Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India. It is the
richest state in India, contributing to 25% of the country's industrial output and 23.2% of its GDP in 2010-11.
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.Nagpur is 2nd capital of state. Marathi is the official language of the state.
Maharashtra is the world's second most populous first-level administrative country sub-division. Were it a nation in its own right, Maharashtra
would be the world's tenth most populous country ahead of Mexico, although it is only one sixth of Mexico's territorial area.
History
In the 17th century, the Marathas rose under the leadership of Chhatrapati Shivaji against the Mughals who were ruling a large part of India. By
1760, Maratha power had reached its zenith with a territory of over 250 million acres (1 million km²) or one-third of the Indian sub-continent.
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, Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar was of opinion that linguistic reorganization 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 1 May 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.
Geography
Maharashtra encompasses an area of 308,000 km² (119,000 mi²), and is the third largest state in India. It is bordered by the states of Madhya
Pradesh to the north, Chhattisgarh to the east, Andhra Pradesh to the southeast, Karnataka to the south, and Goa to the southwest. The state of
Gujarat lies to the northwest, with the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli sandwiched in between. The Arabian Sea makes up Maharashtra's
west coast.
The Western Ghats better known as Sahyadri, are a hilly range running parallel to the coast, at an average elevation of 1,200 metres (4,000 ft).
Kalsubai, a peak in the Sahyadris, near Nashik City is the highest elevated point in Maharashtra. To the west of these hills lie the Konkan
coastal plains, 50–80 kilometres in width. To the east of the Ghats lies the flat Deccan Plateau. The Western Ghats form one of the three
watersheds of India, from which many South Indian rivers originate, notable among them being Godavari River, and Krishna, which flow eastward into
the Bay of Bengal, forming one of the greatest river basins in India.
