A district of the Punjab state of India is the third-level administrative geographical unit, headed by a District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service. The District Magistrate or the Deputy Commissioner is assisted by a number of officers belonging to Punjab Civil Service and other state services. There are 23 Districts in Punjab, after Malerkotla district bifurcated from Sangrur district as the 23rd district on 14 May 2021.
Overview
Districts are officially divided among 5 administrative divisions: Faridkot, Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Patiala, and Ropar. Senior Superintendent of Police, an officer of the Indian Police Service is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues in the districts of the state. They are assisted by the officers of the Punjab Police and other services. Division Forest Officer, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service is responsible for managing the forests, environment and wildlife related issues of the districts. They are assisted by the officers of the Department of Forest and Wildlife. Sectoral development is looked after by the district head of each development sector such as Irrigation, PwD (Public works department), Agriculture, Health, Education, Animal husbandry, etc. These offices belong to various state services.
History After the independence of India in 1947 that partitioned British Punjab into two halves, Indian Punjab (which consisted of present-day Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh) consisted of thirteen districts that had been under direct British-rule: Ambala, Hisar, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Karnal, Jullundur (now Jalandhar), Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Simla (now Shimla), and Kangra. Regarding territory of the princely-states, the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) was formed in 15 July 1948 out of the former princely-states of Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Kapurthala, Faridkot, Malerkotla, Kalsia, and Nalagarh. Yadvinder Singh of Patiala served as the Rajpramukh of PEPSU but the short-lived entity was absorbed into Punjab in 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
Before the 1966 split, Punjab consisted of 18 district, with 7 districts being predominantly Hindi-speaking, parts of Ambala, Sangrur, Karnal, Gurgaon, Rohtak, Hisar, and Mahendragarh districts. The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 trifucated the Punjab state based upon linguistic and geographical divides, where Hindi-speaking areas were separated to form Haryana and mountaine areas in the Pahari region were separated to form Himachal Pradesh. This left Punjab with eleven districts: Amritsar, Gurdaspur (some areas transferred to Himachal Pradesh), Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur (some areas transferred to Himachal Pradesh, specifically Una tehsil), Ludhiana, Bathinda, Kapurthala, Sangrur (some areas transferred to Haryana), Patiala, and Ropar (carved out out of the former Ambala district). Chandigarh became the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana as a Union Territory (UT). The seven mostly Hindi-speaking districts and hill districts were transferred to Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, respectively.
In 1972, Faridkot district was formed as the 12th district by carving out areas from Bathinda and Ferozepur districts. Mansa became the 13th district when it was carved-out of Bathinda district in 1992. Also in 1992, Fatehgarh Sahib district was created by carving-out areas of Patiala and Ropar districts. Muktsar Sahib district was created by carving out areas of Faridkot district. Nawanshahr district was created by carving-out areas of Hoshiarpur district (such as Balachaur tehsil). Moga became the 17th district by carving-out areas from Faridkot and Ferozpur districts. Mohali district formed in 2006. Tarn Taran district was formed out of Amritsar district to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Guru Arjan. In 2011, three new districts were formed, Pathankot district from Gurdaspur district, Barnala district from Sangrur district, and Fazilka district from Ferozepur district, leaving the total number of districts as twenty-two. In 2021, Malerkotla district was formed out of Sangrur district. Despite its formation, adequate infrastructure befitting of a district is yet to be provided fully to Malerkotla district. As of today, there are presently 23 districts in Punjab, India.
In late 2025, an Anandpur Sahib district was proposed to be formed out of Ropar district and Hoshiarpur district.
Nomenclature The names of nearly all the districts of Punjab are eponymous with their district headquarters. Some district have been renamed to commemorate historical figures, such as Nawanshahr district being renamed to Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (in 2008) and Mohali district being renamed to Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar.
List + S. No. Code District Headquarters Population (2011) Area (km2) Density (/km2) Highlighted Map 1 AM Amritsar Amritsar 2,490,891 2,647 932 2 BNL Barnala Barnala 596,294 1,410 419 3 BA Bathinda Bathinda 1,388,859 3,385 414 4 FR Faridkot Faridkot 618,008 1,469 424 5 FT Fatehgarh Sahib Fatehgarh Sahib 599,814 1,180 508 6 FI Firozpur Firozpur 965,337 2,190 440 7 FA FazilkaFazilka district was formed in 2011, no data in census 2011 on this district Fazilka 1,180,483 3,113 379 8 GU Gurdaspur Gurdaspur 2,299,026 2,635 872 9 HO Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur 1,582,793 3,365 466 10 JA Jalandhar Jalandhar 2,181,753 2,632 831 11 KA Kapurthala Kapurthala 817,668 1,632 501 12 LU Ludhiana Ludhiana 3,487,882 3,767 975 13 ML Malerkotla Malerkotla 452,016 837 540 14 MA Mansa Mansa 768,808 2,171 350 15 MO Moga Moga 992,289 2,216 444 16 MU Sri Muktsar Sahib Sri Muktsar Sahib 902,702 2,615 348 17 PA Pathankot Pathankot 676,598 929 728 18 PA Patiala Patiala 1,892,282 3,218 596 19 RU Rupnagar Rupnagar 683,349 1,369 488 20 SAS Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar Mohali 986,147 1,093 830 21 SA Sangrur Sangrur 1,203,153 2,848 422 22 NS Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Nawanshahr 614,362 1,267 478 23 TT Tarn Taran Tarn Taran Sahib 1,120,070 2,449 464
Proposals for new districts
Demands for new districts From time to time, several ministers and elected representatives, such as MLAs and MPs, have proposed the following new districts:
Proposed District Proposed Headquarters Current District Anandpur Sahib district Nangal Ropar district Ajnala district Ajnala Amritsar district Batala district Batala Gurdaspur district Jagraon district Jagraon Ludhiana district Samrala district Samrala Ludhiana district Malerkotla district(extended) Malerkotla Malerkotla district and parts of Sangrur district Phagwara district Phagwara Kapurthala district Nakodar district Nakodar Jalandhar district Phillaur district Phillaur Jalandhar district Dasuya district Dasuya Hoshiarpur district Garhshankar district Garhshankar Hoshiarpur district Patti district Patti Tarn Taran district Zira district Zira Ferozepur district & Moga district Rajpura district Rajpura Patiala district Nabha district Nabha Patiala district
See also
Divisions of Punjab, India List of sub-districts of Punjab, India
References