Gujarat is situated on the West Coast of India. It is one of the most economically and culturally advanced state. It is well known for its Jain Temples, and for the fact that it was in Porbandar Gujarat, that "Mahatma Gandhi" was born in "Rajkot", that he grew up and in Sabarmati Ahmedabad, he had his ashram. Gujarat was created in 1960, when the ‘Bombay’ State was divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat. It has about 1600 Km of coastline and some fantastic beaches. It is a flourishing state and even its villages have hidden talents in artisanship. On its North, it has Rajasthan, on the East, it has Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in the South and Pakistan to the Northwest while the Arabian Sea on the Southwest. The mainland is the Eastern Region of Gujarat and includes cities like Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara (Baroda). Ahmedabad is the principal city of the state and is just 20 kms. south of the new city of Gandhinagar, which is the capital of Gujarat. Recently, though, the ruins of Dholavera (Remains of a 4000 years old Indus Valley city) as well as the textiles industry have been added to the description list of the state. Being closer to the invading Muslims of the West, Gujarat is a mixture of Hindu and Muslim cultures. This is most evident in the fascinating architecture, which shows a fine blending of Hindu, and Muslim styles.
The Gulf of Cambay divides the mainland from Saurashtra, the flat, barren plains of the Kathiawar peninsula. The third and last part of the state is the Kutch region. It lies on the Northwest border of the peninsula and can be called an almost desert like place. The North and west part of the state are quite dry and in summers the temperature in the daytime can reach upto 48 C. As we move Southwards, the temperatures become milder and the far South gets strongly affected by the Southwest monsoon.
The south coast of Gujarat is a rich archeological find. It contains many ruins where events of Krishna’s life took place. The state also contains sites of the Indus valley civilization or the Harrapan culture. Gujarat was under Ashok's reign at one time. One of his rock edicts can be seen at Junagadh. The Mughals, the Portuguese and the British too tried their luck in the state.
Gujarati people are very well known for their travelling nature. They love to travel and are equally unfazed by travelers from other places. About two thirds of them are farmers and half of the state is cultivated. One can see wheat, millet, rice, and maize fields wherever possible. Some other crops grown here are cotton, Tobacco, groundnut oil, cumin, sugarcane, bananas and mangoes. Oil and natural gas industry is also set up in the state, which also produces salt and soda ash. Certain areas concentrate on pharmaceutical products and big industries while other areas are focusing more and more on small-scale industries.
The North of Gujarat shares its climate with Rajasthan and can be termed as semi-arid and arid type of a climate. The south of the state gets its fair share of the oncoming monsoons. Even so, Gujarat faces only the marginal winds of the monsoon and does not get the main onslaught of the rains. Gujarat has the 'Tapti' river flowing through its southeastern part. This river meets the Arabian Sea at Surat. Higher up, is the 'Narmada' River, which carries large quantities of alluvium down from Madhya Pradesh. It too, like the Tapti flows into the Gulf of Cambay (Khambhat). The 'Sabarmati' river, flowing past Ahmedabad and the 'Mahi' river, both empty out into the gulf of Khambhat.
During the winters the temperatures reach upto 27oC and go down to 12oC. These vary in different parts of the state and certain areas, particularly the desert ones can get really cold spell at night. The region of Kutch can be described as the desert like area. Kutch has a central ridge of basalt rock upon which are layers of sandstone. The Great Rann of Kutch in the North of this ridge, is a salt marsh. During the monsoon, the Kutch area gets flooded and turns into an island. During the summers, it dries out and is viewed as a barren plain.
The Saurashtra peninsula, also known as the Kathiawar peninsula has mostly basalt rocks surrounded by sandstone. The plateaus near Rajkot and the Gir range are made of volcanic rocks. Some areas in the Southern ends of the Kathiawar peninsula are made of limestone and clay, while the middle areas of this tip of the peninsula has a wide belt of wind blown alluvium. The summer temperatures reach upto 48oC and the minimum is around 25oC. These temperatures become more moderate as one moves southeasterly. The four rivers namely Narmada, Tapti, Mahi and Sabarmati all grace the southeast end of the state. The northeast part of Gujarat has low hills, which are the end points of the Aravali Range.
The southeast part of Gujarat is the wettest part of the state and the Western Ghats, which extend to this region, make it a place worth visiting. Around Daman, in this region, rainfall is still strongly affected by the Southwest monsoons. In the months of June and October, this region receives more than 150 cm of rainfall. This amount decreases as one more northwards. Ahmedabad gets an annual of 90cms of rain, while the Kutch region receives less than 25mm, which barely fills up the seasonal stream 'Luni'.
The plains of Kutch are sandy with rocky hills and cliffs mark the plains around the Gulf of Cambay, which are Alluvial. Cliffs mark the Southeast hills of Gujarat and moving down to the sea has several caves and embayments. Canal irrigation is available in the northern part of the Kutch region. Due to the climatic conditions this area practices dry farming growing crops like ‘Jowar’ and ‘Bajra’. Cattle and sheep rearing are also important. Due to biotic changes, semi-desert scrub is formed in Kutch and Kathiawar. Here, the grasses predominate. During the rainy season, one can find tall, edible grasses, which are cut and stored, for feeding cattle during the long dry period.