Administrative divisions of India#Sub-districts

{{Main|State governments of India|Union Territory of India|Local government in India}}

The diagram below outlines the six tiers of administrative divisions:

{{Tree chart/start}}

{{Tree chart|}}

{{Tree chart| | | FED | FED=Country
(India)}}

{{Tree chart| | | |!| | | | | }}

{{Tree chart| | | PRO | PRO=State
(e.g. West Bengal State)}}

{{Tree chart| | | |!| | | | | }}

{{Tree chart| | | DIV | DIV=Division
(e.g. Medinipur Division)}}

{{Tree chart| | | |!| | | | | }}

{{Tree chart| | | DIS | DIS=District
(e.g. Bankura District)}}

{{Tree chart| | | |!| | | | | }}

{{Tree chart| | | SUB | SUB=Sub-division
(Revenue Subdivision)
(e.g. Bankura Sadar subdivision)}}

{{Tree chart| | | |!| | | | | }}

{{Tree chart| | | SUB | SUB=Sub-district
(Tehsil/Taluka, Circle, Sub-division)
(e.g. Bavla (Tehsil))}}

{{Tree chart| | | |!| | | | | }}

{{Tree chart| | |Block|Block=Block
(e.g. Bankura II Block)}}

{{Tree chart| | | |!| | | | | }}

{{Tree chart| | |VIL | VIL= Village
(e.g. Bikna village)}}

{{Tree chart|}}

{{Tree chart/end}}

Notes:

• Divisions under State: In some states, divisions do not exist, and the administrative units are split directly into districts. In these states, the division concept is either absent or only for administrative purposes.
• Nomenclature Differences:
• The term "Division" is often used as "Revenue Division" or "Region" in some states.
• In many states, Districts are officially known as Revenue Districts.
• In some states, a division under a district may be referred to as a Revenue Division, which is equivalent to a sub-division in other states.
• The terminology for administrative units like Taluk or Tehsil or Sub-district varies widely; for example, Tehsil in Uttar Pradesh is referred to as Taluk in Tamil Nadu, and Circle''' in some northeastern states and mandal in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The diagram below outlines the three tiers of government : union, state and local government.

{{Tree chart/start}}

{{Tree chart|}}

{{Tree chart| | | FED | FED=Union Government
(Government of India)}}

{{Tree chart| | | |!| | | | | }}

{{Tree chart| | | PRO | PRO=State Government
(e.g. Government of Kerala)}}

{{Tree chart| |,|-|^|-|.| }}

{{Tree chart| Urban | | Rural | | |Urban=Urban
(Urban Local Bodies)|Rural=Rural
{{Small|(Panchayati Raj Institutions)}}}}

{{Tree chart| |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| | | }}

{{Tree chart|District| |Block| |Village|District=District Panchayat
{{Small|Zilla Parishad}}
(e.g. Raigad District Council)|Block=Block Panchayat
(Panchayat Samiti)|Village=Village Panchayat
{{Small|Gram Panchayat}}
(e.g. Binodpur Gram Panchayat)|}}

{{Tree chart/end}}

{{Tree chart/start}}

{{Tree chart|}}

{{Tree chart| | | FED | FED=Urban
{{Small|(Urban Local Bodies)}}}}

{{Tree chart|,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| || }}

{{Tree chart|Municipal corporation| Municipal council|Town Panchayat|Municipal corporation=Municipal Corporation
(e.g. Municipal Corporation of Delhi)|Municipal council=Municipality
(e.g. Darjeeling Municipality)|Town Panchayat=Town Panchayat

(e.g Bhatgaon)|}}

{{Tree chart|}}

{{Tree chart/end}}

File:Zonal divisions of Republic of India.jpg

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.{{cite web|url=http://necouncil.nic.in/ |title=NEC -- North Eastern Council |access-date=25 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415001111/http://necouncil.nic.in/ |archive-date=15 April 2012 }} The present composition of each of these Zonal Councils is as under:{{cite web|url=http://interstatecouncil.nic.in/zonal.htm |title=Zonal Council |access-date=7 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508170915/http://interstatecouncil.nic.in/zonal.htm |archive-date= 8 May 2012 }}

