Welcome to Maharashtra!
Maharashtra (महाराष्ट्र) in Western India is the third-largest state of India by size and the second-largest by population. It stretches from the west coast to the interior regions with a variable climate. Maharashtra contains India's most industrialised region, the Mumbai-Pune belt. Agriculturally, too, the state is one of India's more advanced and well-irrigated.
Maharashtra (Marathi: abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western and central peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India as well as the second-most populous country subdivision in the world. It was formed on 1 May 1960 by splitting the bilingual Bombay State, which had existed since 1956, into majority Marathi-speaking Maharashtra and Gujarati-speaking Gujarat. Hence Maharashtra is a Marathi linguistic state. As the home of the Marathi people, Maharashtra is divided into 6 divisions and 36 districts, with the state capital being Mumbai, also the most populous urban area in India and Nagpur serving as the winter capital. The Godavari and the Krishna are the two major rivers in the state. Marathi is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The forest cover in the state is 16.47% of the state's geographical area. Out of the total cultivable land in Maharashtra, about 60% is used for grain crops with Jowar (Sorghum bicolor) being the dominating crop.
Spread over 307,713 km2 (118,809 sq mi), Maharashtra is the third-largest state by area in India. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to the southeast and Chhattisgarh to the east, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to the north, and the Indian union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to the northwest. Nagpur hosts the winter session of the state legislature. The state has three international airports, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (Mumbai), Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport (Nagpur), and Pune Airport (Lohegaon, Pune). The state is home to three railways headquarters viz. Central Railway (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus), Konkan Railway (CBD Belapur) and Western Railway (Churchgate). The High Court of the state viz. Bombay High Court is located in Mumbai. The state contributes 48 seats and 19 seats to the lower house Lok Sabha and to the upper house Rajya Sabha, respectively. President's rule has been imposed in Maharashtra three times since 1980, for different reasons and for a total of 156 days. Hinduism is practised by more than three-fourths of the population, followed by Islam and Buddhism. The predominant ethnolinguistic group of the Maharashtra is Marathi people, who speak the Marathi language.
The Maratha Empire was the prominent kingdom based in Maharashtra. Prior to Indian independence, the state was ruled by the Satavahana dynasty, Rashtrakuta dynasty, Western Chalukyas, Deccan sultanates, Mughals, and the British. Ruins, monuments, tombs, forts, and places of worship left by these rulers are dotted around the state. At the time of Indian independence movement in the early 20th century, there were two major princely states in Maharashtra: Deccan and Kolhapur. The state is home to four UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta caves and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus). Pune is known as the 'Oxford of the East' due to the presence of several well-known educational institutions. Nashik is known as the 'Wine Capital of India' as it has the largest number of wineries and vineyards in the country. Maharashtra provides legal protection to its tiger population through six dedicated tiger reserves under the precincts of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Maharashtra is the most industrialised state in India and the state's capital, Mumbai is India's financial and commercial hub. The state has played a significant role in the country's social and political life and widely considered a leader in terms of agricultural and industrial production, trade and transport, and education. Maharashtra is among the most developed Indian states and continues to be the single largest contributor to the national economy with a share of 12% in the country's GDP. The economy of Maharashtra is the largest in India, with a gross state domestic product (GSDP) of ₹29.81 trillion (US$400 billion) and GSDP per capita of ₹229,488 (US$3,000). Maharashtra is the fifteenth-highest ranking among Indian states in human development index.