Jharkhand is a state in eastern India
. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar
state on 15 November, 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar
to the north, Uttar Pradesh
to the west, Orissa
to the south, and West Bengal
to the east.
The industrial city of Ranchi is its capital. Some of the other major cities and industrial centers are Jamshedpur, Bokaro
, Sindri, Gumla, Deoghar, Hazaribagh, Ramgarh Cantt. and Dhanbad.
Most of the state lies on the Chota Nagpur Plateau, which is the source of the Koel, Damodar, Brahmani, Kharkai, and Subarnarekha rivers, whose upper watersheds lie within Jharkhand. Much of the state is still covered by forest. Forest preserves support populations of tigers and Asian elephants.
The soil content of Jharkhand state mainly consists of soil formed from disintegration of rocks and stones,
Born out of partition of the old Bihar
state in 2000, Jharkhand produces about 40% of the output of the old Bihar
state. The star player of the Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni hails from Ranchi and used to play for the Duleep Trophy team from Jharkhand.
Jharkhand has a concentration of some of the country’s highly industrialized cities such as Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Bokaro and Dhanbad. It also has several firsts in India
• Largest fertilizer factory of its time in India
(since shut down) at Sindri.
• First iron and steel factory at Jamshedpur.
• Largest steel plant in Asia, Bokaro steel plant.
• Biggest explosives factory at Gomia.
• First methane gas well.
Jharkhand is home to a number of languages belonging to three major language families. Indo-Aryan languages include Angika, Bhojpuri, Khortha, Nagpuri, Sadri, Hindi
, Urdu, Oriya and Bengali. Jharkhand is also home to the Munda languages, Kurmali, Korku, Santhali, Mundari, Bhumij, Kharia and Ho, and the Dravidian languages Korwa, Oraon (Kurukh) and Paharia (Malto). The primary languages are Hindi
and English. A fair part of the state’s population speaks Oriya and Bengali or a blend of Oriya and Bengali language. In the whole of Santhal Parganas area Angika is the primary language for communication.
Facts at a glance
Time zone – IST (UTC+5:30). Area – 79,700 km² (30,772 sq mi). Capital – Ranchi. Largest city – Ranchi. District(s) – 22. Population – 26,909,428 (13th). Density – 338 /km² (875 /sq mi). Language(s) – Hindi. Established – 2000-11-15. Legislature (seats) Unicameral (81). ISO abbreviation IN-JH.