Which of the Following Is Not a Union Territory? Answer, Full List & Practice MCQs

Which of the following is not a union territory? It is one of the most repeated questions in school tests, SSC, banking, railway and state-level exams, and it usually trips students up for one simple reason: the options mix real Union Territories with states that sound like them.

The quick rule is this: if the name is on the list of India’s 8 Union Territories, it is a UT. If it is not on that list, it is a state, and that is your answer. In a typical question, a state such as Goa, Sikkim or Mizoram is the odd one out among names like Lakshadweep, Puducherry or Chandigarh.

This guide gives you the current list, the logic for solving every version of this question, practice MCQs with answers, and a few exam traps worth knowing.

☰ Table of Contents

What is a Union Territory?

A Union Territory (UT) is a part of India that is administered directly by the Central Government, through the President of India. Unlike a state, it does not have a fully independent government of its own.

The Constitution of India deals with their administration mainly in Article 239, which says that Union Territories are administered by the President, acting through an administrator he appoints.

Union Territories are usually created for reasons such as:

Strategic importance, like the island territories and border regions
Small size or population, which makes running a full state unpractical
Shared capital arrangements, like Chandigarh, which serves both Punjab and Haryana
Special administrative needs, like the national capital

How Is a Union Territory Different From a State?

Feature	State	Union Territory
Governed by	State government, elected by the people	Central Government, through an administrator
Head	Governor (appointed by the President)	Lieutenant Governor or Administrator (appointed by the President)
Own legislature	Yes, in every state	Only in Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir
Law-making power	Shared between the Centre and the state	Parliament can make laws on any subject for a UT
Total number today	28	8

Three Union Territories have their own elected legislative assemblies: Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. The other five are run by an administrator without a legislature.

Complete List of Union Territories of India (Updated 2026)

India currently has 28 states and 8 Union Territories. This count has stayed the same since 26 January 2020.

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

Recent Changes You Should Know

Two changes in recent years are behind many wrong answers in older question banks:

31 October 2019: Under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the former state of Jammu and Kashmir was split into two Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
26 January 2020: Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, which had been two separate UTs, were merged into a single Union Territory.

That is why India had 7 UTs before October 2019, briefly 9 after it, and 8 today.

Which of the Following Is Not a Union Territory? Understanding the Answer

To identify which among the given choices is not a Union Territory, follow three simple steps:

Recall the list of 8 UTs. If you remember these, you can check every option in seconds.
Match each option against the list. The one that does not match is the answer.
Watch for outdated or half names. “Daman and Diu” on its own is no longer a UT, and “Jammu and Kashmir” is no longer a state.

Worked Example

Question: Which of the following is not a Union Territory? (a) Lakshadweep (b) Puducherry (c) Goa (d) Chandigarh

Answer: (c) Goa

Reason: Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Chandigarh are all on the list of 8 Union Territories. Goa is a full state with its own elected government and legislature. It became a state in 1987, after earlier being part of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu.

States That Are Often Mistaken for Union Territories

Some states were Union Territories earlier, which is why they keep appearing as tricky options:

Goa: UT until it became a state in 1987
Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram: UTs until they became states in 1987
Himachal Pradesh: UT until it became a state in 1971
Manipur and Tripura: UTs until they became states in 1972

None of these is a Union Territory today.

Easy Ways to Remember the 8 Union Territories

Grouping them by location makes the list far easier to remember:

Islands (2): Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep
North India (4): Chandigarh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh
West coast (1): Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
South India (1): Puducherry

Another trick: only three UTs have a legislature, and they are the ones you hear about most in the news: Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.

Practice MCQs: Which of These Is Not a Union Territory?

Try these before checking the answers below.

Q1. Which option in the following list is not an Indian Union Territory? (a) Ladakh (b) Delhi (c) Sikkim (d) Lakshadweep

Q2. From the list below, which one does not belong to the Union Territories? (a) Chandigarh (b) Andaman and Nicobar Islands (c) Puducherry (d) Mizoram

Q3. Which of these options is not a Union Territory of India? (a) Jammu and Kashmir (b) Telangana (c) Ladakh (d) Delhi

Q4. Which of the following is not classified as a Union Territory? (a) Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (b) Lakshadweep (c) Himachal Pradesh (d) Puducherry

Q5. Which of the following Union Territories does not have its own legislature? (a) Delhi (b) Puducherry (c) Jammu and Kashmir (d) Ladakh

Q6. Which Union Territory has Kavaratti as its capital? (a) Andaman and Nicobar Islands (b) Lakshadweep (c) Puducherry (d) Ladakh

Answers

Q	Answer	Explanation
1	(c) Sikkim	Sikkim is a state. The others are UTs.
2	(d) Mizoram	Mizoram became a state in 1987.
3	(b) Telangana	Telangana became a state in 2014.
4	(c) Himachal Pradesh	A state since 1971.
5	(d) Ladakh	Ladakh is administered by a Lieutenant Governor without a legislature.
6	(b) Lakshadweep	Kavaratti is its capital.

Interesting Facts About Union Territories

Delhi is officially called the National Capital Territory of Delhi. A special status was given to it by the 69th Constitutional Amendment in 1991.
Chandigarh is the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana, yet it belongs to neither state.
Puducherry has a legislature, and a few of its regions lie far apart from each other, including Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam.
Ladakh is the largest Union Territory by area, followed by Jammu and Kashmir.
Chandigarh is the second-smallest UT by area, after Lakshadweep.

Conclusion

Solving “which of the following is not a union territory” becomes easy once you know the list of 8 UTs: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry. Anything outside it, such as Goa, Sikkim, Mizoram or Telangana, is a state.

Keep an eye on the recent changes, especially the 2019 reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir and the 2020 merger of the two western UTs. These are the facts most often tested, and the facts on which old question banks go wrong.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Union Territories are there in India?

India has 8 Union Territories, along with 28 states, which makes a total of 36 administrative units.

Is Delhi a state or a Union Territory?

Delhi is a Union Territory, officially known as the National Capital Territory of Delhi. It has its own legislative assembly and chief minister, but the Lieutenant Governor and the Centre hold important powers, such as those relating to police, public order and land.

Is Goa a Union Territory?

No. Goa is a state. It was part of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu until 1987, when Goa became a state and Daman and Diu stayed as a UT.

Is Jammu and Kashmir a state or a Union Territory?

It is a Union Territory with a legislature. It was a state until 30 October 2019 and became a UT on 31 October 2019.

Which Union Territory was added most recently?

Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir became Union Territories on 31 October 2019. The latest change to the list was the merger of Dadra and Nagar Haveli with Daman and Diu on 26 January 2020.

Who governs a Union Territory?

The President of India governs a UT through an administrator. In Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Puducherry, this person is called the Lieutenant Governor. In the other UTs, the title is Administrator.