কুমায়ূন বিভাগ

Kumaon or Kumaun is one of the two regions and administrative divisions of the Indian state of Uttarakhand, the other being Garhwal. It includes the districts of Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Nainital, Pithoragarh, and Udham Singh Nagar. It is bounded on the north by Tibet, on the east by Nepal, on the south by the state of Uttar Pradesh, and on the west by the Garhwal region. The people of Kumaon are known as Kumaonis and speak the Kumaoni language.

Kumaon Division (in orange) in Uttarakhand

Historically known as Manaskhand and then Kurmanchal, the Kumaon region has been ruled by several Hindu dynasties . The Kumaon division was formed in 1816, when the British reclaimed this region from the Gorkhas, who had annexed the erstwhile Kingdom of Kumaon in 1790. The division initially consisted of three districts, Kumaon, Terai and Garhwal, and formed the northernmost frontier of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces in British India, that later became North Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in 1902, and United Provinces in 1937. Upon India's independence in 1947, Kumaon became an administrative and revenue division in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and was then transferred to Uttarakhand when the hill state was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000.

It is home to a famous Indian Army regiment, the Kumaon Regiment. Important towns of Kumaon are Nainital, Almora, Pithoragarh, Champawat, Bageshwar, and Ranikhet. Nainital is the administrative centre of Kumaon Division and this is where the Uttarakhand high court is located.