Punjab (ਪੰਜਾਬ, pəɲdʒaːb), also spelled Panjab, is a state in northwest India. The Indian state borders the Pakistani province of Punjab to the west, Jammu and Kashmir to the north, Himachal Pradesh to the northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, Chandigarh to the southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest. The total area of the state is 50,362 square kilometres (19,445 square miles). The population is 24,289,296 (2000). Punjab's capital is Chandigarh, which is administered separately as a Union Territory since it is also the capital of neighbouring Haryana. Other major cities of Punjab include Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala. The state is the location of one of the world's first and oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization, India's first civilization.

The Indian Punjab historically forms a part of the larger Punjab region, which includes some parts of Afghanistan, Pakistani province of Punjab and the North West Frontier Province, the Indian states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, parts of J&K and Delhi and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, and a small part of China. Indian Punjab was trifurcated in the year 1966 leading to the formation of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.