Bihar
 |
Area |
94,163 sq km |
 |
State
Government Portal |
 |
Population |
82,878,796 |
|
Open Forum Partners
|
 |
Capital |
Patna |
|
Important Contact Numbers |
 |
Principal
Languages |
Hindi |
|
Development Initiatives |
History
and Geography
Bihar finds mention in the Vedas,
Puranas , epics, etc., and was the main
scene of activities of Buddha, and 24 Jain Tirthankars.
Great rulers of the State before the Christian
era were Bimbisar, Udayin, who founded the city
of Pataliputra. Chandragupta Maurya and Emperor
Ashoka and Maurya dynasty, the Sungs and the
Kanvas. Then came the Kushan rulers followed
by Chandragupta Vikramaditya of the Gupta dynasty.
Muslim rulers made in-roads into the territory
during medieval period. The first conqueror
of Bihar was Mohammed- bin-Bakhtiar Khalji.
The Tughluqs and then the Mughals followed the
Khaljis.
One of the major states of the Indian Union,
Bihar is bounded on the north by Nepal, on the
east by West Bengal, on west by Uttar Pradesh
and on the south by Jharkhand. Bihar has a number
of rivers, the most important of which is the
Ganga. The other rivers are the Sone, Poonpoon,
Falgu, Karmanasa, Durgawati, Kosi, Gandak, Ghaghara,
etc.
Agriculture
Bihar has a total geographical area of
about 93.60 lakh hectare, out of which only
56.03 lakh hectare is the net cultivated area
and gross cultivated area being 79.46 lakh hectare.
About 33.51 lakh hectare net area and 43.86
lakh hectare gross area receive irrigation from
different sources. Principal food crops are
paddy, wheat, maize and pulses. Main cash crops
are sugarcane, potato, tobacco, oilseeds, onion,
chillies, jute and mesta. Bihar has notified
forest area of 6,764.14 sq km, which is 7.1
per cent of its geographical area.
Industries
Major Industries are: Railway Wagon Plants
of Bharat Wagon Limited at Muzaffarpur and Mokamah;
Oil Refinery of Indian Oil Corporation at Barauni;
Fertilizer Manufacturing Plant of Hindustan
Fertilizer Corporation Limited (HPCL) at Barauni
and Pyrites Phosphates & Chemicals Limited
(PPCL) at Amjhor; Cotton Spinning Mills at Siwan,
Pandaul, Bhagalpur, Mokamah and Gaya; 13 sugar
mills in private sector and 15 in the public
sector located in south and north Bihar with
a total crushing capacity of 45,000 TPD. In
addition, distilleries at Gopalganj, West Champaran,
Bhagalpur and Riga (in Sitamarhi district);
Finished Leather Industry in West Champaran,
Muzaffarpur and Barauni; Jute Mills at Katihar
and Samastipur; Medicine Manufacturing Unit
at Hajipur; Food Processing Units as also Vanaspati
Manufacturing Units at Aurangabad and Patna;
besides Kalyanpur Cement Limited at Banjari,
are notable in the industrial map of Bihar.
Transport
Roads:Bihar
has around 13,000 km of pucca roads including
around 2,500 km of national highways and roughly
11,000 km of state highways and major district
roads.
Railways:Bihar
has a fairly good railway network. Communication
in north Bihar is difficult as there is only
one railway bridge at Mokamah. A few railway
routes connecting important places like Muzaffarpur-Samastipur-Barauni-Katihar
and Muzaffarpur-Chapra-Siwan have been converted
into broad gauge. The main rail junctions are
at Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Katihar and Samastipur,
etc.
Aviation:There
is an international airport at Patna, besides
landing grounds in all major districts of the
State.
Tourist
Centres
Important places of tourist interest
are Rajgir, Nalanda, Vaishali, Pawapuri (where
Lord Mahavira breathed his last and attained
Nirvana ), Bodh Gaya, Vikramshila (ruins
of Buddhist University of higher learning),
Gaya, Patna (ancient city of Patliputra), Sasaram
(tomb of Shershah Suri) and Madhubani (known
for famous Madhubani Paintings).
