ARTICLE 1

(1) India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.

[1](2) The States and the territories thereof shall be as specified in the First Schedule.

(3) The territory of India shall comprise —

        (a) the territories of the States;

    [2](b) the Union territories specified in the First Schedule; and

       (c) such other territories as may be acquired.

[1] Subs. by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 2, for cl. (2)

[2] Subs. by s. 2, ibid., for sub-clause (b).

 

Note:

The names of the States and the Unions have been described in the First Schedule. This schedule also holds that there are four Categories of State and territories – Part A, Part B, Part C and Part D.

  • Part A – includes the nine provinces which were under British India
  • Part B – princely states consisted of this category
  • Part C – centrally administered five states
  • Part D – Andaman and Nicobar Islands

In the seventh amendment of the Constitution in 1956 the distinction between the Part A and Part B states was abolished. Subsequently states were reorganized on linguistic basis. As a result several new states were formed, eg. Haryana, Goa, Nagaland, Mizoram etc. At present there are 29 States and 7 union territories.