Gujarat

Gujarat, state, in western India, bordered on the northeast by Rajasthan state, on the east by Madhya Pradesh state, on the southeast by Maharashtra state, on the south and southwest by the Arabian Sea, and on the northwest by Pakistan. The state covers an area of 196,024 sq km (75,685 sq mi).

The capital is Gandhinagar, on the outskirts of Ahmadabad, the former capital and largest city in the state.The known history of Gujarat dates from about 250 BC. During the 4th and 5th centuries AD, it formed a part of the Gupta empire; it derived its name from the Gurjaras, who ruled the area during the 8th and 9th centuries.

The region was part of the Mauryan Empire in the 3rd century bc under King Ashoka. In 1818 the English East India Company took control of Gujarat, administering the state through local princely rulers. One of India's most industrialized states, Gujarat maintains a variety of industries, the principal ones being general and electrical engineering and the manufacture of textiles, vegetable oils, chemicals, soda ash, and cement. New industries include the production of fertilizers and petrochemicals.

Major industrial towns are Ahmadabad, Vadodara (Baroda), and Surat; Rajkot, Bhavnagar, and Jamnagar were once capitals of princely states. Gujarat boasts some 40 ports besides the major international port of Kandla and of these, about one-third are open to foreign shipping. The state also has nine airports.
Area 75,685 square miles (196,024 square km). Population. (1991) 41,174,343