ABSTRACT
The State of Gujarat lies in western India, where the peninsula forming much of India joins the Asian mainland. Further along the coast are the mouths of the Indus, in Pakistan, which lies north beyond a broad marshland, the Rann of Kachchh (Kutch). Another Indian state, Rajasthan, is to the north and north-east, and there is a short eastern border with Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra, with which Gujarat was united as Bombay state until 1960, lies to the south-east and south. The southern border with Maharashtra, as it nears the sea, is broken by Nagar Haveli, part of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Dadra is just to the north of the larger enclave and is entirely surrounded by Gujarat. The territory was once Portuguese, administered from the nearby coastal district of Daman, which (except along the sea) is also enclosed by Gujarat. Daman forms part of another Union Territory, Daman and Diu, the second part of which is an island lying off the Kathiawar peninsula. The total area of Gujarat state is 196,022 sq km (75,713 sq miles).
