‘Northern Province’

From Skt/Hin: uttara/uttari, ‘north(ern)’; and Skt: pradēśḥ, ‘province’, ‘region’, ‘territory’.

Under the British this territory had a series of related names:  the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh; the United Provinces of British India; and the United Provinces.  In 1950 U.P. (United Provinces) became U.P. (Uttar Pradesh).

Uttar Pradesh, with its 200 million inhabitants, is the most populous state in India and would be the the 4th largest country in the world behind China, India. the U.S. and Indonesia.

It also has a very long border, sharing it with eight other states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand)and one Union Territory (Delhi NCT).

It is top in food grains (19%), sugar (70%) and does quite well in tourism (237m domestic and foreign visitors in 2017), which is not surprising given the fact that it has Agra (Taj Mahal), and Varanasi to name but two.

For more on Indian place names and history, see Toponymy on the Ashoka Express and Uttar Pradesh: Northern Province

For a journey through tribal India and Sri Lanka, see Headhunting with Marguerite