National Parks and Sanctuaries in India

According to the report of Forest Survey of India 2008, 23.68% of India’s land area is covered by forest. A wide variety of trees and animals are found in these forests as diverse as cultures and religions in India.

National parks are established by the government to conserve endangered species of animals. Hailey National Park or Jim Corbett National Park is the India's first national park and was established in 1935. By 1970, India had only five national parks till 1970 but now the number has increased to 97. All national parks altogether covers 38,029.18 km² of land area.

India has over 500 Wildlife Sanctuaries. Among these, Project Tiger administers 28 Tiger Reserves established with an aim to conserve tiger. Some wildlife sanctuaries are specifically named Bird Sanctuary. Many Wildlife Sanctuaries are later on converted into National Parks.

Some sanctuaries are dedicated to some specific animal species, like the National Chambal (Gharial) Wildlife Sanctuary for conserving the Gharial established in 1978.

Some of the famous national parks and Sanctuaries are enlisted below with their home state or territory and the date that they were established.

Famous National Parks in India

S.No.	National Parks	State	Year in which established	Area (in sq. Km)
1.	Gir National Park	Gujarat	1975	258.71
2.	Bandhavgarh National Park	Madhya Pradesh	1982	448.85
3.	Corbett National Park	Uttarakhand	1936	520.82
4.	Dudhwa National Park	Uttar Pradesh	1977	490.29
5.	Ranthambore National Park	Rajasthan	1980	392
6.	Kaziranga National Park	Assam	1974	471.71
7.	Kanha National Park	Madhya Pradesh	1955	940
8.	Nagarhole National Park	Karnataka	1988	643.39
9.	Sundarbans National Park	West Bengal	1984	1330.10
10.	Manas National Park	Assam	1990	500
11.	Bandipur National Park	Karnataka	1974	874.20
12.	Sultanpur National Park	Haryana	1989	1.43
13.	Sariska National Park	Rajasthan	1979	800

Famous Wildlife Sanctuaries in India

S.No.	Sanctuaries	State	Year in which established	Area (in sq. Km)
1.	Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary	Rajasthan	1971	29
2.	Sariska Tiger Reserve	Rajasthan	1955	800
3.	Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary	Kerala	1950 (as sanctuary) 1978 (as tiger reserve)	777