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Area : 2,40,928 sq km
Population : 166,052,859
Capital : Lucknow
Principal Languages : Hindi and Urdu
The history of the State of
Uttar Pradesh is very ancient and interesting.
It is recognised in the later Vedic Age as
Brahmarshi Desha or Madhya Desha. Many great
sages of the Vedic times like Bharadwaja,
Gautam, Yagyavalkya, Vasishta, Vishwamitra and
Valmiki flourished in this state. Several sacred
books of the Aryans were also composed here. Two
great epics of India, Ramayana and
Mahabharata, appear to have been
inspired by Uttar Pradesh.
In the sixth century BC, Uttar Pradesh was
associated with two new
religions - Jainism and Buddhism. It
was at Sarnath that Buddha preached his first
sermon and laid the foundations of his order,
and it was in Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, where
Buddha breathed his last. Several centres in
Uttar Pradesh like Ayodhya, Prayag, Varanasi and
Mathura became reputed centres of learning. In
the medieval period, Uttar Pradesh passed under
Muslim rule and led the way to new synthesis of
Hindu and Islamic cultures. Ramananda and his
Muslim disciple Kabir, Tulsidas, Surdas and many
other intellectuals contributed to the growth of
Hindi and other languages.
Uttar Pradesh preserved its intellectual
excellency even under the British
administration. The British combined Agra and
Oudh into one province, and called it United
Provinces of Agra and Oudh. The name was
shortened to the United Provinces in 1935. In
January 1950, the United Provinces was renamed
as Uttar Pradesh.
The State is bounded by Uttarakhand and
Himachal Pradesh in the north, Haryana in the
west, Madhya Pradesh in the south, and Bihar in
the east. Uttar Pradesh can be divided into two
distinct regions, (i) Southern hills and (ii)
Gangetic plain.
Agriculture
is the main occupation of 66 per cent of the
population of the state. The net cultivated area
in the state is 167.50 lakh hectares. In the
year 2003-04 the state produced 255.67 lakh
metric tonnes of wheat, 130.22 lakh metric
tonnes of rice, 23.80 lakh metric tonnes of
pulses and 6.44 lakh metric tonnes of oilseeds
and 1127.54 lakh tonnes sugar cane. Total
foodgrains production during 2003-2004 was
442.58 lakh metric tonnes.
During the year 2004-2005
there were 521835 small-scale industrial units
involving a total investment of Rs. 5131 crore
and employment opportunities for 2001000
persons. About 45.51 lakh tonnes of sugar was
produced in the state during the year 2003-2004.
There were 68 textile units. Thirty-two
automobile units with an investment of Rs. 5,740
crore provided jobs to 20280 persons.
It is planned to develop 102 sectors of New
Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA)
by th year 2011. The Authority includes
industrial sectors,housing sectors,group housing
sectors, residential buildings, commercial
assets and institutional sectors. Steps have
been taken to develop other industrial areas in
the state on the pattern of Noida and Greater
Noida. A Software Technology Park has been set
up in Kanpur while five more Software Parks are
proposed to be set up.
Under the public sector, mining of limestone,
magnesite, phosphate, dolomite and silicon-sand
is carried out. The bulk minor and some of
the major minerals like limestone, silica-sand,
pyrophyllite and diaspore is mostly with the
private sector. Important based industries
include large cement plants in Sonebhadra.
UP Power Corporation, UP State
Power Generation and UP Hydel Power Corporation
had been formed by reorganising UP State
Electricity Board on 14 January 2000.
During 2004-05 an expenditure of Rs 98715
crore was made to raise the irrigation potential
to a level of 319.17 lakh hectares. At the time
of inception the total installed capacity of
UPSEB, including thermal and hydro, was 2,635 MW
which has now been raised to 4621 MW.
Roads : The total
road length in the State is 1,04,137 km. This
includes 3,912 km of national highways, 9,098 km
of state highways, 87,248 km of important
district roads, 91,127 km of other district
roads, and 72,931 km of rural
roads.
Railways : Lucknow
is the main junction of the northern network.
Other important railway junctions are Agra,
Kanpur, Allahabad, Mughalsarai, Jhansi,
Moradabad, Varanasi, Tundla, Gorakhpur, Gonda,
Faizabad, Bareilly and Sitapur.
Aviation : There are
airports at Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi,
Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi, Bareilly, Hindon
(Ghaziabad), Gorakhpur, Sarsawa (Saharanpur),
and Fursatganj (Rae-Bareli).
The
biggest congregation, perhaps of the world,
Kumbha Mela is held at Allahabad every twelfth
year and Ardh kumbh Mela every sixth year. Magh
Mela is also held at Allahabad in January when
the people come in large number to have a dip in
the holy Sangam. Among other fairs is the
fortnight long Jhoola fair of Mathura, Vrindavan
and Ayodhya, when dols are placed in gold and
silver jhoolas or cradles. A dip in the Ganga on
Kartik Poornamasi is supposed to be the holiest
and there are big congregations at
arhmukteshwar, Soran, Rajghat, kakora,
Bithur, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and Ayodhya.
A famous cattle fair is held at Bateswar in Agra
district. Dewa in Barabanki district has became
famous because of the Muslim saint Waris Ali
Shah. Besides, important festivals of the
Hindus, Muslims, etc., are widely celebrated in
the state.
Uttar Pradesh has
varied attractions for all kinds of tourists.
Besides ancient places of pilgrimage like
Varanasi, Vindhyachal, Ayodhya, Chitrakoot,
Prayag, Naimisharanya, Mathura, Vrindavan, Dewa
Sharief, Dargah of Sheikh Saleem Chishti in
Fatehpur Sikri, Sarnath, Shravasti, Kushinagar,
Sankisa, Kampil, Piprahwa and Kaushambi, places
like Agra, Ayodhya, Sarnath, Varanasi, Lucknow,
Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Kannauj, Mahoba,
Devgarh, Bithur, and Vindhyachal have rich
treasures of Hindu and Islamic architecture and
culture.
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