Odisha, a state on the eastern coast of India, is divided into 30 administrative geographical units called districts. These 30 districts have been placed under three different revenue divisions to streamline their governance. The divisions are Central, North and South with their headquarters at Kataka (Central Division), Sambalpur (Northern Division), Brahmapur (Southern Division) respectively. Odisha has 03 Divisions, 30 Districts, 58 Sub-Divisions, 317 Tahasils and 314 Blocks.
History The administrative geography of Odisha was established through three major historical milestones: the creation of a linguistically separate British province on 1 April 1936 under the Government of India Act 1935, the integration of 25 tributary princely states (Garhjats) between 1948 and 1949, and a state-wide administrative decentralization initiative executed between October 1992 and January 1994.
Chronology The table below tracks the precise timeline, territorial origin, and individual princely state inclusions for every district established in Odisha since 1936.
Year Date Action Type Resulting District Parent Territory and Specific Garhjat Inclusions 1936 1 April Provincial Founding Cuttack Coastal Cuttack Division detached from the Bihar and Orissa Province. Puri Coastal Puri Division detached from the Bihar and Orissa Province. Balasore Coastal Balasore Division detached from the Bihar and Orissa Province. Sambalpur Sambalpur Division, previously transferred from the Central Provinces in 1905. Ganjam Northern taluks detached from the Madras Presidency. Koraput Jeypore Zamindari and hill agency tracts detached from the Vizagapatam district of the Madras Presidency. 1949 1 January Princely Integration Mayurbhanj Integrated as an intact, standalone district from the single large Bhanja princely state of Mayurbhanj. 1 November Balangir Consolidated via the merger of Patna State and Sonepur State. Dhenkanal Consolidated from the merger of six distinct Gadajata princely states: Dhenkanal, Talcher, Hindol, Athmallik, Athgarh, and Tigiria. Kalahandi Established by merging Kalahandi State (Karond) with the Nuapada subdivision. Keonjhar Established directly within the territorial boundaries of the former Keonjhar princely state. Phulbani Formed by integrating Baudh State with the legacy British-administered Khondmals and Baliguda agency tracts. Sundargarh Consolidated from the merger of two major western Garhjat princely states: Gangpur State and Bonai State. 1992 2 October Decentralization Split Gajapati Paralakhemundi subdivision was partitioned from Ganjam district. Malkangiri Malkangiri subdivision partitioned from the southern limits of Koraput district. Nabarangpur Nabarangpur subdivision partitioned from the northern high-plateau plains of Koraput district. Rayagada Rayagada and Gunupur subdivisions partitioned from the eastern tribal hill tracts of Koraput district. 1993 1 April Angul Angul, Talcher, and Pallahara subdivisions partitioned from Dhenkanal district. Bargarh Bargarh and Padampur subdivisions partitioned from Sambalpur district. Bhadrak Bhadrak subdivision partitioned from the northern coastal plains of Balasore district. Boudh Boudh subdivision partitioned from Phulbani district, severing the historic 1949 integration tract. Jagatsinghpur Jagatsinghpur subdivision partitioned from the Mahanadi delta zone of Cuttack district. Jajpur Jajpur subdivision partitioned from the northern administrative limits of Cuttack district. Kendrapara Kendrapara subdivision partitioned from the maritime delta limits of Cuttack district. Khordha Khurda and Bhubaneswar subdivisions partitioned from Puri district. Nayagarh Nayagarh, Khandpara, Daspalla, and Ranpur subdivisions partitioned from Puri district. Nuapada Nuapada subdivision partitioned from the western plateau boundaries of Kalahandi district. Subarnapur Sonepur subdivision partitioned from the northeastern administrative lines of Balangir district. 1994 1 January Jharsuguda Jharsuguda subdivision partitioned from the northern industrial belt of Sambalpur district. Deogarh Deogarh subdivision partitioned from the northeastern forest belts of Sambalpur district.
Divisions
The districts of Odisha have been placed under three different revenue divisions to streamline their governance. The divisions are Central, North and South with their headquarters at Kataka (Central Division), Sambalpur (Northern Division), Brahmapur (Southern Division) respectively. Each division consists of 10 districts, and has as its administrative head a Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), a senior rank officer of Indian Administrative Service. The position of the RDC in the administrative hierarchy is that between that of the district administration and the state secretariat. The list of districts, organized by divisions: Northern Division(HQ – Sambalpur)Central Division(HQ – Kataka)Southern Division(HQ – Brahmapur) Angul Balangir Bargarh Deogarh Dhenkanal Jharsuguda Keonjhar Sambalpur Subarnapur Sundargarh Baleshwar Bhadrak Cuttack Jagatsinghpur Jajpur Kendrapada Khordha Mayurbhanj Nayagada Puri Boudh Gajapati Ganjam Kalahandi Kandhamal Koraput Malkangiri Nabarangpur Nuapada Rayagada
Administration The Collector and District Magistrate, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), is in charge of revenue collection and the general administration of a district. The Superintendent of Police (SP), an officer of the Indian Police Service (IPS), is responsible for maintaining law and order and managing related policing issues within the district. The 30 districts of Odisha are divided into 58 sub-divisions. These sub-divisions are governed by a Sub-Collector and Sub-Divisional Magistrate. For local governance, the sub-divisions are decentralized into Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) for urban areas and Blocks (Panchayat Samitis) for rural areas. The following table lists the administrative sub-divisions, along with the specific urban local bodies and community development blocks mapped hierarchically inside each sub-division, fully totaling 58 sub-divisions, 143 urban local bodies, and 314 blocks statewide: