The Basics
Jharkhand at a Glance
A young, landlocked state on the forested Chotanagpur plateau of eastern India — rich in minerals and heavy industry, and home to one of the country's largest tribal populations.
- Ranchi Capital city — Dumka serves as the sub-capital for the Santhal Pargana region
- 15 Nov 2000 Formed from southern Bihar — on the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda
- 79,716 km² Area — one of India's mid-sized states
- Landlocked No coastline — ringed by five states
- 24 Districts · 5 divisions — see the interactive map above
- Hindi Official language, with 16 additional ones — including Santali (in the Constitution's Eighth Schedule), Ho, Mundari, Kurukh & Nagpuri
- 81 seats Legislative Assembly (unicameral); 14 Lok Sabha seats
- Borders Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh & Uttar Pradesh
- Plateau land The Chotanagpur plateau & Santhal Pargana; rivers Subarnarekha, Damodar, Koel & Sankh
- State symbols Animal: elephant · Bird: koel · Tree: sal · Flower: palash
People
Population & Society
Census 2011 is the last full count, so today's totals are projections. Jharkhand is one of India's great tribal heartlands, and still largely rural. Figures are Census 2011 unless marked.
- 3.30 cr Population, 2011 (32,988,134) — about 4 crore today (projected)
- 22.4% Decadal growth, 2001–2011 — above the national average
- 414 /km² Population density, 2011
- 948 Sex ratio — females per 1,000 males, 2011
- 66.4% Literacy rate, 2011 — below the national average
- 24.1% Urbanisation — a largely rural state
- ~26% ST Scheduled Tribes; with ~12% Scheduled Castes, close to two in five people are SC or ST
- Tribes Santhal, Oraon, Munda & Ho lead some 32 notified tribal communities
- 3 cities Million-plus urban areas — Jamshedpur, Dhanbad & Ranchi
Economy
A Mineral & Industrial Economy
Jharkhand sits on roughly two-fifths of India's mineral wealth, and that shapes its economy — built on coal, steel and heavy industry, even as incomes remain among the country's lowest.
- ₹5.6 L cr GSDP 2025-26 (budget estimate, current prices) — up about 10% on 2024-25
- ~10% Nominal GSDP growth, 2025-26 (budget estimate)
- Among India's lowest Per-capita income — near the bottom of the states (2023-24)
- ~27% Outstanding debt as % of GSDP (2025-26 budget estimate)
What the economy is made of — share of GSVA (2023-24)
- ~44% Services — trade, transport & public services
- ~33% Industry — steel, mining & manufacturing; a high share for an Indian state
- ~23% Agriculture & allied — mostly rain-fed farming
India's mineral storehouse
- ~40% of India's mineral reserves lie in Jharkhand
- Coal Among India's largest coal reserves — about a quarter of the national total — and the country's leading source of coking coal
- Iron ore Among India's largest reserves, in the Singhbhum belt (second after Odisha)
- Uranium Jaduguda, in East Singhbhum — India's first uranium mine, working since 1967
- Copper & mica The Singhbhum copper belt and the Koderma mica belt
- One of a kind India's only producer of coking coal, uranium and pyrite (per IBEF)
- Mineral wealth, low incomes: Jharkhand supplies much of India's coal, steel and strategic minerals, yet its per-capita income is among the lowest of all states — a long-running puzzle of a resource-rich region.
- Figures here are the latest Jharkhand Budget estimates (2025-26). The India GDP page compares all states at FY2024-25, so its Jharkhand figure is for that earlier year.
Agriculture & Forests
Farming & the Forests
Farming here is mostly rain-fed, with rice the staple — but the state's real wealth in this field comes from its forests, which make it India's top producer of lac and tasar silk.
- Rice The staple crop, on roughly four-fifths of the cultivated area; with maize, pulses & oilseeds
- Lac India's largest producer of lac — home to the national lac research institute (now NISA) at Ranchi
- Tasar silk India's leading producer of tasar (tussar) silk — the forest silk; Kuchai's weave carries a GI tag
- ~30% forest Sal woodland covers about a third of the state (ISFR 2023)
- Forest produce Tendu leaf, mahua, sal seed & lac sustain many tribal households
- Vegetables Tomato and potato are the leading horticulture crops
- Rain-fed Most farmland depends on the monsoon, with limited assured irrigation
Administrative
The 24 Districts
Jharkhand is organised into 24 districts across 5 divisions. Pick a district below and it will light up on the map above — individual district pages are on the way.
The map and this list share the same data. Clicking a district highlights it on the interactive map in the hero; soon each will open its own page.
What Makes Jharkhand Unique
Strengths, Industry & Heritage
From the steel city of Jamshedpur and the coalfields of Dhanbad to the holiest hill in Jainism and some of India's first tiger forests — a few things Jharkhand is known for.
Industry & mining
- Jamshedpur Tata Steel (founded 1907) and India's first planned industrial city
- Bokaro The SAIL steel plant, built with Soviet help in the 1960s–70s
- Dhanbad The coal capital of India — and home to IIT (ISM), the old Indian School of Mines
- HEC · Ranchi Heavy Engineering Corporation (1958) — a giant public-sector foundry-forge complex
- Jaduguda India's first uranium mine, working since 1967, in the Singhbhum belt
Heritage, nature & faith
- Shikharji Parasnath Hill (1,365 m), the state's highest peak — and Jainism's holiest pilgrimage
- Palamau Betla National Park — among India's first tiger reserves (1973)
- Dalma A wildlife sanctuary near Jamshedpur, known for its elephants
- Netarhat The "Queen of Chotanagpur" — a forest hill station famed for its sunsets
Culture & Traditions
Festivals, Dance & Crafts
Jharkhand's culture is rooted in its Adivasi communities — festivals tied to the land and the sal tree, a masked dance on UNESCO's heritage list, and a mural art that won the state its first GI tag.
- Sarhul The spring festival that greets the blossoming of the sal tree
- Karma & Sohrai Harvest and cattle festivals at the heart of the Adivasi calendar
- Chhau The masked Seraikela Chhau dance — on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list (2010)
- Sohrai–Khovar Tribal mural painting from Hazaribagh — Jharkhand's first GI tag (2020)
- Dokra & tasar Lost-wax bell-metal craft, and the forest's tussar silk
- Santali A Jharkhand language in the Constitution's Eighth Schedule; alongside Nagpuri, Ho & Mundari
Places to Visit
Temples, Forests & Waterfalls
Jharkhand draws pilgrims to a great Shiva shrine and a sacred Jain hill, and travellers to its plateau of waterfalls, forests and hill stations.
- Deoghar Baba Baidyanath Dham, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas — the month-long Shravani Mela draws huge crowds
- Shikharji The Jain pilgrimage on Parasnath Hill, where many Tirthankaras are believed to have attained moksha
- Rajrappa The Chhinnamasta temple at the meeting of the Damodar and Bhairavi rivers
- Maluti A village of 72 surviving old terracotta temples, in Dumka
- Lodh Falls The state's tallest waterfall (~143 m), in the Latehar forests
- Hundru & Dassam Popular waterfalls on the rivers around Ranchi
- Netarhat The plateau's best-loved hill station, for sunrise and sunset
- Betla The national park in the Palamau forests — tigers, elephants & old fort ruins
Modern Jharkhand
Institutions, Energy & Renewal
Beyond its mines and mills, Jharkhand hosts premier national institutions, new power capacity and a greenfield capital district taking shape on old industrial land.
- IIT (ISM) Dhanbad's IIT — India's premier mining & geology institute, founded in 1926
- More institutes IIM Ranchi, NIT Jamshedpur and AIIMS Deoghar
- HEC · Ranchi A foundry-forge complex that supplies the steel, defence & space sectors
- Patratu A large new NTPC super-thermal power project — its first unit came on stream in 2025
- Ranchi Smart City A greenfield smart city rising on land released by HEC
- Deoghar Airport A new airport opened in 2022, easing the Baidyanath pilgrimage
Rail, Road & Air
Trains, Highways & Airports
Jharkhand's railways carry much of India's coal — the Dhanbad division is the country's busiest for freight — alongside growing road and air links.
- Coal freight The Dhanbad railway division is India's top division for freight loading, carrying the nation's coal
- Junctions Major railway hubs at Dhanbad, Ranchi, Tatanagar (Jamshedpur) & Bokaro
- Vande Bharat The Ranchi–Howrah semi-high-speed train links the capital to Kolkata
- Ranchi Metro A metro for the capital is planned, but not yet built
- Airports Ranchi (Birsa Munda), the new Deoghar airport, and Jamshedpur (Sonari)
- Highways About 3,600 km of national highways cross the state (2024)
People & Resistance
Icons of Jharkhand
Jharkhand's story is one of tribal resistance and pride — from the great rebellions against colonial rule to a cricketer who became a national hero.
- Birsa Munda The Adivasi hero whose Ulgulan ("Great Tumult", 1899–1900) shook British rule; the state was born on his birthday
- Sidhu & Kanhu The Murmu brothers who led the Santhal Hul, the great uprising of 1855
- Jaipal Singh Munda Captain of India's first Olympic hockey gold (1928) and the voice of the Jharkhand demand
- M.S. Dhoni The Ranchi-born cricketer who captained India to three world titles
- The rebellions The Hul and the Ulgulan made Jharkhand a cradle of India's tribal resistance
- Janjatiya Gaurav Divas Since 2021, 15 November is a national day honouring Birsa Munda
Through the Ages
A Short History of Jharkhand
From the old plateau kingdoms and the great tribal rebellions to a state of its own — a few milestones that shaped Jharkhand.
| When | Milestone |
|---|---|
| c. 1st century CE on | The Nagvanshi kings rule much of the Chotanagpur plateau |
| 1855 | The Santhal Hul rises under Sidhu & Kanhu Murmu against the East India Company |
| 1899–1900 | Birsa Munda leads the Ulgulan against British rule and land seizures |
| 1908 | The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act is passed to protect tribal land |
| 1907 | Tata Steel is founded at Sakchi — the future Jamshedpur |
| 1928 | Jaipal Singh Munda captains India to its first Olympic hockey gold |
| 1938 | The Adivasi Mahasabha first raises the demand for a separate Jharkhand |
| 1973 | Palamau becomes one of India's first tiger reserves |
| 15 Nov 2000 | Jharkhand is created as India's 28th state, carved from southern Bihar |
| 2010 | Chhau dance joins UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list |
| 2021 | 15 November is declared Janjatiya Gaurav Divas, honouring Birsa Munda |