Gujarat State, India

Gujarat is the second most industrialized state in India after Maharashtra. It is located in northwestern India near the border with Pakistan and its capital is Gandhinagar. The major cities in this state are; Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, and Rajkot. Ahmedabad is the largest city in the state and the sixth largest city in India.

The primary language is Gujarati. The majority of people are Hindus, with significant percentage following Buddhism, Islam, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity. There is a large Muslim minority, and Gujarat recently suffered through major religious conflict, in particular the 2002 Gujarat violence. The state government is a stronghold of the Sangh Parivar.

Gujarat is a state with a reputation for people with shrewd business acumen and considerable financial talent. But apart from this stereotypical image, there have been Gujaratis with various other talents. Gujarat has given to India two of its biggest leaders in the Indian Independence Movement, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Gujaratis have also made their mark in the arts and the sciences, although they are comparatively few in number when compared to the number of (small and large) businessmen and entrepreneurs. Many Jains are employed in a large diamond cutting industry which specialized in the cutting of very small diamonds.

Gujarat is the largest producer of milk in India. Anand is host to Amul dairy which is one of the largest milk product producers of the world.

Area: 196,024 km²
Population: 42 million
Capital: Gandhinagar

Main tourist places: Palitana, Diu, Kutch, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Rajkot.

Resources: cotton, peanuts, dates, sugarcane, petrol.

The last remaining Asian lions live in a game reserve in Gujarat.