Punjab (ⁱ/pʌnˈdʒɑːb/) (Punjabi: ਪੰਜਾਬ Hindi: पंजाब) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the west, it is also bounded to the north by Jammu and Kashmir. The state capital is Chandigarh, which is a Union Territory and also the capital of neighbouring state of Haryana. Major cities of Punjab includes Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, Jalandhar, Bathinda and Mohali.

After the partition of India in 1947, the Punjab province of British India was divided between India and Pakistan. The Indian Punjab was divided in 1966 with the formation of the new states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh as well as the current state of Punjab. Punjab is the only state in India with a majority Sikh population.

The Greeks referred to Punjab as Pentapotamia, an inland delta of five converging rivers. In Avesta, the sacred text of Zoroastrians, the Punjab region is associated with the ancient hapta həndu or Sapta Sindhu, the Land of Seven Rivers. The British used to call Punjab "Our Prussia."^{[citation needed]} Historically, the Punjab region has been the gateway to the Indian subcontinent for people from Greece, Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan and Vice-versa.

Punjab (Shahmukhī: پنجاب, Persian: پنجاب‎, panj-āb, "five waters":  Punjab.ogg (help·info)), also spelled Panjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 62% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir (Azad Kashmir, Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir, India) to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the south, the province of Balochistan to the southwest, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, and the Islamabad Capital Territory to the north. The Punjab is home to the Punjabis and various other groups. The main languages are Punjabi and Saraiki and the dialects of Mewati and Potowari. The name Punjab derives from the Persian words Panj (پنج) (Five), and Āb (آب) (Water), i.e. (the) Five Waters - referring to five tributaries of the Indus River from which is also the origin of the name of "India" - these being Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, that flow through the larger Punjab.