The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the west, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi to the northwest, Uttarakhand and Nepal to the north, Bihar to the east, Madhya Pradesh to the south, and touches the states of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to the southeast. It covers 243,290 square kilometres (93,933 sq mi), equal to 7.34% of the total area of India, and is the fourth-largest Indian state by area. Agriculture and service industries are the largest parts of the state’s economy. The service sector comprises travel and tourism, hotel industry, real estate, insurance and financial consultancies. The economy of Uttar Pradesh is the third-largest state economy in India with ₹15.42 lakh crore (US$220 billion) in gross domestic product and a per capita GDP of ₹61,000 (US$880).[14] Uttar Pradesh ranks twenty eighth among Indian states in human development index.[16] President’s rule has been imposed in Uttar Pradesh ten times since 1968, for different reasons and for a total of 1,700 days.
The natives of the state are generally called UP-waale, or more specifically either Awadhi, Bageli, Bhojpuri, Braji, Bundeli, Kannauji, or Rohilkhandi depending upon their region of origin. Hinduism is practised by more than three-fourths of the population, with Islam being the next largest religious group. Uttar Pradesh was home to powerful empires of ancient and medieval India. The state has several historical, natural, and religious tourist destinations, such as Agra, Ayodhya, Vrindavan, Lucknow, Mathura, Varanasi and Allahabad.