🗂️ 75 Districts & 18 Divisions of UP

Administrative Framework

Many UP GK questions do not ask for deep theory here. They ask whether you can mentally move from the state level down to the district level without confusion: division, district, tehsil, block, and gram panchayat. Once this ladder is clear, division-wise lists and district-record questions become much easier.

Uttar Pradesh follows a layered administrative hierarchy for governance, law and order, revenue work, and local development. For exam purposes, the two most stable headline facts are:

• 18 divisions
• 75 districts

Level	Hindi Term	Total Count
Division (मण्डल)	Mandal	18
District (जिला)	Zila	75
Tehsil (तहसील)	Tehsil	Around 350
Block (खण्ड)	Vikas Khand	Changes with administrative updates
Gram Panchayat (ग्राम पंचायत)	Gram Panchayat	Changes with local-body reorganization

Each division is headed by a Divisional Commissioner (मण्डलायुक्त), each district by a District Magistrate / Collector (जिलाधिकारी), and each tehsil by a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (उप-जिलाधिकारी). In simple terms, the division supervises several districts, while the district is the main unit through which state administration reaches the public.

Exam Tip: The safest memory pair is 18 divisions and 75 districts. Exact counts for blocks or gram panchayats can change with administrative restructuring, so treat them as secondary unless a question explicitly gives a reference year or current government figure.

---

The 18 Divisions of Uttar Pradesh

Below is the complete list of all 18 divisions with their headquarters and constituent districts. You do not need to memorize the table in one go. A better method is to first identify the divisions that produce trick questions, then remember district clusters around them.

S.No.	Division (मण्डल)	Headquarters	Districts
1	Lucknow	Lucknow	Lucknow, Hardoi, Lakhimpur Kheri, Raebareli, Sitapur, Unnao
2	Agra	Agra	Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Mathura
3	Aligarh	Aligarh	Aligarh, Etah, Hathras, Kasganj
4	Prayagraj	Prayagraj	Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Pratapgarh
5	Ayodhya	Ayodhya	Ayodhya, Ambedkar Nagar, Amethi, Barabanki, Sultanpur
6	Azamgarh	Azamgarh	Azamgarh, Ballia, Mau
7	Bareilly	Bareilly	Bareilly, Badaun, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur
8	Basti	Basti	Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Siddharth Nagar
9	Chitrakoot	Banda	Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Mahoba
10	Devipatan	Gonda	Gonda, Balrampur, Bahraich, Shravasti
11	Gorakhpur	Gorakhpur	Gorakhpur, Deoria, Kushinagar, Maharajganj
12	Jhansi	Jhansi	Jhansi, Jalaun, Lalitpur
13	Kanpur	Kanpur Nagar	Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Auraiya, Etawah, Farrukhabad, Kannauj
14	Meerut	Meerut	Meerut, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Gautam Buddha Nagar
15	Mirzapur	Mirzapur	Mirzapur, Sant Ravidas Nagar (Bhadohi), Sonbhadra
16	Moradabad	Moradabad	Moradabad, Amroha, Bijnor, Rampur, Sambhal
17	Saharanpur	Saharanpur	Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli
18	Varanasi	Varanasi	Varanasi, Chandauli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur

---

Notable Division Facts

Some divisions have unique characteristics that examiners love to test because the division name and headquarters do not always match in the way students expect:

• Chitrakoot Division — headquarters is at Banda, not Chitrakoot town itself. This is a common trick question.
• Devipatan Division — headquarters is at Gonda, not Devipatan. Named after the famous Devipatan temple in Balrampur.
• Lucknow Division has the most districts (6), tied with Kanpur and Meerut divisions.
• Jhansi Division has the fewest districts (3), along with Azamgarh, Basti, Mirzapur, and Saharanpur.

Exam Tip: The most reliable "trick headquarters" pair is: Chitrakoot → Banda and Devipatan → Gonda.

---

District Extremes — Size, Population & Records

By Area

Record	District	Value
Largest district by area	Lakhimpur Kheri	7,680 sq km
Smallest district by area	Hapur	~660 sq km

Lakhimpur Kheri stands out not just because it is large, but because students often encounter it again in environment and Nepal-border lessons. Linking district records across topics makes revision easier.

By Population (Census 2011)

Record	District
Most populous district	Prayagraj (Allahabad)
Least populous district	Mahoba
Most densely populated	Ghaziabad
Least densely populated	Sonbhadra

These record-style questions are usually based on Census 2011 in standard UP GK material. So if the exam uses the older name Allahabad, do not get confused: that is the same district now called Prayagraj.

---

Recently Created Districts

UP's district count has grown over time through bifurcation and renaming. Exams often mix up three different ideas, so keep them separate:

• a new district created
• a district carved from an older district
• a district renamed, which is not the same thing as being newly created

Some of the more recent examples that show up repeatedly are:

District	Carved From	Year
Hapur	Ghaziabad	2011
Shamli	Muzaffarnagar	2011
Sambhal	Moradabad	2011
Amethi	Sultanpur	2010
Kasganj	Etah	2008
Prayagraj	Renamed from Allahabad	2018

Exam Tip: Hapur, Shamli, and Sambhal are remembered together because all three were created in 2011. Prayagraj is a renaming of Allahabad in 2018, not a new district.

---

Division-Wise District Count

Districts in Division	Divisions
6 districts	Lucknow, Kanpur, Meerut
5 districts	Ayodhya, Moradabad
4 districts	Agra, Aligarh, Prayagraj, Bareilly, Chitrakoot, Devipatan, Gorakhpur, Varanasi
3 districts	Azamgarh, Basti, Jhansi, Mirzapur, Saharanpur

Summary Cheat Sheet

Item	Quick Fact
Total Divisions	18
Total Districts	75
Total Tehsils	Around 350
Lower-Level Counts	Blocks and gram panchayats can change with administrative updates
Largest District (Area)	Lakhimpur Kheri (7,680 sq km)
Smallest District (Area)	Hapur (~660 sq km)
Most Populous District	Prayagraj / Allahabad (Census 2011 naming context)
Least Populous District	Mahoba
Most Densely Populated	Ghaziabad
Least Densely Populated	Sonbhadra
Trick HQ #1	Chitrakoot Division → Banda
Trick HQ #2	Devipatan Division → Gonda
Newest Districts	Hapur, Shamli, Sambhal (2011)
Renaming Trap	Prayagraj = former Allahabad (renamed 2018)