Introduction

Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar state on 15th of november, 2000. Jharhkand is bordered by the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east. The industrial city of Ranchi is its capital. The other major cities, all highly industrialised cities of eastern India, are Jamshedpur, Bokaro, and Dhanbad. Jharkhand is also popularly known as 'Vananchal' means a land mass covered with forests. Jharkhand is known for its mineral wealth and forestry products together with excellent human resources. Forest preserves support populations of tigers and Indian elephants. Most of the state lies on the Chota Nagpur Plateau, which is the source of the Koel, Damodar, Brahmani, Kharkai, and Subarnarekha rivers, whose upper watersheds lie within Jharkhand. Jharkhand has a rich variety of flora and fauna. The National Parks and the Zoological Gardens located in the state of Jharkhand present a panorama of this variety.

Soils

Soil content of Jharkhand state mainly consist of soil formed from disintegration of rocks and stones, and soil composition is further divided into:

Red soil, found mostly in the Damodar valley, and Rajmahal area

Micacious soil (containing particles of mica), found in Koderma, Jhumeritilaiya, Barkagaon, and areas around the Mandar hill

Sandy soil, generally found in Hazaribagh and Dhanbad

Black soil, found in Rajmahal area

Laterite soil, found in western part of Ranchi, Palamu, and parts of Santhal Parganas and Singhbhum

Population

Jharkhand has a population of 26.90 million, consisting of 13.86 million males and 13.04 million females. The sex ratio is 941 females to 1000 males. The population consists of 28% tribals, 12% Scheduled Castes and 60% others. There are 274 persons for each square kilometer of land. However, the population density varies considerably from as low as 148 per square kilometer in Gumla district to as high as 1167 per square kilometer in Dhanbad district. Jharkhand has remained a home to a number of tribal communities since time immemorial. Some of the districts have a predominant tribal population. Jharkhand has 32 primitive tribal groups.These are Asur, Baiga, Banjara, Bathudi, Bedia, Binjhia, Birhor, Birjia, Chero, Chick-Baraik, Gond, Gorait, Ho, Karmali, Kharwar, Khond, Kisan, Kora, Korwa, Lohra, Mahli, Mal-Paharia, Munda, Oraon, Parhaiya, Santal, Sauria-Paharia, Savar, Bhumij, Kol and Kanwar. The geographical area now comprising Jharkhand was previously part of Bihar. The area has witnessed migration of people from the adjoining areas of Bihar and West Bengal for last several decades. Industrial and mining centres like Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Ranchi have attracted people from all parts of India. Hinduism, Islam and Christianity are the three religions that came in through the colonisers. The Tribal comunities of Jharkhand have their own spiritual beliefs commonly called Sarna. During the process colonisation the tribal religious beliefs were considered pagan and this was a tool for further subordination. Today the tribal people are realizing this and now Sarna is a growing phenomena. The literacy rate in Jharkhand is only 54.13% (2001) and female literacy rate is still lower at 39.38%.

Economy

Jharkhand is a rich state of poor people. It has concentration of some of country's highly industrialized cities like Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Dhanbad. Jharkhand also has immense mineral resources: minerals ranging from (ranking in the country within bracket) from iron ore (1st), coal (3rd), copper ore (1st), mica (1st), bauxite (3rd), Manganese, lime stone, china clay, fire clay, graphite (8th), kainite (1st), chromite (2nd), asbestos (1st), thorium (3rd), yemenite (2nd), sillimanite, uranium (Jaduguda mines, Narwa Pahar) (1st) and even gold (Rakha mines) (6th) and silver and several other minerals. Large deposits of coal and iron ore support concentration of industry, in centers like Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Ranchi. Despite the fact that it has First Iron & steel factory at Jamshedpur, largest fertilizer factory of its time in India (since shut down) at Sindri, biggest explosives factory at Gomia, first methane gas well, still, it has several towns and innumerable villages with sub-standard civic amenities. Urbanization ratio is only 22.25% and the per capita annual income is US$ 90 only.

Administration

The state is headed by a Governor, who is appointed by the President of India. However, the real executive power rests with the Chief Minister and the cabinet. The political party or the coalition of political parties having majority in the Legislative Assembly forms the Government. The administrative head of the State is called Chief Secretary, under whose jurisdiction a hierarchy of officials drawn from the Indian Administrative Service / State Civil Services function. The judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice and Jharkhand has a separate High Court, located in Ranchi. Presently, the state has 22 dsitricts.

Language

Jharkhand is home to a number of languages belonging to three major language families. Indo-Aryan languages include Bhojpuri , Hindi, Urdu, Bengali. Jharkand is also home to the Munda languages Korku, Santhali, Mundari, Bhumij, Paharia and Ho, and the Dravidian languages Korwa, Oraon, and Sauria Paharia.

Media

Hindi newspapers like the Ranchi Express and the Prabhat Khabar are main newspapaers, published from the state capital, Ranchi and are available in almost all parts of the state. All important Indian newspapers, in Hindi, English and Bengali are also available in bigger cities by the afternoon and with a day's delay in smaller towns. Most of the national magazines in Hindi, English and Bengali are regularly available in bigger cities and at other places supply may be arranged through newspaper vendors. All India Radio is the only radio station in Jharkhand and covers the entire state. Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster, is also available in almost all parts of the state. Bigger cities of Jaharkhand is served by all television channels available in India and channels are received through cable. In some interior regions, channels are received via satellite dishes. Landline telephone connectivity is provided by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL),Tata Teleservices(TATA INDICOM) and Reliance Infocomm and covers almost all parts of the state. Cellular service, covering all major centres of the state, is provided by BSNL ,Reliance Telekom and Airtel( GSM Service) and also by Tata Indicom and Reliance Infocomm(CDMA Service) Internet connectivity is available in most of the district headquarters, but broadband connectivity is not widely available.

Districts of Jharkhand

Ranchi
Lohardaga
Gumla district
Simdega
Palamu
Latehar
Garhwa
West Singhbhum
Saraikela Kharsawan
East Singhbhum
Dumka
Jamtara
Sahebganj
Pakur
Godda
Hazaribagh
Chatra
Koderma
Giridih
Dhanbad
Bokaro

Deoghar