| Maharashtra
Geographical Area : 3 07 713
Population in 2001 : 9 68 78 627
Estimated population in 2025 : 13 21 65 000
Provisional Numbers in Census 2011
Maharashtra population as percentage of India : 9.24%
Population in 2011 : 11 23 72 972
Males 5 83 61 397
Females 5 40 11 575
Sex ratio : 925
Under 6 Sex ratio : 883
Number of Districts : 35
Number of habitated villages : 41,095
Capital
Mumbai
Principal Language
Marathi
History and Geography
The first well-known rulers of Maharashtra were the Satavahanas
(230 B.C. 225 A.D.), who were the founders of Maharashtra, and have
left a plethora of literary, epigraphic, artistic and archaeological
evidence. This epoch marks tremendous development in every field
of human endeavour.
Then came the Vakatakas, who established a pan-Indian empire. Under
them, Maharashtra witnessed an all-sided development in the fields
of learning, arts and religion. Some of the Ajanta Caves and fresco
paintings reached the high-level mark during their rule. After the
Vakatakas and after a brief interlude of the Kalachuri dynasty,
the most important rulers were the Chalukyas, followed by the Rashtrakutas
and the Yadavas, apart from the Shilaharas on the coast. The Yadavas,
with Marathi as their court language extended their authority over
large parts of the Deccan.
While the Bahamani rule brought a degree of cohesion to the land
and its culture, a uniquely homogeneous evolution of Maharashtra
as an entity became a reality under the able leadership of Shivaji.
A new sense of Swaraj and nationalism was evolved by Shivaji. His
noble and glorious power stalled the Mughal advances in this part
of India. The Peshwas established the Maratha supremacy from the
Deccan Plateau to Attock in Punjab.
Maharashtra was in the forefront of the freedom struggle, and it
was here that the Indian National Congress was born. A galaxy of
leaders from Mumbai and other cities in Maharashtra led the Congress
movement under the guidance of Tilak, and later Mahatma Gandhi.
Maharashtra was the home of Gandhiji's movement, while Sevagram
was the capital of nationalistic India during the Gandhian era.
The administrative evolution of the state of Maharashtra is the
outcome of the linguistic reorganisation of the States of India,
effected on 1 May, 1960. The State was formed by bringing together
all contiguous Marathi-speaking areas, which previously belonged
to four different administrative hegemonies - the district between
Daman and Goa that formed part of the original British Bombay Province;
five districts of the Nizam's dominion of Hyderabad; eight districts
in the south of the Central Provinces (Madhya Pradesh) and a sizeable
number of petty native-ruled state enclaves lying enclosed within
the above areas, which later merged with adjoining districts.
Located in the north centre of Peninsular India, with the command
of the Arabian Sea through its port of Mumbai, Maharashtra has a
remarkable physical homogeneity, enforced by its underlying geology.
The dominant physical trait of the State is its plateau character.
Maharashtra is a plateau of plateaus, its western upturned rims
rising to form the Sahyadri Range parallel to the sea-coast, and
its slopes gently descending towards the east and south-east. Satpuda
ranges cover northern part of the State, while Ajanta and Satmala
ranges run through central part of the State. Arabian Sea guards
the western boundary of Maharashtra, while Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh
are on the northern side. Chhattisgarh covers the eastern boundary
of the State. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are on its southern side.
Agriculture
About 65 per cent of the total workers in the State depend on agriculture
and allied activities. Principal crops grown in the State are rice,
jowar, bajra, wheat, tur, mung, urad, gram and other pulses. The
State is a major producer of oilseeds. Groundnut, sunflower, soyabean
are major oil seed crops. Important cash crops are cotton, sugarcane,
turmeric and vegetables. The State has an area of 12.90 lakh hectares
under various fruit crops like mango, banana, orange, grape, cashewnut,
etc.
Industry
The State has been identified as the country's powerhouse and Mumbai,
its capital as the centre point of India's financial and commercial
markets. Industrial sector occupies a prominent position in the
economy of Maharashtra. Food products, breweries, tobacco and related
products, cotton textiles, textile products, paper and paper products,
printing and publishing, rubber, plastic, chemical and chemical
products, machinery, electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances,
and transport equipment and parts contribute substantially to the
industrial production in the state.
Irrigation and Power
By the end of June-2005, 32 major, 178 medium and about 2,274 state
sector minor irrigation projects had been completed. Another 21
major and 39 medium irrigation projects are under construction.
The gross irrigated area in 2004-2005 was 36.36 lakh hectares.
Maharashtra had an installed capacity of 12,909 MW in 2004-2005.
The PLF in the State was 81.6 per cent and power generation was
68,507 million KWH.
Transport
Roads:Total length of roads in the State as in March 2005 was 2.29
lakh km consisting of 4,367 kms of national highways, 33,406 kms
of state highways, 48,824 kms of major district roads, 44,792 kms
of other district roads, and 97,913 kms of village roads.
Railways: Maharashtra has 5,527 kms of railway routes of which
78.6 per cent are broad gauge, 7.8 per cent meter gauge and 13.6
per cent narrow gauge.
Aviation: Maharashtra has a total of twenty-four Air fields/airports.
Of these 17 are under the control of the State government, four
are managed and controlled by the International Airports Authority/Airports
Authority of India and three by the Ministry of Defence. The Airfields
under the control of the State government have no facilities for
the operation of commercial flights at present.
Ports: Mumbai is a major port. There are two major and 48 notified
minor ports in the State.
Tourist Centres
Some important tourist centres are: Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta, Kanheri
and Karla caves, Mahabaleshwar, Matheran and Panchgani, Jawhar,
Malshejghat, Amboli, Chikaldara, Panhala Hill stations and religious
places at Pandharpur, Nasik, Shirdi, Nanded, Audhanagnath, Trimbakeshwar,
Tuljapur, Ganpatipule, Bhimashanker, Harihareshwar, Shegaon, Kolhapur,
Jejuri and Ambajogai
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