 The
word "Punjab" is made up of two Persian words 'Panj' and 'Aab'.
Panj means five and Aab means water. This name was probably given
to this land possibly in an era when this region came into close contact
with Persia. The Punjab was known as land of five rivers because of the
five rivers that ran through it. They are Indus, Ravi, Beas, Sutlaj and
Ghaggar. Prior to Persian period this region was known by different names
at different times. Probably, at the height of its glory it was known
as Sapta Sindhu, land of the seven rivers, namely Sindhu (Indus), Vitasta
(Jehlum), Asuhi (chenab), Purshin (Ravi), Vipasa (Beas), Satadru (Sutleg)
and Saruri (Saraswati). The last one is a dried up stream now and its
traces are found in the present seasonal streams that flow near Pehowa
in Haryana. During Greek occupation, the territory had shrunk into the
area covering the five rivers.
In 1947 when India was partitioned, the larger half of
Punjab went to Pakistan. In 1966 the Indian smaller half was further divided
into three: Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
According to 1991 census, its population came to 20.19
million. Punjab, thus represents about 1.6 percent of the area and 2.39
percent of the population of the country. The latitudinal and longitudinal
extends the Punjab are from 29o 32' to 32o 32'N
and 73o 55' to 76o 50'E. Punjab is bounded
on the west by Pakistan, on the North by Jammu and Kashmir, on the north
east by Himachal Pradesh and on the south by Haryana and Rajasthan. Physically,
the state may be divided into two parts; sub-Shivalik Strip and Sutlebj-
Ghaggar Plain. The Sub Shivalik strip covers the upper portion of Ropar,
Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur districts. The Sutlej- Ghaggar plain embraces
the other districts of the Punjab. For administrative purposes it is divided
into three division and 45 sub-division. There are 12,342 villages and
134 towns in the state.
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