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Maharashtra - India
Maharashtra महाराष्ट्र is India's third largest state in area
and second largest in population after Uttar Pradesh. It is located
in southwestern India and is bordered by the states of Gujarat,
Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and the
Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The Arabian Sea makes up
the state's western coast. Mumbai, India's most populous city, is
the capital of Maharashtra. Maharashtra is the most developed state
in India and serves as the financial and entertainment capital of
the country. The famous city Mumbai is located here.
Maharashtra is bordered by the
Arabian Sea to the west, Gujarat and the Union territory of Dadra
and Nagar Haveli to the northwest, Madhya Pradesh to the northeast,
Chhattisgarh to the east, Karnataka to the south, Andhra Pradesh to
the southeast, and Goa to the southwest. The state covers an area of
307,731 km2 (118,816 sq mi) or 9.84% of the total geographical area
of India. Mumbai, the capital city of the state, is India's largest
city and the financial capital of the nation. Marathi is the
official and most widely spoken language.
In the 17th Century, the Marathas rose under the leadership of
Chhatrapati Shivaji against the Mughals who were ruling a large part
of India. After the third Anglo-Maratha war, the empire ended and
most of Maharashtra became part of Bombay state under a British Raj.
After Indian independence, Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti demanded
unification of all Marathi speaking regions under one state. At that
time Braratratn Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was of opinion that
linguistic reorganizaion of states should be done with - "One state
- One language" principle and not with "One language - One state"
principle. He submitted a memorandum to the reorganization
commission stating that, " Single Government can not administer such
a huge state as United Maharashtra. The first state reorganization
committee created the current Maharashtra state on May 1, 1960
(known as Maharashtra Day). The Marathi-speaking areas of Bombay
state, Deccan states and Vidarbha (which was part of Central
Provinces and Berar) united ,under the agreement known as Nagpur
Pact, to form the current state.
For administrative purposes, the state
is sub-divided into six divisions and further into 35 districts.
Officially, all divisions save one are named after the district where
the headquarters of the division is located. But the divisions are also
popularly known by other names and that is how they are listed here. The
official names of the divisions are given alongside in brackets.
Western Maharashtra (Pune Division)
Marathwada (Aurangabad Division)
Amravati
Konkan
Vidarbha (Nagpur Division)
North Maharashtra (Nashik Division)
The principal language spoken is
Marathi. Hindi and English are widely spoken and understood. Mumbai is
fairly cosmoplitan, with many languages, including English being spoken.
Konkani is a minority language closely related to Marathi, spoken by the
eponymous Konkani community. Though Konkanis are common in the Konkan
region, they are a majority everywhere.
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