Himachal Pradesh is a wholly mountainous state in the Himalaya in the far north of India. Its name means Province in the lap of snow. The territory was formed in 1948 by bringing together 31 small princely states.
Himachal Pradesh is a popular trekking region and has a flourishing orchard industry. Himachal Pradesh is bordered by Jammu and Kashmir in the north, by Punjab in the west, by Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the south, and by Tibet (part of China) in the east.

Climate: The average daily minimum temperature is 2 °C in January and 16 °C in June. The maximum is 9 °C in January and 24 °C in June. Shimla receives 150 centimetres of rain a year, of which nearly 80 per cent falls between June and September. The monsoon arrives in the middle of June and lasts until the middle of September. Snow is common in winter.

Tourist centers: Himachal Pradesh is studded with a number of hill station which are refreshingly cool in summer. They offer to the tourist a quick holiday amidst breath taking scenery. Shimla, Dalhousie, Dharamshala (Dalai Lama lives here), Kullu, Kasauli, Solan, Chail and Kufri are some of the famous hill stations. Kharjiar in Chamba district has earned the name 'mini Switzerland' because of the striking similarity in landscape. The Vaidyanath temple is a place of religious interest.

The state abounds in wildlife among which are some rare species like musk deer, ibex, thar, Himalayan brown bear and snow leopard among animals and monal, tragopan, kokiash and snowcocks among birds. The rivers offer ideal fishing grounds for trout in Katrain, Rohru and Barot and for masher in Maryoga, Karganuand and Dedahu.

History. The early inhabitants of Himachal Pradesh were nomadic tribes, including the Dahsas, Kinners, Kirates, and Kharasas. The Maurya, Kushana, and Gupta rulers, in turn, forced the region to accept their rule.
After the decline of the Gupta Empire, 31 independent kingdoms re-emerged. The state of Chamba was the most important. They eventually became tributaries of the Mughal empire under Akbar.
During the 1600's and 1700's, Basohli, Kangra, and Guler developed as major centres of painting. Afghans, Sikhs, and Gurkhas invaded Himachal Pradesh after the fall of the Mughal Empire.

Maharajah Ranjit Singh brought the area under his control in the 1800's. The British took over the princely states following the Anglo-Nepal War of 1815.
The British founded Shimla in 1819 as their summer headquarters. After India became independent in 1947, Shimla served as the temporary capital of East Punjab. Since 1966, it has been the state capital of Himachal Pradesh. Dharamsala has been the home of the Dalai Lama since the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1956.