Research Paper I Economic and Political Weekly

Spatial, that is, geographic inequalities are growing in India and other countries. Some countries are better provided with services, infrastructure, and earning opportunities. States matter and the urban–rural difference is salient to these distinctions. However, locating the geographies of advantage and disadvantage requires going below the level of states and beyond the binary of urban–rural distinction. A sevenfold classification of districts is offered to help in visualising overlapping disadvantages. It reveals important differences in living conditions and is a first effort to go beneath the urban–rural dichotomy.