Area	:	55,673 sq km		State Government Portal
	Population	:	6,077,900
	Capital	:	Shimla
	Principal Languages	:	Hindi & Pahari

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
Himachal Pradesh is the land of legends and beauty. In Puranic chronicles, Himachal has been referred to as the abode of Yakshas, Gandharvas and Kinnars. In prehistoric times, it was inhabited by Kolls, Kirats and Nagas. Later, the Indo-Tibetans from the north, Indo-Aryans from the Indus valley and Khasas from Central Asia, migrated to this land of eternal snows and tranquil solitude. Mahabharata' and 'Kumar Sambhava' held this land in high esteem where Kunindas and Audumbaras established multi-tribal Kingdoms. During the medieval period, when there were invasions from the north-west, ruling clans of Rajputana and adjoining areas migrated to the hills and established their fiefdoms. These clans were primarily responsible for civilizing the local people besides patronising Pahari art and monumental architecture, which has no other parallel in the annals of Indian art.

The north-eastern part of the State is decorated with snow-covered, silver-headed mountains, halcyon lakes and green stretches of prairies. The State is rich in flora and fauna. In the north it is contiguous to Jammu and Kashmir, and in the south-east, it adjoins the hilly areas of Uttar Pradesh. In the south and on the western side, the territory is bordered by Haryana and Punjab respectively, whereas on the east it borders Tibet.

The State came into being as a union territory in April 1948, as a result of integration of 30 princely states spread over 27,000 sq km. In 1954, when another 'C' class State of Bilaspur merged with Himachal Pradesh, its area increased to 28,241 sq km. The position remained unchanged till 1966, when on reorganisation of the states, the hilly areas of Punjab were merged with the state increasing its size to 55,673 sq km. Proportionately, the population also increased from 1.4 million to 2.8 million, now standing at 60,77,248 according to census 2001.

AGRICULTURE
Agriculture being the main occupation of the people of Himachal Pradesh has an important role in the economy of the State. It provides direct employment to about 71 per cent of the main working population. Income from the agriculture and allied sector accounts for nearly 22.5 per cent of the total State Domestic Product. Out of the total geographical area of 55.673 lakh hectares, the area of operational holding is about 9.99 lakh hectares owned by 8.63 lakh farmers. The marginal and small farmers constitute 84.5 per cent of the total land holdings. The cultivated area in the State is only 10.4 per cent. About 80 per cent of the area is rain-fed.

Under the diversification approach, major emphasis is being laid on the production of off-season vegetables, quality vegetable seeds, potato and ginger besides soyabean, oilseeds and pulses. A project-based approach has been adopted to increase vegetable production. At present, about 41,500 hectare area is under vegetable production with production level of 7.85 lakh tonne. Loanee and non-loanee farmers have been covered and initially maize, rice, wheat, barley and potato crops have been brought under the purview of the scheme. To educate the farmers about the latest technical know-how, the extensive network in the State has been energised for achieving accelerated growth in Agriculture, H.R.D. and water conservation, with proper natural resources management been accordingly prioritised.

HORTICULTURE
Nature has endowed Himachal Pradesh with a wide range of agro-climatic conditions, which have helped the farmers to cultivate a large variety of fruits ranging from temperate to sub-tropical. The main fruits under cultivation are apple, pear, peach, plum, apricot nut fruit, citrus fruits mango, litchi, guava and strawberry, etc. The total area under fruit cultivation, which was only 792 hectare in 1950, has increased to more than 2 lakh hectares. Similarly, the fruit production has also increased drastically.

ROADS
Roads are the lifeline and major means of communication in the predominantly hilly State of Himachal Pradesh. The tremendous potential inherent in various fields in Himachal Pradesh could not be exploited for economic growth in the past due to lack of means of communication. Out of its 55,673 km area, 36,700 km is inhabited and its 16,807 inhabited villages are scattered over slopes of numerous hill ranges and valleys. When the Pradesh came into existence in 1948, there were 288 km of roads, which has gone up to 23,788 km. The State has 8 National Highways having a total road length of 1,235 km.

HYDRO-POWER GENERATION
Himachal Pradesh has tremendous hydro-potential in its five river basins. These five major river systems, namely, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej and Yamuna, emanate from the Western Himalayas and pass through Himachal Pradesh. The identified hydro-potential in these rivers is estimated to be 20,376 MW, which is about 25 per cent of the total hydro-potential of the entire country. Out of this potential only 6,046 MW potential stand harnessed.

INDUSTRY
Himachal Pradesh has made significant progress in the field of industrialisation in the past few years. There are 196 large and medium and about 30,839 small-scale industrial units in the state. This sector is contributing around 14 per cent to the State Domestic Product.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The Government of Himachal Pradesh has developed an IT Vision-2010 in collaboration with NASSCOM to make Himachal Pradesh an IT destination. Under the IT policy, it has been decided to accord the status of Industry to all IT projects, including IT related services and educational institutions. As such, all the incentives available to Industry under the presently applicable Industrial Policy will also be made available to the IT units in the State.

The use of IT in governance is aimed at having SMART (Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent) government. The State Government official website at http://himachal.nic.in is a web portal providing citizen centric services to the citizens and it has got interfaces for getting inputs from the grassroot level. The State Government is also in the process of creating an H.P. State Wide Area Network (HIM SWAN), which will also be connected to the Internet. In the Phase-I of HIMSWAN, H.P. Secretariat Local Area Network was established with a provision to provide LAN connectivity to every third person. All IT units in the State have been given Income Tax holiday up to 2007.

BIO-TECHNOLOGY
Keeping in view the importance of bio-technology, a separate Department of Bio-technology has been set up and the State's own Biotechnology Policy has been formulated. The Government proposes to give sales tax holiday to all Bio-Technical Units in the state up to 2012. Income Tax Holiday for the first 5 years and 30 per cent rebate thereafter and Central Excise Exemption 100 per cent for the first 10 years.

IRRIGATION
In Himachal Pradesh, the net sown area is 5.83 lakh hectares. For better reform in water supply and irrigation sector, the State Government has undertaken a WASH project for irrigation as well as for drinking water supply schemes with Gesellschaft for Technische Zuoammeuorbeit (GTZ).

FOREST
Himachal Pradesh is one of the premier states of the Himalayan region, which forms catchments of main rivers of Northern India, and the disturbances in the watersheds in this region effect the flow of water and transport of sediments to the rivers and reservoirs down streams. The maintenance of adequate forest cover in the State is therefore, of great importance.

The total geographical area of the State is 55,673 sq km. As per forest record, the total forest area is 37,033 sq km. Out of this, 16,376 sq km area is not fit for tree growth comprising alpine pastures, area under permanent snow, etc. The cultivable recorded forest area is only 20,675 sq km.

EDUCATION
The Himachal Pradesh Government is committed towards providing quality education to the children nearer to their homes. Today, more than 14,500 educational institutions including primary, middle, high, senior secondary schools, Degree colleges and 3 universities and two medical colleges are catering to the needs of the students in every nook and corner of the state.

Shimla

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