| |
| Capital | Ranchi |
| Governor | Ved Marwah |
| Chief Minister | Arjun Munda |
| Area - Total - Cultivable |
79,700 km² 38,000 km² |
| Population - Total (2001) - Density |
21,843,911 274/km² |
| Date of formation | November 15, 2000 |
| Highways - National - State |
1006 km 4662 km |
| Universities | 5 |
| Schools | 21386 |
Jharkhand (झार्खण्ड) is a state of India. It was carved out of the southern portion of Bihar state on November 15, 2000. The industrial city of Ranchi is its capital. The other major cities are Bokaro, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur. The region is also known as Vananchal.
Jharhkand is bordered by the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east. It has twenty two districts: Ranchi, Lohardagga, Gumla, Simdega, Palamu, Latehar, Garhwa, West Singhbhum, Saraikela Kharsawan, East Singhbhum, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahebganj, Pakur, Godda, Hazaribagh, Chatra, Koderma, Giridih, Dhanbad, Bokaro and Deoghar.
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 Indian elephants.
Jharkhand is home to a number of languages belonging to three major language families. Indo-Aryan languages include Sadri, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali. Jharkand is also home to the Munda languages Korku, Santhali, Mundari, Bhumij, Paharia and Ho, and the Dravidian Languages Korwa, Oraon, and Sauria Paharia.
Deposits of coal and iron ore support concentrations of industry, in centers like Jamshedpur and Ranchi.