Chandigarh ਚੰਡੀਗੜ੍ਹ चण्डीगढ़
City Beautiful
—  union territory  —
Seal
Chandigarh Location of Chandigarh ਚੰਡੀਗੜ੍ਹ चण्डीगढ़
Coordinates	30°45′N 76°47′E
Country	India
District(s)	1
Established	1953
Capital	Chandigarh
Largest city	Chandigarh Mayor: Ravinder Pal Singh
Population • Density	1,054,686 • 9,252 /km2 (23,963 /sq mi)
HDI	0.860 (very high)
Literacy	81.9%
Official languages	Punjabi, Hindi and English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	114 km2 (44 sq mi) • 350 metres (1,150 ft)
Codes
ISO 3166-2	IN-CH
Footnotes
Website	chandigarh.nic.in/

Chandigarh (Punjabi: ਚੰਡੀਗੜ੍ਹ, Hindi: चण्डीगढ़) is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Punjab and Haryana. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name was coined from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu Goddess Chandi, present in the city's vicinity. It is occasionally referred to as The City Beautiful. Chandigarh Capital Region (CCR), including Mohali, Panchkula, and Zirakpur, had a combined population of 1,165,111 (1.16 million) as per the 2001 census. Earlier the Chandigarh Capital region was also called 'Tricity' because of Panchkula and Mohali as adjacent cities but with the mushrooming of other towns like Zirakpur, Kharar etc. with considerable population it is better called 'Chandigarh Capital Region'.

As the first planned city of India, Chandigarh is known internationally for its architecture and urban planning. Chandigarh is home to numerous architectural projects of Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Matthew Nowicki, and Albert Mayer. The city tops the list of Indian States and Union Territories with the highest per capita income in the country at Rs.99,262 at current prices and Rs.70,361 at constant prices (2006–2007). As per a study conducted by Ministry of Urban Development, Chandigarh has emerged as the cleanest city in India,while also topping the List of Indian states and territories by Human Development Index.

History

After the partition of British India into the two nations of India and Pakistan in 1947, the region of Punjab was also split between India and Pakistan. The Indian state of Punjab required a new capital city to replace Lahore, which became part of Pakistan during the partition. After several plans to make additions to existing cities were found to be infeasible for various reasons, the decision to construct a new and planned city was undertaken. Of all the new town schemes in independent India, the Chandigarh project quickly assumed prime significance, because of the city's strategic location as well as the personal interest of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India. Commissioned by Nehru to reflect the new nation's modern, progressive outlook. Chandigarh were designed by the French (bornSwiss) architect and urban planner, Le Corbusier, in the 1950s. Le Corbusier was in fact the second architect of the city, after the initial master plan was prepared by the American architect-planner Albert Mayer who was working with the Poland-born architect Matthew Nowicki.

On 1 November 1966, the newly-formed Indian state of Haryana was carved out of the eastern portion of the Punjab, in order to create Haryana as a majority Hindi speaking state, while the western portion of Punjab retained a mostly Punjabi language-speaking majority and remained as the current day Punjab. However, the city of Chandigarh was on the border, and was thus created into a union territory to serve as capital of both these states.

Geography and climate

Sukhna Lake

Chandigarh is located near the foothills of the Shivalik range of the Himalayas in Northwest India. It covers an area of approximately 44 sq mi or 114 km². and shares its borders with the states of Haryana in the east and Punjab in the north, west and south. The exact cartographic co-ordinates of Chandigarh are 30.74°N 76.79°E. It has an average elevation of 321 metres (1053 ft).

Chandigarh
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     33   20 6     39   23 8     30   28 13     9   35 19     28   38 23     145   39 25     280   34 24     308   33 23     133   33 22     22   32 17     9   27 11     22   22 7 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: World Weather Information Service
Imperial conversion

The surrounding districts are of Mohali, Patiala and Roopnagar in Punjab and Panchkula and Ambala in Haryana. The boundary of the state of Himachal Pradesh is also minutes away from its north border.

Chandigarh has a humid subtropical climate characterized by a seasonal rhythm: very hot summers, mild winters, unreliable rainfall and great variation in temperature (-1 °C to 41.2 °C). In winter, pieces of snow sometimes occurs during December and January. The average annual rainfall is 1110.7 mm. The city also receives occasional winter rains from the west.

