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The history of the State of Uttar Pradesh is very ancient and interesting. It is recognised in the later Vedic Age as Brahmarshi Desha or Madhya Desha. Many great sages of the Vedic times like Bharadwaja, Gautam, Yagyavalkya, Vasishta, Vishwamitra and Valmiki flourished in this state. Several sacred books of the Aryans were also composed here. Two great epics of India, Ramayana and Mahabharata, appear to have been inspired by Uttar Pradesh.

In the sixth century B.C., Uttar Pradesh was associated with two new religions - Jainism and Buddhism. It was at Sarnath that Buddha preached his first sermon and laid the foundations of his order, and it was in Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, where Buddha breathed his last. Several centres in Uttar Pradesh like Ayodhya, Prayag, Varanasi and Mathura became reputed centres of learning. In the medieval period, Uttar Pradesh passed under Muslim rule and led the way to new synthesis of Hindu and Islamic cultures. Ramananda and his Muslim disciple Kabir, Tulsidas, Surdas and many other intellectuals contributed to the growth of Hindi and other languages.

Uttar Pradesh preserved its intellectual excellency even under the British administration. The British combined Agra and Oudh into one province, and called it United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. The name was shortened to the United Provinces in 1935. In January 1950, the United Provinces was renamed as Uttar Pradesh.

The State is bounded by Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in the north, Haryana in the west, Madhya Pradesh in the south, and Bihar in the east. Uttar Pradesh can be divided into two distinct regions, Southern hills and Gangetic plain.

During the year 2004-2005 there were 521835 small-scale industrial units involving a total investment of Rs. 5131 crore and employment opportunities for 2001000 persons. About 45.51 lakh tonnes of sugar was produced in the state during the year 2003-2004. There were 68 textile units. Thirty-two automobile units with an investment of Rs. 5,740 crore provided jobs to 20280 persons.

It is planned to develop 102 sectors of NOIDA by th year 2011. The Authority includes industrial sectors,housing sectors,group housing sectors, residential buildings, commercial assets and institutional sectors. Steps have been taken to develop other industrial areas in the state on the pattern of Noida and Greater Noida. A Software Technology Park has been set up in Kanpur while five more Software Parks are proposed to be set up.

Under the public sector, mining of limestone, magnesite, phosphate, dolomite and silicon-sand is carried out. The bulk minor and some of the major minerals like limestone, silica-sand, pyrophyllite and diaspore is mostly with the private sector. Important based industries include large cement plants in Sonebhadra.

UP Power Corporation, UP State Power Generation and UP Hydel Power Corporation had been formed by reorganising UP State Electricity Board on 14 January 2000.

During 2004-05 an expenditure of Rs 98715 crore was made to raise the irrigation potential to a level of 319.17 lakh hectares. At the time of inception the total installed capacity of UPSEB, including thermal and hydro, was 2,635 MW which has now been raised to 4621 MW.

Roads: The total road length of PWD in the state is 118946 km. This includes 3869 km of national highways, 9097 km of state highways, 105980 of other district roads and 72,931 km of rural roads.

Railways: Lucknow is the main junction of the northern network. Other important railway junctions are Agra, Kanpur, Allahabad, Mughalsarai, Jhansi, Moradabad, Varanasi, Tundla, Gorakhpur, Gonda, Faizabad, Bareilly and Sitapur.

Aviation: There are airports at Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi, Bareilly, Hindon (Ghaziabad), Gorakhpur, Sarsawa (Saharanpur) and Fursatganj (Raebareli).

The biggest congregation, perhaps of the world, Kumbha Mela is held at Allahabad every twelfth year and Ardh kumbh Mela every sixth year. Magh Mela is also held at Allahabad in January when the people come in large number to have a dip in the holy Sangam. Among other fairs is the fortnight long Jhoola fair of Mathura, Vrindavan and Ayodhya, when idols are placed in gold and silver jhoolas or cradles. A dip in the Ganga on Kartik Poornamasi is supposed to be the holiest and there are big congregations at garhmukteshwar, Soran, Rajghat, kakora, Bithur, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and Ayodhya. A famous cattle fair is held at Bateswar in Agra district. Dewa in Barabanki district has became famous because of the Muslim saint Waris Ali Shah.

Besides, important festivals of the Hindus, Muslims, etc., are widely celebrated in the state.