Chandigarh, union territory (2001 provisional pop. 900,914), 44 sq mi (114 sq km) and city, NW India. The city is the capital of both Haryana and Punjab states. It was designed by
Le Corbusier and built largely in the 1950s, on a site chosen for its climate and water supply, to replace
Lahore, which was given to Pakistan when India was partitioned in 1947. Punjab Univ. is in Chandigarh. The territory is administered by the central government of India. When the
Punjab was divided into the states of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh was retained as the capital of both states. It was to be transferred to Punjab in 1986, but violence due to Sikh separatism forced a postponement of the shift.
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