- published: 15 Jul 2016
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Punjab (i/pʌnˈdʒɑːb/) is a state in North India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir to the north, Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast, Rajasthan to the southwest, and the Pakistani province of Punjab to the west. The state capital is located in Chandigarh, a Union Territory and also the capital of the neighbouring state of Haryana. The summer residence of the Governor of Punjab is at Shimla.
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 alongside the current state of Punjab.
Sikhism and Hinduism are the predominant faiths in Punjab, adhered by around 57% and 40% of the populace, respectively.
Agriculture is the largest industry in Punjab. Other major industries include the manufacturing of scientific instruments, agricultural goods, electrical goods, financial services, machine tools, textiles, sewing machines, sports goods, starch, tourism, fertilisers, bicycles, garments, and the processing of pine oil and sugar. Punjab also has the largest number of steel rolling mill plants in India, which are located in "Steel Town"—Mandi Gobindgarh in the Fatehgarh Sahib district.
Punjab (Urdu, Punjabi: پنجاب, panj-āb, "five waters": listen ), also spelled Panjab, is the most populous of the four provinces of Pakistan. It has an area of 205,344 square kilometres (79,284 square miles) and a population of 91.379.615 in 2011, approximately 56% of the country's total population. Its provincial capital and largest city is Lahore. Punjab is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir to the northeast and Punjab and Rajasthan to the east. In Pakistan it is bordered by Sindh to the south, Balochistān and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, and Islamabad and Azad Kashmir to the north.
The province comprises most of the fertile Punjab region, which also includes the Indian states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. The region was divided during the Partition of India, when the majority Muslim areas became the Pakistani province and majority non-Muslim areas remaining part of India.
Punjab's geography mostly consists of the alluvial plain of the Indus River and its four major tributaries in Pakistan, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers. There are several mountainous regions, including the Sulaiman Mountains in the southwest part of the province, and Margalla Hills, Salt Range, and Pothohar Plateau in the north. Agriculture is the chief source of income and employment in Punjab; wheat and cotton are the principal crops. Since independence, Punjab has become the seat of political and economic power; it remains the most industrialised province of Pakistan. It counts for 39.2% of large scale manufacturing and 70% of small scale manufacturing in the country. Its capital Lahore is a major regional cultural, historical, and economic centre.