Forgotten World (57): Uttar Pradesh
There are endless reference in the media to India as a nation, usually focusing on its size (more than a billion people) and its growth (annual rate of around 8%). But there is little media reporting to illustrate the sheer scale and diversity of the nation.
The largest of India’s 28 states is Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the north of the country. With over 175 million inhabitants, UP is the most populous state in India and is also the most populous country subdivision in the world. On its own, if it was an independent nation, this state would be the world’s sixth biggest country. Only China, India itself, the United States, Indonesia and Brazil have a higher population.
In Indian general elections, it fills more than one-seventh of the seats in India’s Parliament and, such is the state’s caste-based and sometimes violent politics that, currently a quarter of UP’s MPs face criminal charges.
Uttar Pradesh is a very fertile region and a major contributor to the national foodgrain stock. It is also home to 78% of the national livestock population. However, economic growth faltered in the 1990s, and UP is now trailing some of India’s better performing states.