ABSTRACT
The State of Jharkhand, the southern part of Bihar until 15 November 2000, lies in northern India, south of the Gangetic plain. Bihar lies to the north, West Bengal to the east, Odisha (formerly Orissa) to the south and Chhattisgarh (itself a part of Madhya Pradesh until 2000) to the south-west. In the north-west there is a short western border with Uttar Pradesh. This hilly upland, the ‘land of jungle and jhari (forest)’, was also known as Vananchal (forest region) or, historically, Kukara. The state covers some 46% of the old territory of Bihar, amounting to some 79,714 sq km (30,789 sq miles).
