State located in the Western (or "Punjab") Himalayas bordering Tibet. Himachal Pradesh (translated as "snow-laden province") was a jumble of 28 'princely states' so-designated by the British Raj organized into a province of four Punjab southern hill states and Simla Hills States under an Indian Chief Commissioner on April 15, 1948.
Augmented by the absorption of the State of Bilaspur in 1954, Himachal Pradesh became a Union Territory on November 1, 1956 and a State on the 25th of January 1971.
The official language is Hindi and the capital is Shimla.
