Himachal Pradesh is a state in the northern part of India, situated in the Western Himalayas. It is one of the eleven mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring numerous peaks and an extensive river system. Himachal Pradesh shares its borders with the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to the north, Punjab to the west, Haryana to the southwest, and Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh to the south. The state also shares an international border to the east with the Xizang Autonomous Region of China.