Gujarat
Gujarat is a state on the western coast of India with a coastline of about 1,600 km (990 mi) – longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula – and a population of 60.4 million. It is the fifth-largest Indian state by area and the ninth-largest state by population. Gujarat is bordered by Rajasthan to the northeast, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to the south, Maharashtra to the southeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and the Pakistani province of Sindh to the west. Its capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. The Gujarati people of India are indigenous to the state and their language, Gujarati, is the state's official language. The economy of Gujarat is the fifth-largest in India, with a gross state domestic product (GSDP) of ₹18.8 trillion (US$250 billion) and has the country's 10th-highest GSDP per capita of ₹243,761 (US$3,200). Gujarat ranks 21st among Indian states in human development index. The state traditionally has low unemployment and is widely considered one of the most industrially developed states of India and a manufacturing hub.
The state encompasses 23 sites of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation (more than any other state). The most important sites are Lothal (the world's first dry dock), Dholavira (the fifth largest site), and Gola Dhoro (where 5 uncommon seals were found). Lothal is believed to have been one of the world's first seaports. Gujarat's coastal cities, chiefly Bharuch and Khambhat, served as ports and trading centres in the Maurya and Gupta empires, and during the succession of royal Saka dynasties in the Western Satraps era. Along with Bihar, Mizoram and Nagaland, Gujarat is one of four Indian states to prohibit the sale of alcohol. The Gir Forest National Park in Gujarat is home to the only wild population of the Asiatic lion in the world.
Geography
Gujarat borders the Tharparkar, Badin and Thatta districts of Pakistan's Sindh province to the northwest, is bounded by the Arabian Sea to the southwest, the state of Rajasthan to the northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and by Maharashtra, the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to the south. Historically, the north was known as Anarta, the Kathiawar peninsula, "Saurastra", and the south as "Lata". Gujarat was also known as Pratichya and Varuna. The Arabian Sea makes up the state's western coast. The capital, Gandhinagar is a planned city. Gujarat has an area of 75,686 sq mi (196,030 km2) with the longest coastline (24% of Indian sea coast) 1,600 kilometres (990 mi), dotted with 41 ports: one major, 11 intermediate and 29 minor.\
The Narmada is the largest river in Gujarat followed by the Tapi. The Sabarmati has the longest course through the state. The Sardar Sarovar Project is built on Narmada, one of the major rivers of peninsular India where it is one of only three major rivers that run from east to west – the others being the Tapi and the Mahi. It is about 1,312 kilometres (815 mi) long. Several riverfront embankments have been built on the Sabarmati River.
The eastern borders have fringes of low mountains of India, the Aravalli, Sahyadri (Western Ghats), Vindhya and Saputara. Apart from this the Gir hills, Barda, Jessore and Chotila together make up a large minority of Gujarat. Girnar is the tallest peak and Saputara is the only hill-station (hilltop resort) in the state.
Languages
Gujarati is the official language of the state. It is spoken natively by 86% of the state's population, or 52 million people (as of 2011).
Other major languages, according to the 2001 census, are Bhili (4.8%), Hindi (4.7%, includes speakers of the Rajasthani varieties), Sindhi (1.9%, includes figures for Kutchi), Marathi (1.5%) and Urdu (1.1%).
People from the Kutch region of Gujarat also speak in the Kutchi mother tongue, and to a great extent appreciate Sindhi as well. Memoni is the mother tongue of Kathiawar and Sindhi Memons, most whom are Muslims.
Almost 88% of the Gujarati Muslims speak Gujarati as their mother tongue, whilst the other 12% speak Urdu. A sizeable proportion of Gujarati Muslims are bilingual in both languages; Islamic academic institutions (Darul Uloom) place a high prestige on learning Urdu and Arabic, with students' memorising the Quran and ahadith, and emphasising the oral and literary importance of mastering these languages as a compulsory rite of religion. Other native languages spoken in low proportions are Bhili and Gamit.
Apart from this, English, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marwari, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and others are spoken by a considerable number of economic migrants from other states of India seeking employment.