Previous Year Question on Union Territory

Which one among the following Union Territories of India is the smallest in the geographical area?

Chandigarh
Puducherry
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
Lakshadweep

Answer: D

Solution

As of November 2020, India has eight Union Territories. The following table mentions Union Territories and their geographical area:

What is a Union Territory?

A union territory is a federal territory which is governed and administered by the central government of India. Currently, there are 8 union territories-

Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Chandigarh
Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Delhi
Jammu and Kashmir
Ladakh
Lakshadweep
Puducherry

Due to the recent developments, some people lost the count of union territories in India. Did you know? There were 9 union territories of India in total between October 31, 2019, and January 26, 2020. As indicated above, the inclusion of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh increased the count to 9 after the abolition of Article 370. Almost three months later, two union territories Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli merged into a single unit bringing the count down to 8.

8 Union Territories of India and their Capitals

Proceeding further, let us now learn the capitals of union territories of India. Know about the land area occupied by each UT and date of recognition as a union territory through the tabular data below.

Union Territory	Capital	Details
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Port Blair	A group of islands in southern India got recognition as a UT on November 1, 1956.
Chandigarh	Chandigarh	Located in North India. Chandigarh became a union territory on November 1, 1966.
Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli	Daman	Following the merger of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the capital of the UT is Daman.
Delhi	New Delhi	Located in North India. Delhi was recognised as a union territory in 1956.
Ladakh	Leh, Kargil	After the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir in October 2019, Ladakh became a union territory.
Lakshadweep	Kavaratti	Lakshadweep is the smallest union territory of India in terms of geographical area. It was established as a UT in November 1956.
Jammu & Kashmir	Srinagar (Summer Capital) Jammu (Winter Capital)	J & K became a UT after the abolition of Article 370 in October 2019.
Puducherry	Puducherry	Situated in South India. It was recognised as a UT on November 1, 1954.