Administrative Units of Punjab: Division, Districts and Tehsils

Explore the administrative units of Punjab, including districts, divisions, tehsils, and blocks, along with their governance structure and administrative functions.

Table of Contents

Location

Punjab is situated in the north-western part of the country.
The state is often climaxed as the cradle of civilization. It has been a gateway to foreigners in India which ultimately changed the course of the history of our country and helped in the development of our rich culture.
The state covers an area of 50,362 sq. km, which is 1.53% of the geographical area of the country.
Amongst 28 states and 8 Union Territories (UT) of India, Punjab stands at 19th rank in terms of size.
The States lie between 29°30′ N to 32°32′ N latitude (333 Km) and 73°55′ E to 76°50′ E longitude (about 300 Km). It has 23 districts as of 15 April 2024.
Punjab shares an international border with Pakistan on the western side. Six of its districts touch the border, i.e. Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fazilka.

The State shares its border with 3 states and 2 UTs

UT of Jammu & Kashmir in the north: one district, i.e. Pathankot touches it.
Himachal Pradesh in the east: five districts, i.e. Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur and Rup Nagar touch it.
UT of Chandigarh in the south-east: one district, i.e. SAS Nagar touches it.
Haryana in the South: six districts, i.e. Muktsar Sahib, Bathinda, Mansa, Sangrur,
Patiala, SAS Nagar touch it.
Rajasthan in the south-west: two districts, i.e.Fazilka and Muktsar Sahib, touch it.

Civil Administration

Punjab is divided into 5 divisions and further divided into subdivisions (tehsils), sub-tehsils and blocks.

Five divisions in order of their size are Jalandhar, Patiala, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Ropar.
The latest created 3 districts in Punjab are given below (in order from latest to oldest):
1. Malerkotla (by partition of Sangrur) – 2 June, 2021
2. Pathankot (by partition of Gurdaspur) – 27th July, 2011
3. Fazilka (by partition of Ferozepur) – 27th July, 2011
There are a total of 97 tehsils and 82 sub-tehsils in Punjab (as per Punjab’s Statistical Abstract 2024).
The latest created tehsils in Punjab are given below (in order from latest to oldest):
1. Amargarh (Malerkotla) – June 2021
2. Lopoke (Amritsar) – September 2020
3. Dina Nagar (Gurdaspur) – May 2018
The latest created sub-tehsils in Punjab are given below (in order from latest to oldest):
1. Mallanwala (Ferozepur) – January 2022
2. Audh (ShaheedBhagat Singh Nagar) – January 2022
3. Dorangla (Gurdaspur) – December 2021
4. Sham Chaurasi (Hoshiarpur) – July 2020
Largest Districts (from biggest to smallest): Ludhiana, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur
Smallest Districts (from smallest to biggest): Malerkotla, Pathankot, SAS Nagar

Districts of Punjab (as of 15/03/2023)
Division	District	Founded by/ Named after	Tehsils
1.Jalandhar	1.Amritsar	Guru Ram Das Ji	6
	2.Gurdaspur	GuriyaJi	6
	3.Pathankot	—	2
	4.Taran Taran	Guru Arjan Devi	4
	5.Kapurthala	RanaKapur	4
	6.Jalandhar	Nakodar Khan	6
	7.Hoshiarpur	—	5
2. Ropar	8.Saheed Bhagat Singh(Nawashahr)	Nausher Khan	3
	9.Rupnagar	Raja Rokeshar	5
	10. SahibzadaAjit Singh Nagar(Mohali)	—	3
3. Faridkot	11. Mansa	BhaiGurdas	3
	12. Bathinda (Vikramgarh)	The The name of Rajput ruler Binai Pal and his WazirThanda Ram	4
	13. Faridkot (Mokhalhar)	Raja Mokalsi named it Mokhalhar and later name changed to Faridkot after Baba Farid	3
4.Ferozepur	14. Fazilka	Founded by Mr. Oliver & named after MianFazilWatoo	3
	15. Ferozepur	FirozshahTughlag	3
	16. Mukatsar(khidrane di Dhab	Named after 40 Muktas	3
	17.Moga	Moga Singh Gill	4
5. Patiala	18. Ludhiana	Yusuf Khan and Nihang Khan of Lodhi Dynasty	7
	19. Barnala	Baba Ala Singh	3
	20.Patiala	Baba Ala Singh	6
	21. Fatehgarh	Named after SahibzadaFateh Singh	4
	22. Sangrur	Sanghu, a Jat	7
	23.Malerkotla	Maler from Raja Maler Singh and Kotla founded in 1657 by Bayzid Khan	3