India uses a plethora of terms to denote the large number of subdistricts across its 28 states and 8 union territories. The most commonly used term, prevalent across states in North India and widely used by the union government is tehsil. Other terms such as taluks, subdivisions, mandals, circles are officially used in the administration of respective states. The current terms have replaced earlier geographical terms, such as pargana and thana.