How Many States in India Name Them With Capital: Complete List (2026)

It’s one of the first general knowledge questions every Indian student learns, and one of the most searched too: how many states in India name them with capital? The short answer is that India has 28 states and 8 union territories, and each one has its own capital city. In this guide, you’ll find the full list in a clean table, a few simple tricks to remember it, and a clear explanation of why some old books and websites still show a different number.

Whether you’re preparing for a school test, a competitive exam, or just helping your child with homework, this page gives you everything in one place.

☰ Table of Contents

How Many States Are There in India?

India is officially a “Union of States”, as Article 1 of the Constitution says. As of 2026, there are 28 states and 8 union territories, which makes 36 administrative units in total. The count has stayed the same since early 2020.

A quick way to remember the difference: states have their own elected governments and make laws on many subjects. Union territories are mainly run by the central government through an administrator or Lieutenant Governor. Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir are exceptions, because they have their own legislative assemblies, though with limited powers.

If you’re a student, the main thing to remember is simple: 28 states, 8 union territories, 36 in all.

Total States in India: 28 States and 8 Union Territories at a Glance

Here’s a snapshot you can copy straight into your notes.

Category	Number
States	28
Union territories	8
Total	36
Newest state	Telangana (formed on 2 June 2014)
Largest state by area	Rajasthan
Smallest state by area	Goa
Most populous state	Uttar Pradesh

These numbers have changed over time, and the next section explains how.

29 States and Capitals Name of India: Why Some Sources Still Say 29

If you’ve seen a list of “29 states and capitals” somewhere, you haven’t imagined it. That list was correct for a few years, and many printed books still carry it.

Here’s what happened:

2 June 2014: Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh and became the 29th state.
31 October 2019: The old state of Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. This brought the number of states down from 29 to 28.
26 January 2020: Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were merged into a single union territory, which brought the number of union territories to 8.

So if an old guidebook lists 29 states, that book is simply out of date. For any exam today, write 28.

List of States in India with Capitals

This is the part most students are looking for. Here are all 28 states and their capitals, in alphabetical order. This table of states and capitals of India is easy to revise because the order is simple to follow.

No.	State	Capital	Note
1	Andhra Pradesh	Amaravati	Hyderabad was a shared capital until June 2024
2	Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar
3	Assam	Dispur	Guwahati is the largest city
4	Bihar	Patna
5	Chhattisgarh	Raipur
6	Goa	Panaji
7	Gujarat	Gandhinagar	Ahmedabad is the largest city
8	Haryana	Chandigarh	Shared with Punjab
9	Himachal Pradesh	Shimla
10	Jharkhand	Ranchi
11	Karnataka	Bengaluru
12	Kerala	Thiruvananthapuram
13	Madhya Pradesh	Bhopal
14	Maharashtra	Mumbai	Nagpur hosts the winter session
15	Manipur	Imphal
16	Meghalaya	Shillong
17	Mizoram	Aizawl
18	Nagaland	Kohima
19	Odisha	Bhubaneswar
20	Punjab	Chandigarh	Shared with Haryana
21	Rajasthan	Jaipur
22	Sikkim	Gangtok
23	Tamil Nadu	Chennai
24	Telangana	Hyderabad
25	Tripura	Agartala
26	Uttar Pradesh	Lucknow
27	Uttarakhand	Dehradun	Gairsain is the summer capital
28	West Bengal	Kolkata

A few things in this list often confuse students:

Chandigarh is the capital of two states, Punjab and Haryana. It is also a union territory of its own.
Andhra Pradesh’s capital has changed. After Telangana was formed, Hyderabad served both states for a limited period. That arrangement ended in June 2024, and Amaravati is now the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
The capital isn’t always the biggest city. Gandhinagar, not Ahmedabad, is Gujarat’s capital. Dispur, not Guwahati, is Assam’s capital. Thiruvananthapuram, not Kochi, is Kerala’s capital.

Union Territories of India and Their Capitals

India’s 8 union territories also have capitals, and examiners love asking about them.

No.	Union Territory	Capital
1	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Sri Vijaya Puram (earlier Port Blair)
2	Chandigarh	Chandigarh
3	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	Daman
4	Delhi (National Capital Territory)	New Delhi
5	Jammu and Kashmir	Srinagar (summer), Jammu (winter)
6	Ladakh	Leh
7	Lakshadweep	Kavaratti
8	Puducherry	Puducherry

Port Blair was officially renamed Sri Vijaya Puram in September 2024. Some textbooks haven’t caught up yet, so don’t be surprised if you see both names.

Capital of India: New Delhi

While we’re talking about capitals, here’s the one everyone should know. The capital of India is New Delhi, the seat of the central government, the President, and Parliament. Many people use “Delhi” and “New Delhi” as if they mean the same thing. Technically, New Delhi is a part of the larger Delhi union territory.

It wasn’t always the capital. Under British rule, Calcutta (now Kolkata) was the capital until 1911, when it was announced that the capital would move to Delhi. The new city was formally inaugurated in 1931.

Easy Tricks to Remember States and Capitals

Learning 28 pairs can feel like a lot. These simple methods make it easier:

Learn by region. Study the northeast first (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim), then move on to the south, west, and so on. Smaller groups are easier to hold in your head.
Spot the easy ones. Some states share a name with their capital or sound alike, like Sikkim and Gangtok, or Goa and Panaji. Start with those, then tackle the harder ones.
Make flashcards. Put the state on one side and the capital on the other. Ten minutes a day works better than an hour once a week.
Use a blank map. Colour in each state and write its capital. Linking a name to a place helps the memory stick.
Group the tricky ones. Revise the exceptions (Chandigarh, Gandhinagar, Dispur, Amaravati) separately, since that’s where most mistakes happen.
Quiz each other. Ask a friend or a parent to test you. Saying answers out loud is a surprisingly powerful way to learn.

As a teacher who has helped students prepare for school exams and competitive tests, I’ve found that most learners remember the whole list within a week once they start practising by region instead of reading it top to bottom.

Why Do Capitals and State Boundaries Change?

States in India haven’t always looked the way they do now. At independence, the country had a very different structure. In 1956, the States Reorganisation Act redrew the map mostly along language lines and created 14 states and 6 union territories. Since then, more states have been formed, such as Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960, Haryana in 1966, and Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand in 2000.

Under Article 3 of the Constitution, Parliament has the power to create new states or change the borders and names of existing ones. That’s why you’ll sometimes hear demands for new states in the news. As of now, though, the official count remains 28 states and 8 union territories.

Conclusion

So, to answer the big question once more: India has 28 states and 8 union territories, and you now have every capital in one place. Revise the table in small chunks, pay extra attention to the tricky ones, and use the tricks above to make the list stick. Since official changes can happen, it’s always a good idea to cross-check with the Government of India’s Know India portal before an exam or before you publish anything based on this list.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many states are in India in 2026?

India will have 28 states and 8 union territories in 2026.

Which is the newest state of India?

Telangana is the newest state. It was formed on 2 June 2014.

Why do some lists show 29 states?

Those lists are from the period between 2014 and 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir was still a state. After it was reorganised into two union territories in October 2019, the number of states became 28.

Which city is the capital of two states?

Chandigarh is the capital of both Punjab and Haryana. It is also a union territory.

What is the capital of Andhra Pradesh now?

Amaravati is the capital of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad now serves only as the capital of Telangana.