Chandigarh

History

The establishment of the city of Chandigarh was the result of the crises and chaos in northwestern India in the aftermath of its independence from British colonial rule. During the partition of India in 1947, the province of Punjab was divided into two: the majority Hindu and Sikh eastern portion that remained in India and the majority Muslim western portion that became part of Pakistan. Lahore, the provincial capital of undivided Punjab, though fiercely contested during partition, was eventually ceded to Pakistan. The provincial government of independent India's East Punjab state was left without an administrative center or capital. The loss of Lahore, the need for the rehabilitation of refugees from West Pakistan and a mounting exodus of business communities from the state created a sense of urgency. Shimla, the former summer capital of both British India and the Punjab province, partially housed the government of East Punjab state. Shimla's inability to fully contain the administrative machinery resulted in government offices to be scattered at several places across the state, imposing difficulties and costs on the public as well as the government. It was decided by representatives of the government of India and of the state of East Punjab to build a new capital for the state, because attaching capital functions to an existing city—all of which were considered inadequate and had swollen in size due to migration of refugees from West Pakistan—was considered as costly as building a new city. The new capital needed to have enough space for government machinery, for resettlement of refugees and their businesses, for expansion, and adequate rail, road and air connectivity; it also had to assuage the psychological loss of partition, its construction supposed to…

Geography

Chandigarh is located by the foothills of the Shivalik Range of the Himalayas in northwest India. It covers an area of approximately 114 km2. It borders the states of Punjab and Haryana. The exact geographic coordinates of Chandigarh are . It has an average elevation of 321 metres (1053 ft). The city, lying in the northern plains, includes a vast area of flat, fertile land. Its northeast covers sections of Bhabar, while the remainder of its terrain is part of the Terai. Its surrounding cities are Mohali, New Chandigarh, Patiala, Zirakpur and Rupnagar in Punjab, Panchkula and Ambala in Haryana and Shimla and Solan in Himachal Pradesh. Chandigarh is situated 44 km (28 miles) north of Ambala, 229 km (143 miles) southeast of Amritsar, and 250 km (156 miles) north of Delhi. Chandigarh has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa) characterised by a seasonal rhythm: very hot summers, mild winters, unreliable rainfall, and great temperature variation (). The average annual rainfall is . The city also receives occasional winter rains from the Western Disturbance originating over the Mediterranean Sea. The western disturbances bring rain predominantly from mid-December until the end of April, which can be heavier sometimes with strong wind and hail if the weather turns colder (during March–April months), which usually proves disastrous to local crops. Cold northwesterly winds usually tend to come from the Himalayas that lie to the north, which receive snowfall during wintertime. Chandigarh has been ranked 27th best "National Clean Air City" (under Category 1 >10L Population cities) in India. Most of Chandigarh is covered by dense banyan and eucalyptus plantations. Ashoka, cassia, mulberry and other trees flourish in the forested ecosystem.…

Most-observed species

• Common Myna

  Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,874
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  2,740
• Rose-ringed Parakeet

  Psittacula krameri (Scopoli, 1769) · Aves
  2,714
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  2,685
• House Crow

  Corvus splendens Vieillot, 1817 · Aves
  2,631
• Red-wattled Lapwing

  Vanellus indicus (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  2,600
• Jungle Babbler

  Turdoides striata (Dumont, 1823) · Aves
  2,468
• Red-vented Bulbul

  Pycnonotus cafer (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,403

Most recent

• M 4.4 — 2025-10-14
  10 km NE of Rājgarh, India
• M 4.3 — 2021-11-23
  9 km NNE of Seoni, India
• M 4.5 — 2016-08-01
  15 km WNW of Seoni, India
• M 4.2 — 2015-10-08
  8 km NE of Sundarnagar, India
• M 4.6 — 2014-02-21
  18 km ESE of Dirba, India
• M 4.4 — 2013-08-29
  1 km NNE of Una, India