1. This northernmost state has its own flag and constitution. Indians from other states are prohibited from purchasing land in the state.

2. This state, home to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, shares its name, which refers to five rivers found in the region, with a state in Pakistan.

3. Within this state, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, lives in exile in Dharamshala along with the exiled Tibetan government.

4. Though this state surrounds the National Capital Territory of New Delhi on three sides, its state capital is actually a union territory located outside the borders of the state.

5. The source of the Ganges (or Ganga) River, a sacred river in Hindu tradition, is located in this state, which split from Uttar Pradesh in 2000.

6. This state, the most populous in India, is home to Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located.

7. This state, the largest in India, contains much of the Thar Desert. Its capital, Jaipur, is known as the “Pink City.”

8. This state, nicknamed “the Heart of India,” is infamous for a gas leak at a pesticide plant in Bhopal that killed thousands.

9. This state, the birthplace of Mohandas Gandhi, was the site of religious riots in 2002 between Hindus and Muslims that left well over 1000 dead.

10. Although the most well-known city in this state is Mumbai, its second largest city, Pune, was the site of Gandhi’s imprisonment in the Aga Khan palace from 1942-44.

11. This small state on India’s west coast was under Portuguese rule as recently as 1961 and is featured in the opening scenes of The Bourne Supremacy.

12. Although the name sounds similar, inhabitants of this state do not speak Canada. (It’s actually Kannada.) Its capital, Bangalore, is the third largest city in India.

13. Kochi, the largest city in this state, was the site of the first European colony in India when Portugal occupied it in 1503.

14. This state is home to the Kollywood film industry – the “K” is for the Kodambakkam area of Chennai, home to many of the industry’s production companies.

15. A decision over whether or not to divide this state, creating the state of Telangana along the borders of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad, has been on hold since 2009

16. This state, carved from Madhya Pradesh, was one of three created in 2000. This state, among others, is plagued by an ongoing insurgency by Maoist rebels.

17. The capital of this state, Bhubaneswar, is also known as the Temple City of India; it once contained 7000 temples, several hundred of which remain today.

18. Technically the newest state of India (by a whopping six days), this state was separated from Bihar in 2000.

19. This state includes the birthplace of India’s first president, Rajendra Prasad, and Bodh Gaya, where Gautam Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment.

20. The capital of this state, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), served as the capital of British India until 1911, when it was moved to New Delhi.

21. This state has the smallest population of any Indian state. Kangchenjunga, the world’s third tallest mountain, is located on its border with Nepal.

22. The name of this northeastern state is most often associated with the variety of tea grown there.

23. Part of this state is claimed by both China and Taiwan, as the state’s northern border was established between the UK and then-independent Tibet, but not China.

24. With more than 75% of this state’s population belonging to the Baptist church, it is the most predominantly Baptist state in the world, more than even Mississippi (55%).

25. Though the origins of polo can be traced to Persia, its modern form began in this northeastern state, where the Imphal polo ground, the oldest in the world, is located.

26. The indigenous language of this state had no written form until Christian missionaries introduced the Roman script. Today the literacy rate approaches 90%.

27. This state is connected to the rest of the country by a single road; landslides and rain can completely cut it off from the rest of India.

28. In this northeastern state, the name of which means “the abode of clouds,” the tribal populations follow a matrilineal system for property inheritance.