Jharkhand
| Country |  India |
|---|---|
| Established | 15 November 2000 |
| Capital | Ranchi |
| Largest city | Jamshedpur |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Syed Ahmed |
| • Chief Minister | Arjun Munda (BJP) |
| • Legislature | Unicameral (81 seats) |
| • Parliamentary constituency | 14 |
| • Speaker | C.P.Singh |
| Area | |
| • Total | 79,714 km2 (30,777.7 sq mi) |
| Area rank | 15th |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 32,966,238 |
| • Rank | 13th |
| • Density | 413.6/km2 (1,071.1/sq mi) |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) |
| ISO 3166 code | IN-JH |
| HDI |  0.513 (medium) |
| HDI rank | 24th (2005) |
| Literacy | 67.63% (27th) |
| Official languages | Hindi |
Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north,Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east. It has an area of 79,714 km2 49,821 sq mi (129,040 km2). The industrial city of Ranchi is its capital and Dumka is sub capital while Jamshedpur is the largest and the biggest industrial city of the state. Some of the other major cities and industrial centres are Dhanbad, Bokaro and Hazaribagh.
The name "Jharkhand" means "The Land of Forests".
According to some writers like Gautam Kumar Bera, there was already a distinct geo-political, cultural entity called Jharkhand even before the period of Magadha Empire. Bera's book (page 33) also refers to the Hindu Mythological book Bhavishya Purana (possibly around 500 B.C. to 500 A.D.;^ For references, citation to Pargiter (1912)). The tribal rulers, some of whom continue to thrive till today were known as the Munda Rajas, who basically had ownership rights to large farmlands. During the Mughal period, the Jharkhand area was known as Kukara.
The Jharkhandi Culture has passed the test of time. Being a tribe dominated state, nature has been given utmost importance in every sphere of life & culture. Branches of sacred trees are brought and ceremonially planted in the courtyards. Devotees then worship these tree parts associated with gods/goddesses. Karma puja, Jitia Puja, Sarhul are a few examples. Being a neighbor state of West Bengal, Durga Puja and Kali Puja are celebrated with much devotion and enthusiasm. Poush Mela or Tusu Fair is a significant occasion celebrated during the Makar Sankranti wherein brightly colored excellently decorated symbolic artifacts of folk deity are carried by the People. This is a folk harvesting festival. Tusu is a folk belief, not about any God or Goddess, but about a sweet little girl of the tribal folk. The festival takes place as new crops are harvested. The entire festival is a very colourful one. It takes the shape of the all-around festive mood of the tribal people, where everyone takes part.
Cricket, Hockey and football are popular games with the people of Jharkhand. Jharkhand has given some brilliant players like Jaipal Singh, a former Indian hockey captain and Olympian and Manohar Topno, Vimal Lakra, currently playing for the Indian Hockey team but the most famous is Mahendra Singh Dhoni who is the captain of Indian cricket team and the best wicket keeper batsman for India till date and led the Indian Cricket Team to ICC Cricket World Cup Glory on 2 April 2011 ending a 28 year wait to repeat the feat achieved by former Indian captain Kapil Dev in 1983 at Lords, England. Another rising sun from Jharkhand is Varun Aaron, India's fastest bowler and Saurabh Tiwary, left hand hard hitting batsman of India who represented Mumbai Indians from the 2008 Indian Premier League and currently playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore.He was one of the key batsmen in the Indian team that won the 2008 U/19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia. Jaipal Singh was the captain of the hockey team that won the first gold medal for India in Olympic games 1928 at Amsterdam.