Jharkhand

Jharkhand, India

Jharkhand, state of India, located in the northeastern part of the country. Jharkhand is bordered by the states of Bihar to the north, West Bengal to the east, Odisha to the south, Chhattisgarh to the west, and Uttar Pradesh to the northwest. Its capital is Ranchi.

Jharkhand, one of India’s newest states, was carved out of the southern portion of Bihar in 2000. Statehood was the culmination of a long struggle carried on primarily by the Adivasis, or Scheduled Tribes (an official term applied primarily to indigenous communities that fall outside the predominant Indian caste hierarchy). Indian independence brought relatively little socioeconomic benefit to the people of the Jharkhand area, which led to widespread discontent with the Bihar administration, particularly among the tribal peoples. The tribal groups initiated a call for independence from Bihar, and in the 1980s they became militant in their demand. In the 1990s, the separation movement spread to nontribal communities, ultimately precipitating the creation of a new state. Area 28,833 square miles (74,677 square km). Pop. (2011) 32,966,238.