The state was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000, and borders Tibet in the North East and Nepal in the South East. The capital is Dehradun and the High Court is situated in Nainital. The Western half of the state is called Garhwal. The region is one of spectacular beauty with the Himalayan ranges, glaciers and forests. The source of the two main rivers Jamuna and the Ganges are in the mountains at Haridwar, Rishikesh, Badrinath and Kedarnath which are Hindu pilgrimage places. The people are Paharis who are mainly Hindus and Nepali Gujjars.

One of the main industries is tourism with hill stations like Mussorie, Almora, Ranikhet and Nainital. It also has major mountain peaks including Gauri Parvat (6590m), Nanda Devi (7816m), Trishul (7120m) and Dunagiri(7066).

Other activities include dairy farming, agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, sugar mills and small scale industry.
Dehra Dun is the main city and trade centre.

This state has many private boarding schools for the elite, including Doon School, Welhams (boys & girls) and Woodstock.