Panchkula district (Hindi: पंचकुला़ जिला) is the newly formed 17th district of Haryana state in India. As formed 15 August 1995, it comprises two sub divisions and two Tehsils named Panchkula and Kalka. It has 264 villages out of which 12 villages are un-inhabited and 10 villages wholly merged in towns or treated as census towns according to census 1991. There are five towns in the district named Barwala, Kalka, Panchkula, Pinjore and Raipur Rani. Total population of the district is 319398 out of which 173557 are males and 145841 are females.

As of 2011 it is the least populous district of Haryana (out of 21).

Panchkula city is the headquarters of this district. Chandimandir Cantonment is located in this district, adjoining the Panchkula Urban Estate.

According to the 2011 census Panchkula district has a population of 558,890, roughly equal to the nation of Solomon Islands or the US state of Wyoming. This gives it a ranking of 537th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 622 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,610 /sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 19.32 %. Panchkula has a sex ratio of 870 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 83.4 %.

Panchkula (Hindi: पंचकुला़, Punjabi: ਪੰਚਕੁਲਾ) is a planned city in Panchkula district, Haryana, India. It is a satellite city of the Union Territory of Chandigarh. It also shares seamless border with Mohali district in Punjab. The prestigious Chandimandir Cantonment Headquarters of the Indian Army Western Command, is also located in Panchkula city. There are five towns in the Panchkula district, Pinjore, Kalka, Barwala, Panchkula and Raipur Rani. Morni is the only Hill station in Haryana. The estimated population of Panchkula city, in 2006, was 200,000. Panchkula and Mohali (in Punjab) are two satellite cities of Chandigarh. These three cities are collectively known as Chandigarh Tricity.

The origin of the name Panchkula is based on the five irrigation canals (or kuls as they were called, making it Panch Kul of five canals) that take water from the Ghaggar in the uphill section and distribute it from Nada Sahib to Mansa Devi. The Nada canal has now been eroded by the river and most of the kul's pass through the cantonement of Chandimandir towards Mansa Devi. The canals are a beautiful example of community property and are maintained by the villagers along the way, with distribution days decided. The canals were made by a ruler in the past, and follow the contours to take water to levels much higher than the river at the same spot.

Rahul Gandhi ([ˈraːɦʊl ˈɡaːnd̪ʱiː]; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician and member of the Parliament of India, representing the Amethi constituency. Gandhi is the general-secretary of the Indian National Congress. He is the grandson of Feroze Gandhi and Indira (née Nehru) Gandhi, and fourth-generation scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Rahul Gandhi was born in Delhi on 19 June 1970 as the first of the two children of Rajiv Gandhi, who later became the Prime Minister of India and Sonia Gandhi, who later became President of Indian National Congress, and as the grandson of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He is also the great-grandson of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Priyanka Vadra is his younger sister.

Rahul Gandhi attended St. Columba's School, Delhi before entering The Doon School in Dehradun (Uttarakhand), also his father's alma mater, from 1981–83. Meanwhile, his father had joined politics and became the Prime Minister on October 31, 1984 when Indira Gandhi was assassinated. Due to the security threats faced by Indira Gandhi's family from Sikh extremists, Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Priyanka were home-schooled since then. Rahul Gandhi joined St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 1989 for his undergraduate education but moved to Harvard University after he completed the first year examinations. In 1991, after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE during an election rally, he shifted to Rollins College due to security concerns and completed his B.A. in 1994. During this period, he assumed the pseudonym Raul Vinci and his identity was known only to the university officials and security agencies. He further went on to obtain a M.Phil from Trinity College, Cambridge University in 1995. After graduation, Rahul Gandhi worked at the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm, in London. In 2002 he was one of the directors of Mumbai-based technology outsourcing firm Backops Services Private Ltd.