• Northern Zonal Council, comprising Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, and Rajasthan;
• North Eastern Council, comprising Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura; The State of Sikkim has also been included in the North Eastern Council vide North Eastern Council (Amendment) Act, 2002 notified on 23 December 2002.{{Cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/zonal_council|title=Zonal Council {{!}}|website=mha.nic.in|access-date=26 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512022826/http://mha.nic.in/zonal_council|archive-date=12 May 2017|url-status=dead}}
• Central Zonal Council, comprising the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh;
• Eastern Zonal Council, comprising Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal;
• Western Zonal Council, comprising Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra;
• Southern Zonal Council, comprising Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep are not members of any of the Zonal Councils.{{cite web|url=http://interstatecouncil.nic.in/iscs/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/states_reorganisation_act.pdf|title=The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 (Act No.37 Of 1956) Part – Iii Zones And Zonal Councils|website=Interstatecouncil.nic.in|access-date=27 December 2017}} However, they are presently special invitees to the Southern Zonal Council{{cite web |url=http://interstatecouncil.nic.in/iscs/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/COMPOSITION-OF-SOUTHERN-ZONAL-COUNCIL.pdf |title=Present Composition Of The Southern Zonal Council |website=Interstatecouncil.nic.in |access-date=27 December 2017}}

Each zone has a zonal headquarters where a zonal cultural center has been established.{{Citation | title=South Zone Culture Center: Other Zones | publisher=South Zone Culture Centre | accessdate=15 December 2010 | url=http://www.szcc.tn.nic.in/ | quote=... North East Zone Cultural Centre – Nagaland – Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland & Meghalaya ... | archive-date=3 March 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303015522/http://www.szcc.tn.nic.in/ | url-status=dead }} 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.

{{Location map many | India

| caption = Location of the headquarters of each cultural zone

| label1 = Nagpur

| pos1 = right

| coordinates1 = {{coord|21.15|79.08}}

| label2 = Patiala

| pos2 = right

| coordinates2 = {{coord|30.33|76.39}}

| label3 = Prayagraj

| pos3 = right

| coordinates3 = {{coord|25.44|81.83}}

| label4 = Kolkata

| pos4 = right

| coordinates4 = {{coord|22.58|88.41}}

| label5 = Dimapur

| pos5 = right

| coordinates5 = {{coord|25.90|93.74}}

| label6 = Udaipur

| pos6 = right

| coordinates6 = {{coord|24.58|73.71}}

| label7 = Thanjavur

| pos7 = right

| coordinates7 = {{coord|10.78|79.14}}

}}

{{Main|States and union territories of India}}

India is composed of 28 states and eight union territories (including a national capital territory).{{cite web |title=Profile {{!}} National Portal of India |url=https://www.india.gov.in/india-glance/profile |website=www.india.gov.in |access-date=31 March 2020}}

{{transcluded section|source=States and union territories of India}}

{{trim|{{#section-h:States and union territories of India|States and Union territories}}}}

Divisions exist within the respective states and union territories, and are of two types, namely the "Administrative Divisions" (directly under the control of the state government) and the "Autonomous Administrative Divisions" (relatively with the higher degree of autonomy governed by the directly elected council).

{{main|Autonomous administrative divisions of India}}

File:Autonomous divisions of India.svg

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 and union territories.{{cite web| url=https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/pdf1/S6.pdf| title=Sixth Schedule of The Constitution of India}}

Presently, 10 Autonomous Councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura are formed by virtue of the Sixth Schedule{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/union-cabinet-approves-amendment-in-sixth-schedule-to-strengthen-10-north-east-autonomous-councils-5951561.html|title = Union Cabinet approves amendment in Sixth Schedule to strengthen 10 North East autonomous councils|date = 24 January 2019}} with the rest being formed as a result of other legislation.

{{transcluded section|source=Autonomous administrative divisions of India}}

{{trim|{{#section-h:Autonomous administrative divisions of India|Constitutional autonomous councils}}}}

{{trim|{{#section-h:Autonomous administrative divisions of India|Statutory autonomous councils}}}}

{{main|List of divisions in India}}

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.

States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, etc. don't have separate divisions or regions. Instead, they're directly split into districts for administrative purposes.

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.

{{transcluded section|source=List of divisions in India}}

{{trim|{{#section-h:List of divisions in India|Overview}}}}

{{main|List of districts in India}}

States and territories (or divisions) are further subdivided into districts (zilla), of which there are 797 (as of Nov 2023). A district in India, officially referred to as a revenue district, is a basic administrative unit under a state or union territory. Each District is headed by an IAS officer called District Collector/District Magistrate/Deputy Commissioner.

The district's police administration is under the purview of the Superintendent of Police (SP), an officer of the Indian Police Service (IPS). Police districts are generally coterminous with revenue districts or subdivisions thereof, facilitating administrative efficiency. Concurrently, the management of forest and wildlife resources within the district falls under the jurisdiction of the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), an officer of the Indian Forest Service (IFS).

Sectoral development is looked after by the district head of each development department such as Public Works, Health, Education, Agriculture, Animal husbandry, Panchayat, Rural Development etc. These officers belong to the various state services.

