List of districts in India
A district (zila) is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. In some cases, districts are further subdivided into sub-divisions, and in others directly into tehsils or talukas. As of August 2022[update], there are a total of 766 districts, up from the 640 in the 2011 Census of India and the 593 recorded in the 2001 Census of India.[1]
| Districts of India | |
|---|---|
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| Category | Second-level administrative division |
| Location | States and union territories of India |
| Number | 766 (as of 1 August 2022) |
| Populations | Greatest: North 24 Parganas, West Bengal—10,082,852 (2011 census) Least: Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh—8,004 (2011 census) |
| Areas | Largest: Kutch, Gujarat—45,652 km2 (17,626 sq mi) Smallest: Mahé, Puducherry—8.69 km2 (3.36 sq mi) |
| Densities | Largest: Central Delhi, Delhi Smallest: Lower Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh |
| Government |
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| Subdivisions |
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District officials include:
- District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner or District Collector, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service, in charge of administration and revenue collection[2]
- Superintendent of Police or Senior Superintendent of Police or Deputy Commissioner of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service, responsible for maintaining law and order[3]
- Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service, entrusted with the management of the forests, environment and wildlife of the district[4]
Each of these officials is aided by officers from the appropriate branch of the state government.
Most districts have a distinct headquarters; but the districts of Mumbai City in Maharashtra,[5] Kolkata in West Bengal, Hyderabad in Telangana, and Chennai in Tamil Nadu are examples where there are no distinct district headquarters, although there are district collectors.