Punjab
Punjab is a state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and Rajasthan to the southwest; by the Indian union territories of Chandigarh to the east and Jammu and Kashmir to the north. It shares an international border by Punjab, a province of Pakistan to the west. The state covers an area of 50,362 square kilometres (19,445 square miles), which is 1.53% of India's total geographical area, making it the 19th-largest Indian state by area out of 28 Indian states (20th largest, if UTs are considered). With over 27 million inhabitants, Punjab is the 16th-largest Indian state by population, comprising 23 districts. Punjabi, written in the Gurmukhi script, is the most widely spoken and the official language of the state. The main ethnic groups are the Punjabis, with Sikhs and Hindus as the dominant religious groups. The state capital is Chandigarh, a union territory and also the capital of the neighbouring state of Haryana. The five tributary rivers of the Indus River from which the region took its name are the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum rivers (in order from east to west). After the partition of India in 1947, only 3 of the 5 rivers, the Sutlej, Ravi and Beas rivers flows in Indian Punjab, while other two rivers became part of Punjab, Pakistan.
The history of Punjab has witnessed the migration and settlement of different tribes of people with different cultures and ideas, forming a melting pot of Punjabi civilisation. The Indus Valley Civilization flourished in antiquity before recorded history until their decline around 1900 BCE. Punjab was enriched during the height of the Vedic period, but declined in predominance with the rise of the Mahajanapadas. The region formed the frontier of initial empires during antiquity including the Alexander's and Maurya empires. It was subsequently conquered by the Kushan Empire, Gupta Empire, and then Harsha's Empire. Punjab continued to be settled by nomadic people; including the Huna, Turkic and the Mongols. Circa 1000 CE, the Punjab came under the rule of Muslims and was part of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal Empire, and Durrani Empire. Sikhism was founded in the 15th to 17th centuries by the Sikh Gurus in the Punjab and resulted in the formation of the Sikh Confederacy after the fall of the Mughal Empire and ensuing conflict with the Durrani Empire. This confederacy was united into the Sikh Empire in 1801 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
The greater Punjab region was annexed by the British East India Company from the Sikh Empire in 1849. Following widespread religious violence in 1947, the Punjab Province of British India was divided along religious lines into West Punjab and East Punjab. The West Punjab became part of a Muslim-majority Pakistan, while the East Punjab became part of a Hindu-majority India. After the Punjabi Suba movement, the Indian Punjab and PEPSU were divided into three parts on the basis of language on 1st November 1966. Haryanvi and Hindi speaking areas (including various dialects) were carved out as Haryana, while the hilly regions and Pahari-speaking areas formed Himachal Pradesh, alongside the current state of Punjab. An insurgency occurred in Punjab during the 1980s. At present, the economy of Punjab is the 15th-largest state economy in India with ₹5.42 trillion (US$72 billion) in gross domestic product and a per capita GDP of ₹176,547 (US$2,300), ranking 17th amongst Indian states. Since independence, Punjab is predominantly an agrarian society. It is the ninth-highest ranking among Indian states in human development index. Punjab has bustling tourism, music, culinary, and film industries.
Geography
Punjab is in northwestern India and has a total area of 50,362 square kilometres (19,445 sq mi). Punjab is bordered by Pakistan's Punjab province on the west, Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Himachal Pradesh on the northeast and Haryana and Rajasthan on the south. Most of the Punjab lies in a fertile, alluvial plain with many rivers and an extensive irrigation canal system. A belt of undulating hills extends along the northeastern part of the state at the foot of the Himalayas. Its average elevation is 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level, with a range from 180 metres (590 ft) in the southwest to more than 500 metres (1,600 ft) around the northeast border. The southwest of the state is semiarid, eventually merging into the Thar Desert.
The soil characteristics are influenced to a limited extent by the topography, vegetation and parent rock. The variation in soil profile characteristics are much more pronounced because of the regional climatic differences. Punjab is divided into three distinct regions on the basis of soil types: southwestern, central, and eastern. Punjab falls under seismic zones II, III, and IV. Zone II is considered a low-damage risk zone; zone III is considered a moderate-damage risk zone; and zone IV is considered a high-damage risk zone.
Languages
The major language is Punjabi, which is written in India with the Gurmukhi script, and in Pakistan using the Shahmukhi script. The Punjabi language has official status and is widely used in education and administration in Indian Punjab, whereas in Pakistani Punjab these roles are instead fulfilled by the Urdu language.
Several languages closely related to Punjabi are spoken in the periphery of the region. In the southwestern half of Pakistani Punjab, the majority language is Saraiki, while in the north there are speakers of Hindko and Pothwari. Within India, Dogri is spoken in the northernmost parts of the region, and Bagri in the extreme south-east.