{{transcluded section|source=List of districts in India}}

{{trim|{{#section-h:List of districts in India|Overview}}}}

{{Transcluded section|source=Subdivision in India|part=}}

{{trim|{{#section-h:Subdivision in India}}}}

In some instances, tehsils (sub-districts) overlap with "blocks" (panchayat union blocks or community development blocks) and come under the land and revenue department, headed by tehsildar; and blocks come under the rural development department, headed by the block development officer and serve different government administrative functions over the same or similar geographical area.

{{main|List of subdistricts in India}}

{{transcluded section|source=List of subdistricts in India}}

{{trim|{{#section-h:List of subdistricts in India|Statewise subdistricts}}}}

{{see | Local government in India }}

{{Main article|Municipal governance in India|List of towns in India by population}}

{{trim|{{#section-h:List of towns in India by population|Categorization}}}}

{{see also | List of million-plus urban agglomerations in India | l1= Urban agglomerations in India }}

Urban agglomerations are two or more separate administrative cities contiguous to each other, some of which may or may not have the formal recognition in the form of a legal body to manage the agglomerations, the examples of such legal bodies are Delhi NCR.

{{Main|List of metropolitan areas in India|List of million-plus urban agglomerations in India}}

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) classifies the cities in India from Tier-I (largest) to Tier-IV (smallest) for the administrative efficiency, economic assessment, urban planning and infrastructure, investment considerations, business environment, and purchasing power of cities based on the criteria entailing the population, economic Development (GDP, etc), infrastructure, educational Institutions and healthcare Facilities, and administrative Importance. Tier-I and tier-II also called the metropolitan cities. The examples of Tier-I metropolitan cities of are: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune. Example of Tier-II city are Faridabad and Gurugram in Delhi NCR, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Surat, Raipur, etc; Tier-III cities are Hisar, Bhiwani, and Tier-IV is Hansi.[https://invest.up.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/decoding_270623.pdf Decoding Indian Cities Classifications In Tier I, II, III, IV], up.gov.in, accessed 24 May 2025.

All areas under statutory urban administrative units like Municipal Corporation, #India, Cantonment Board, Notified Town Area Committee, Town Panchayat, etc., are known as Statutory Towns.

{{See also|Census town#India}}

Census towns are areas in India that have urban characteristics but are not defined as towns by state governments. They are governed by rural local bodies like gram panchayats, unlike statutory towns.

{{Main|Panchayati raj}}

{{Main|Community development block}}

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).

Blocks are district sub-divisions primarily for the purpose of Rural Development departments and Panchayati Raj institutions. Cities have similar arrangements under the Urban Development department. Tehsils (also called Taluks) are common across urban and rural areas for the administration of land and revenue departments, primarily to track land ownership and levy land tax.

{{transcluded section|source=Community development block}}

{{trim|{{#section-h:Community development block|Blocks statewise}}}}

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.

Certain governmental functions and activities - including clean water availability, rural development, and education - are tracked at a sub-village level.[http://ddws.nic.in/habquery/main_menu.asp Indian Department of Drinking Water Supply] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721165126/http://ddws.nic.in/habquery/main_menu.asp |date=21 July 2011 }} These hamlets are termed "habitations". India is composed of 1,714,556 habitations {{Cite web | url=http://ddws.nic.in/habquery/rep_stwisencpcfc.asp |title = National Habitation Survey 2003|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721165147/http://ddws.nic.in/habquery/rep_stwisencpcfc.asp|archive-date = 21 July 2011}} In some states, most villages have a single habitation; in others (notably Kerala and Tripura) there is a high ratio of habitations to villages.[http://www.education.nic.in/cd50years/g/z/H7/0ZH70F01.htm Indian Department of Education] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721165716/http://www.education.nic.in/cd50years/g/z/H7/0ZH70F01.htm |date=21 July 2011 }}

File:India_climatic_zone_map_en.svg.]]

File:India_Natural_vegetation.svg

• Akhand Bharat
• Greater India
• Greater Bangladesh
• Indosphere
• Mandala (political model)
• Names of India

• Indian Antartica
• Overseas military bases of India
• Little India (disambiguation)

Listed from higher to lower:

• Historic India
• Meluhha

• Province or state level
• Subah,

• Division level
• Chakla, a large division, often comprising several Parganas, and sometimes serving as a replacement or intermediate unit between a Sarkar and Pargana, particularly in regions like Bengal and Awadh.

• District level
• Sarkar or Taraf

• Sub-district
• Pargana or Mahal

• Village level
• Mauza or Gram

• Chak, village in Punjab Canal Colonies

• Dhani, hamlet

Sometimes unofficial and sometimes official classification by the land form:

• Bagar tract
• Barani, Nehri and Nalli
• Doab
• Khadir and Bangar

• Regions of Asia

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.citymayors.com/government/india_government.html#Anchor-Municipal-49575 CityMayors.com]

{{India topics}}

{{Geography of India}}

{{Asia topic|Administrative divisions of}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Administrative Divisions Of India}}