population exceeding 500 Gram Sabha. Clusters of villages are also sometimes called Hobli or Patti.
Habitations
Certain governmental functions and activities - including clean water availability, rural development, and education - are tracked at a sub-village level.[52] These hamlets are termed "habitations". India is composed of 1,714,556 habitations [53] In some states, most villages have a single habitation; in others (notably Kerala and Tripura) there is a high ratio of habitations to villages.[54]
A metro area usually comprises multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighbourhoods, townships, cities, exurbs, suburbs, counties, districts, states, and even nations like the eurodistricts.
As social, economic, and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions.
Metropolitan areas include one or more urban areas, as well as satellite cities, towns, and intervening rural areas that are socio-economically tied to the urban core, typically measured by commuting patterns
The metropolitan cities of India are: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Vishakhapatnam and Pune.
^South Zone Culture Center: Other Zones, South Zone Culture Centre, retrieved 15 December 2010, ... North East Zone Cultural Centre – Nagaland – Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland & Meghalaya ...
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