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List of districts of Punjab, India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

23 districts of Punjab along with their headquarters as of 2023.

A district of the Punjab state of India is an administrative geographical unit, headed by a District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service. The District Magistrate or the Deputy Commissioner is assisted by a number of officers belonging to Punjab Civil Service and other state services. There are 23 Districts in Punjab, after Malerkotla district bifurcated from Sangrur district as the 23rd district on 14 May 2021.[1]

Overview

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Senior Superintendent of Police, an officer of the Indian Police Service is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues in the districts of the state. They are assisted by the officers of the Punjab Police and other services.

Division Forest Officer, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service is responsible for managing the forests, environment and wildlife related issues of the districts. They are assisted by the officers of the Department of Forest and Wildlife.

Sectoral development is looked after by the district head of each development sector such as Irrigation, PwD (Public works department), Agriculture, Health, Education, Animal husbandry, etc. These offices belong to various state services.

History

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After the independence of India in 1947 that partitioned British Punjab into two halves, Indian Punjab (which consisted of present-day Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh) consisted of thirteen districts that had been under direct British-rule: Ambala, Hisar, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Karnal, Jullundur (now Jalandhar), Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Simla (now Shimla), and Kangra. Regarding territory of the princely-states, the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) was formed in 15 July 1948 out of the former princely-states of Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Kapurthala, Faridkot, Malerkotla, Kalsia, and Nalagarh. Yadvinder Singh of Patiala served as the Rajpramukh of PEPSU but the short-lived entity was absorbed into Punjab in 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.[2]

The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 trifucated the Punjab state based upon linguistic and geographical divides, where Hindi-speaking areas were separated to form Haryana and mountaine areas in the Pahari region were separated to form Himachal Pradesh.[2][3] This left Punjab with eleven districts: Amritsar, Gurdaspur (some areas transferred to Himachal Pradesh), Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur (some areas transferred to Himachal Pradesh, specifically Una tehsil[4][5]), Ludhiana, Bathinda, Kapurthala, Sangrur (some areas transferred to Haryana), Patiala, and Ropar (carved out out of the former Ambala district). Chandigarh became the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana as a Union Territory (UT).[2]

In 1972, Faridkot district was formed as the 12th district by carving out areas from Bathinda and Ferozepur districts. Mansa became the 13th district when it was carved-out of Bathinda district in 1992. Also in 1992, Fatehgarh Sahib district was created by carving-out areas of Patiala and Ropar districts. Muktsar Sahib district was created by carving out areas of Faridkot district. Nawanshahr district was created by carving-out areas of Hoshiarpur district (such as Balachaur tehsil[4][5]). Moga became the 17th district by carving-out areas from Faridkot and Ferozpur districts. Mohali district formed in 2006. Tarn Taran district was formed out of Amritsar district to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Guru Arjan. In 2011, three new districts were formed, Pathankot district from Gurdaspur district, Barnala district from Sangrur district, and Fazilka district from Ferozepur district, leaving the total number of districts as twenty-two. In 2021, Malerkotla district was formed out of Sangrur district.[2] Despite its formation, adequate infrastructure befitting of a district is yet to be provided fully to Malerkotla district.[2][6][4][7]

In late 2025, an Anandpur Sahib district was proposed to be formed out of Ropar district and Hoshiarpur district.[2][6][4][8][5]

Some district have been renamed to commemorate historical figures, such as Nawanshahr district being renamed to Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (in 2008) and Mohali district being renamed to Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar.[4][3] The names of nearly all the districts of Punjab are eponymous with their district headquarters.[3]

List

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S. No. Code[9] District Headquarters Population (2011) Area (km2)[10] Density (/km2) Highlighted Map
1 AM Amritsar Amritsar 2,490,891 2,647 932
2 BNL Barnala Barnala 596,294 1,410 419
3 BA Bathinda Bathinda 1,388,859 3,385 414
4 FR Faridkot Faridkot 618,008 1,469 424
5 FT Fatehgarh Sahib Fatehgarh Sahib 599,814 1,180 508
6 FI Firozpur Firozpur 965,337 2,190 440
7 FA Fazilka[11] Fazilka 1,180,483 3,113 379
8 GU Gurdaspur Gurdaspur 2,299,026 2,635 872
9 HO Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur 1,582,793 3,365 466
10 JA Jalandhar Jalandhar 2,181,753 2,632 831
11 KA Kapurthala Kapurthala 817,668 1,632 501
12 LU Ludhiana Ludhiana 3,487,882 3,767 975
13 ML Malerkotla Malerkotla 452,016 837 540
14 MA Mansa Mansa 768,808 2,171 350
15 MO Moga Moga 992,289 2,216 444
16 MU Sri Muktsar Sahib Sri Muktsar Sahib 902,702 2,615 348
17 PA Pathankot Pathankot 676,598 929 728
18 PA Patiala Patiala 1,892,282 3,218 596
19 RU Rupnagar Rupnagar 683,349 1,369 488
20 SAS Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar Mohali 986,147 1,093 830
21 SA Sangrur Sangrur 1,203,153 2,848 422
22 NS Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Nawanshahr 614,362 1,267 478
23 TT Tarn Taran Tarn Taran Sahib 1,120,070 2,449 464

References

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  1. ^ "Malerkotla to be Punjab's 23rd district; Capt Amarinder's Eid gift". The Tribune. 14 May 2021. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Jagga, Raakhi (30 October 2025). "Explained: Evolution of Punjab's districts, with the possibility of Anandpur Sahib becoming one". Indian Express. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  3. ^ a b c Garewal, Naveen S. (4 November 2025). "Balancing faith and aspirations: Anandpur Sahib to be a district". News Arena India. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  4. ^ a b c d e Kaur, Deepkamal. "Hoshiarpur faces third territorial split as Anandpur Sahib dist move gains ground". The Tribune. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  5. ^ a b c Kaur, Harpreet (13 November 2025). "Protesters oppose 'plans' to merge Garhshankar with 'new' Anandpur Sahib dist". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  6. ^ a b Vasdev, Kanchan (30 October 2025). "Punjab govt plans to announce 24th district Anandpur Sahib carved out of Ropar". Indian Express. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  7. ^ Vasdev, Kanchan (22 November 2025). "2 months after announcement, Punjab yet to decide on Anandpur Sahib creation". Indian Express. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  8. ^ Khanna, Bharat (23 November 2025). "Opposition grows in Ropar over proposed Anandpur Sahib district status". Times of India. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  9. ^ "NIC Policy on format of e-mail Address: Appendix (2): Districts Abbreviations as per ISO 3166–2" (PDF). Ministry Of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India. 18 August 2004. pp. 5–10. Archived from the original (PDFi) on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
  10. ^ "Districts of Punjab - Area & Population". Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  11. ^ Fazilka district was formed in 2011, no data in census 2011 on this district

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