Average temperature

• Spring: The climate remains quite pleasant during the spring season (from mid-February to mid-March and then from mid-September to mid-October). Temperatures vary between (max) 16 °C to 25 °C and (min) 9 °C to 18 °C.
• Autumn: In autumn (from Mid-March to April), the temperature may rise to a maximum of 36 °C. Temperatures usually remain between 16° to 27° in autumn. The minimum temperature is around 11 °C.
• Summer: The temperature in summer (from Mid-May to Mid-June) may rise to a maximum of 45 °C (rarely). Temperatures generally remain between 35 °C to 40 °C (94 - 101F).
• Monsoon: During monsoon(from mid-June to mid-September), Chandigarh receives moderate to heavy rainfall and sometimes heavy to very heavy rainfall (generally during the month of August or September). Usually, the rain bearing monsoon winds blow from south-west/ south-east. Mostly, the city receives heavy rain from south (which is mainly a persistent rain) but it generally receives most of its rain during monsoon either from North-west or North-east. Maximum amount of rain received by the city of Chandigrah during monsoon season is 195.5 mm in a single day.
• Winter: Winters (November to Mid-March) are mild but it can sometimes get quite chilly in Chandigarh. Average temperatures in the winter remain at (max) 7 °C to 15 °C and (min) -3 °C to 5 °C. Rain usually comes from the west during winters and it is usually a persistent rain for 2–3 days with sometimes hail-storms.

Environment

Sambar in a forest

Most of Chandigarh is covered by dense Banyan and Eucalyptus plantations. Asoka, Cassia, Mulberry and other trees flourish in the forested ecosystem.The city has forests surrounding it which sustain many animal and plant species. Deers, Sambars, Barking Deers, Parrots, Woodpeckers and Peacocks inhabit the protected forests. Sukhna Lake hosts a variety of ducks and geese, and attracts migratory birds from parts of Siberia and Japan in the winter season.

A parrot sanctuary located in the city is home to a variety of bird species.

Architecture and urban planning

Chandigarh Secretariat Building

Taking over from Albert Mayer, Le Corbusier produced a plan for Chandigarh that conformed to the modern city planning principles of Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne CIAM, in terms of division of urban functions, an anthropomorphic plan form, and a hierarchy of road and pedestrian networks. This vision of Chandigarh, contained in the innumerable conceptual maps on the drawing board together with notes and sketches had to be translated into brick and mortar. Le Corbusier retained many of the seminal ideas of Mayer and Nowicki, like the basic framework of the master plan and its components: The Capitol, City Center, besides the University, Industrial area, and linear parkland. Even the neighborhood unit was retained as the basic module of planning. However, the curving outline of Mayer and Nowicki was reorganized into a mesh of rectangles, and the buildings were characterized by an "honesty of materials". Exposed brick and boulder stone masonry in its rough form produced unfinished concrete surfaces, in geometrical structures. This became the architectural form characteristic of Chandigarh, set amidst landscaped gardens and parks.

The Open Hand Monument

Chandigarh Museum and Art gallery have a separate section dedicated to the architecture of Chandigarh.

Chandigarh administration

Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh

Chandigarh Administration is under the control of the Administrator who is appointed under the provisions of Art 239 of the Constitution. The administrative control of Chandigarh is under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Adviser to the Administrator, a very senior officer equivalent to the Chief Secretary of a state, belonging to one of the All India Services, is second in command after the Administrator. S/He generally belongs to the AGMU cadre of the Indian Administrative Service.

• The Deputy Commissioner, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service, is the in-charge of the General Administration in the Chandigarh UT.
• The Senior Superintendent of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service, is responsible for maintaining Law & Order and related issues in the Chandigarh UT.
• The Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service, is responsible for the management of the Forests, Environment, Wild-Life and Pollution Control in the Chandigarh UT.

The above three officers are generally from AGMU cadre and can also be from Punjab or Haryana cadres of the All India Services.

Demographics

Religion in Chandigarh
Religion			Percent
Hinduism			78.6%
Sikhism			16.1%
Islam			3.9%
Others			1.4%
Distribution of religions

As of 2001 India census, Chandigarh had a population of 900,635, making for a density of about 7900 persons per square kilometre. Males constitute 56% of the population and females 44%. The sex ratio is 777 females for every 1,000 males–which is the lowest in the country. Chandigarh has an average literacy rate of 81.9%, higher than the national average of 64.8%; with male literacy of 86.1% and female literacy of 76.5%. About 12% of the population is under 6 years of age. The main religions in Chandigarh are Hinduism: 78.6%, Sikhism: 16.1%, Islam: 3.9%, and Christianity: 0.8%. Hindi and Punjabi and are the main languages spoken in Chandigarh, although these days English is quite popular. A significant percentage of the population of Chandigarh consists of people who had moved here from the neighboring states of Haryana and Punjab to fill up the large number of vacancies in various government departments that were established in Chandigarh.