Introduction

    The land of Gods, the home of Himalayas and truly a paradise on earth, allures everyone from everywhere. The fresh air, the pure water, the chilling snow, the adversing mountains, the scenic beauty, the small villages, the simpler people and a tougher lifesytle is what that distinguishes Uttaranchal from rest of the world.

Uttaranchal is a 'paradise' for nature lover's and adventure sports enthusiasts. Mussoorie, the 'Queen of Hills'; Nainital, the 'Lake District'; Almora, the 'Switzerland of India'; Ranikhet, Pithoragarh, Pauri and Munsyari are just few highlights for the nature lovers. For adventure and excitement, one may choose Mountaineering (Bhagirathi, Chowkhamba, Nanda Devi Kamet, Pindari, Sahastrataal, Milam, Kafni, Khatling, Gaumukh), Trekking, Skiing (Auli, Dayara Bugyal, Munsyari, Mundali), Skating, Water Sports like rafting, boating and angling and Aero Sports like Hand Gliding, Paragliding (Pithoragarh, Jolly Grant, Pauri).

The State is also a treasure house of exotic flora and fauna and is an ideal location for eco-tourism, as well as wildlife tourism. The world-famous Corbett National Park is the pride of Uttaranchal. Other important sanctuaries are, Rajaji National Park , Govind Wildlife Sanctuary, Asan Barrage, Chilla etc.

Art & Craft The peace and tranquility of Uttaranchal laid the foundation for a treasure house of paintings and art. Out of the two major art forms, the art of stone carving and woodcarving are fairly well known. The art of stone carving gradually died down, but woodcarving continued. Woodcarving could be seen on almost every door of a Garhwali house until only half a century ago. Woodcarving can still be seen in hundreds of temple all over Garhwal. The remains of architectural work have been found at the Chandpur Fort, temple of Srinagar, Pandukeshwar (near Badrinath), Devi Madin (near Joshimath), and Devalgarh Temple

Climate

    The state has two distinct climatic regions: the predominant hilly terrain and the small plain region. The climatic condition of the plains is very similar to its counterpart in the Gangetic plain-that is, tropical. Summers are unbearable with temperature going over the 40°C mark and a lot of humidity. Winters can be chilly with temperatures going below 5°C at times. 

Economy     The state of Uttaranchal has tremendous potential of developing tourism industry due to the beautiful landscape, religious places, trekking trails, national parks, mountain peaks and historical and archeological sites. Apart from   tourism, the rural population is engaged in agriculture. Doon Valley, Nainital district, Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar districts produce large quantities of food grains. The state has immense potential for the development of horticulture crops-apple, orange, malta,pear, grapes peach, plum appricot, litchi,mango, guava etc are widely produced fruits. The region also holds good promises for developing herbal pharmaceutical industry owing to abundant medicinal plants. The industrial sector of state is insignificant. It is hoped that by development and proper exploitation of its natural resources, Uttaranchal can  overcome its economic backwardness.

Flora and Fauna

    The alpine and tropical rainforests that cover most parts of the state make natural habitats of some of the best-known wildlife creatures India has on offer. The Jim Corbett National Park is home to Royal Bengal Tigers and ground for the plot of Jim Corbett's Man-eaters of Kumaon. Another rainforest in the region is Rajaji National Park famous for its large number of pachyderms. Alpine forests in the region include Valley of Flowers National Park (known for its amazing variety of flowers), Nanda Devi National Park, Govind National Park, Gangotri National Park, and many more.

Physical Features     Apart from the Tarai region in the Shivalik foothills, the entire state of Uttaranchal is a part of the Himalayan ranges. At 7,817 m above sea level, Nanda Devi in the district of Chamoli is the highest point in the state. The region has many glaciers, passes, meadows, and trekking routes with several major rivers like the Ganga and Yamuna originating from here. A major part of this Himalayan state comes under rainforests and alpine forests that are home to some of the highly endangered wildlife species.

Location

    The newly carved out state of Uttaranchal lies North West of the state of Uttar Pradesh. Uttaranchal is a part of the Western Himalayan ranges starting from the Shivalik foothills to Greater Himalayas with Tibet as its northeastern border. In the northwestern corner of the state is Himachal Pradesh, while Haryana celebrates its union with the newly formed state with a gentle kiss. The state is surrounded by Uttar Pradesh for most of its western and southern boundary. Broadly, Uttaranchal can be divided into two main parts, mountainous and hilly regions, foot hills and Bhabar and Tarai region of plains. The total geographical area of Uttarnachal (excluding Hardwar) is 51, 125 sq. kms., making border with Himachal Pradesh in extreme West, Tibet-China in North, Nepal in East and the plains districts of Uttar Pradesh in the South. The hilly part of Uttaranchal constitutes 98% of total reporting area, out of which alone forest area constitutes approximately 70% per cent and agriculture area is approximately 11 per cent. The rest 19 per cent area comes under miscellaneous categories. From the administration point of view Uttaranchal is divided into 13 districts (4 being constituted only in 1997), 39 tehsils and 89 development blocks.