Rajasthan

Rajasthan is located in the north western part of the union of India and is the largest state in terms of area at 342,269km².http://www.bing.com/reference/semhtml/Rajasthan?q=rajasthan&form=hphot2 Rajasthan was created as a state of India on March 30, 1949.http://www.fortauwa.com/rajasthan-tour-travels.html The state is also known as the "land of the rajas" and "land of the rajputs".http://www.indtravel.com/rajasthan/rajas.html Rajasthan is renowned for its monuments, culture and artwork and is one of the twenty eight states of modern day India.http://waterresources.rajasthan.gov.in/1history.htm

The state is also becoming famous for their Indian Premier League (IPL) Cricket team, which is called the Rajasthan Royals.http://www.rajasthanroyals.com/ There is a lot of press speculation about the club as they are part-owned by Rajasthan born Bollywood movie star Shilpa Shetty.http://news.oneindia.in/2010/04/26/shilpa-shetty-rajasthan-royals-brand-ambassador.html

Jaipur is the state capital of Rajasthan, in total the state population was about 56 million, as recorded in the last census of 2001.http://www.pppinindia.com/infrastructure-rajasthan.php

Rajasthan borders the country of Pakistan to the west and has borders with five other Indian states. These borders are with Gujarat to the southwest, Madhya Pradesh to the southeast, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana both to the northeast and Punjab to the north.

Rajasthani and Hindi are the most popular spoken languages.http://www.indfy.com/rajasthan-india/languages.html Hinduism is the most popular religion of the country, accounting for 89% of the population. Other languages spoken include English, Gujarati, Sindhi and Punjabi.

Cities within Rajasthan with a population in excess of 400,000 are:http://www.citypopulation.de/India-Rajasthan.html

• Jaipur: 2,322,575
• Jodhpur: 851,051
• Kota: 694,316
• Bikaner: 529,690 and
• Ajmer: 485,575

The population statistics shown above are taken from the Indian Census of 2001.

Rajasthan is divided into seven administrative divisions and thirty three districts:

• Ajmer Division: Ajmer, Bhilwara, Nagaur and Tonk
• Bharatpur Division: Bharatpur, Dholpur, Karauli and Sawai Madhopur
• Bikaner Division: Bikaner, Churu, Ganganagar and Hanumangarh
• Jaipur Division: Jaipur, Alwar, Jhunjhunu, Sikar and Dausa
• Jodhpur Division: Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jalore, Jodhpur, Pali and Sirohi
• Kota Division: Baran, Bundi, Jhalawar and Kota
• Udaipur Division: Banswara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Dungarpur, Udaipur and Rajsamand

Approximately 127,000km² of the state of Rajasthan is covered by the Thar Desert. This represents about 37% of the entire land mass of Rajasthan (342,269km²).

Unlike other areas of India, parts of Rajasthan are well irrigated by many local rivers. This means the state is rich in terms of agricultural crop production, the main crops of Rajasthan are sugarcane, lentils, oilseed, cotton and tobacco.http://mapsofindia.com/maps/rajasthan/

The main rivers of Rajasthan are the Chambal, Luni, Ghaggar, Kali, Banas, Banganga, Parvati, Gambhiri, Mahi, Kakni, Jokham, Sabarmati, Katli, Sabi and Mantha.http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/rajasthan/rivers/

The state of Rajasthan is visited by both Indian and international tourists. Tourism is a key industry in the state and the two main strands of tourism are architecture and wildlife tours.http://www.iwilltravelrajasthan.com/

Architectural tourist attractions include Bhandasar Temple of Bikaner, Chittorgarh Fort, City Palaces, Dilwara Temples, Jaisalmer Havelis, Jantar Mantar and the Lake Palace.http://india-discover.com/rajasthan.html

Wildlife tours and resorts are also a key source of income for the state. Local wildlife is varied; , examples include the Caracal wild boar, leopards, pangolin and tigers.http://www.rajasthancityguide.com/rajasthan-wildlife-sancturies.html There are also some endangered species in Rajasthan; examples include the chinkara, blackbuck and the great Indian Bbustard.http://www.rajasthan.org.uk/ Attractions include the Darrah Sanctuary, Desert National Park, Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Kumbhalgarh, Mount Abu, Ranthambhor National Park, Sajjangarh, Sariska Tiger Reserve, SitaMata Sanctuary and the Tal Chapper Sanctuary.http://www.rajasthanwildlife.in/