Chandigarh
Chandigarh | |
|---|---|
| Union Territory of Chandigarh | |
Clockwise from top: Palace of Assembly; Sector 42 Stadium; Rock Garden of Chandigarh; Chandigarh IT Park; Gandhi Bhawan at Panjab University; Open Hand Monument | |
| Nickname: "The City of Beauty" | |
Location of Chandigarh in India | |
| Coordinates: 30°45′N 76°47′E / 30.75°N 76.78°E | |
| Country | India |
| Formation | 7 October 1953 |
| Capital | Chandigarh |
| Districts | 01 |
| Government | |
| • Body | Government of Chandigarh |
| • Chief secretary | Rajeev Verma, IAS (Adviser to the Administrator) |
| National Parliament | Parliament of India |
| • Rajya Sabha | N/A |
| • Lok Sabha | 1 seat Manish Tewari |
| High Court | Punjab and Haryana High Court |
| Area | |
• Total | 114 km2 (44 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 35th |
| Elevation | 321 m (1,053 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 1,055,450 |
| • Rank | 31 |
| • Density | 9,262/km2 (23,990/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 1,025,682 (51st) |
| Demonym | Chandigarhian |
| Language | |
| • Official | English |
| GDP | |
| • Total (2023–24) | ₹0.49 trillion (US$6 billion) |
| • Rank | 25th |
| • Per capita | ₹349,000 (US$4,100) (4th) |
| Time zone | UTC+05:30 (IST) |
| ISO 3166 code | IN-CH |
| Vehicle registration | CH01, CH02, CH03, CH04, PB01, HR70 |
| HDI (2022) | 0.751 high (3rd) |
| Literacy (2024) | 93.7% (6th) |
| Sex ratio (2011) | 818♀/1000 ♂ (34th) |
| Website | chandigarh |
| Symbols of Chandigarh | |
| Bird | Indian grey hornbill |
| Flower | Dhak |
| Fruit | Mango |
| Mammal | Indian grey mongoose |
| Tree | Mangifera indica |
| List of Indian state and union territory symbols | |
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Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the remaining directions. Chandigarh constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which also includes the adjacent satellite cities of Panchkula in Haryana and Mohali in Punjab. It is located 260 km (162 miles) northwest of New Delhi and 229 km (143 miles) southeast of Amritsar and 104 km (64 miles) southwest of Shimla.
Chandigarh is one of the earliest planned cities in post independence India and is internationally known for its architecture and urban design. The master plan of the city was prepared by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, which built upon earlier plans created by the Polish architect Maciej Nowicki and the American planner Albert Mayer. Narinder Singh Lamba, in the capacity of Chief Town Planner, brought this vision to life. Most of the government buildings and housing in the city were designed by a team headed by Le Corbusier and British architects Dame Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry. Chandigarh's Capitol Complex—as part of a global ensemble of Corbusier's buildings—was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO at the 40th session of the World Heritage Conference in July 2016.
Chandigarh has grown greatly since its initial construction, and has also driven the development of Mohali and Panchkula; the "tri-city" metropolitan area has a combined population of over 1,611,770. The city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the country. The union territory has one of the highest Human Development Index among Indian states and territories. In 2015, a survey by LG Electronics ranked it as the happiest city in India on the happiness index. In 2015, an article published by the BBC identified Chandigarh as one of the few master-planned cities in the world to have succeeded in terms of combining monumental architecture, cultural growth, and modernisation.