100 Interesting Facts About Gujarat

Facts About Gujarat: Gujarat is an industrialized state of India. Gujarat is located on the western edge of India, the Arabian Sea to the west, Sindh (Pakistan) to the north, Rajasthan to the north and northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east and Maharashtra to the south and Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Surrounded by territories. Capital of Gujarat audio speaker icon Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad is the only metropolitan city of Gujarat. The state of Gujarat is named after Gujjar.

The State of Gujarat was established on May 1, 1960 by separating the Gujarati speaking areas from the Greater Mumbai State. The state has prominent sites of Indus Valley Civilization, such as Lothal and Dholavira. Lothal is believed to have been the world's first port.

Gujarat has gifted India with two great leaders of its independence movement - Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Gujarat has given two countries of the world the Father of the Nation - Mahatma Gandhi to India and Muhammad Ali Zina to Pakistan. Apart from this, Gujarat has also given India a principled and patriotic Prime Minister like Morarji Desai. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was the first Home Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of India to form Greater India by uniting more than 200 princely states.

Throughout the history of India, Gujarat has played a very important role in India's economic development. Gujarat is one of the developed states of India and has the highest industrial growth rate in all of India and much higher than the average growth rate of India.

Amazing Facts About Gujarat

Rajkot is 9th cleanest city of Gujarat.
It is locally known as Jewel of the West.
Gujarat is the largest producer of milk in India.
Gandhinagar is the greenest capital city in whole Asia.
Gujarat has largest OFC network of more than 50,000 km.
India’s first Marine National Park is situated in Gujarat.
Over 60% of Indian Population in North America is Gujarati.
The first all vegetarian Pizza-Hut was opened in Ahmedabad.
100% of Gujarat’s 18,000 villages have electricity connection.
Gujarat is the only place in India where Asiatic Lions are found.
Gujarat is the only present natural habitat of lions outside Africa.
Gujarat has the longest sea shore compared to any other Indian state.
Surat is the third cleanest city in India after Chandigarh and Mysore
The British East India Company set its first footsteps in Surat in 1818.
India’s first port was established in Gujarat’s Lothal, a Harappan Site.
The world’s third largest denim manufacturer is Ahmedabad’s Arvind Mills.
Over 20% of the S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Gujarat
Gujarat is the only state in India to have a statewide gas grid of 2,200 km.
The world’s largest ship breaking yard is in Gujarat near Bhavnagar at Alang.

Strange Facts About Gujarat

Gujarat is having the least crime against women among all Indian states after Goa.
Stretching 1600 km, Gujarat has the longest coastline among all the States in India.
The world’s first pure vegetarian Subway and Domino’s outlet was opened in Ahmedabad.
The first capital of Gujarat was Ahmedabad; the capital was moved to Gandhinagar in 1970.
In year 2010, Forbes listed Ahmedabad as the world’s 3rd fastest growing city in the world.
The Patel surname runs into multiple sheets of pages in the New Jersey Telephone Directory.
Kutch District of Gujarat is the largest district in India. It covers an area of 45674 sq km.
Located near Bhuj, Mandvi is a coastal destination that boasts 400-year-old shipbuilding tradition.
Gujarat has two of the three Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals in the country (Dahej and Hazira)
The percentage of man-days lost in Gujarat due to labour unrest is 0.42 per cent, the lowest in India.
India’s only Liquid Chemical Port Terminal at Dahej, developed by Gujarat Chemical Port Terminal Co. Ltd.
Gujarat has seventeen airports, which makes it the state with highest number of operating airports in India.
The state of Gujarat’s GDP has been growing at 12 per cent a year for the last 12 years, as fast as China‘s.
Gujarat is one of the most prosperous states of the country, having a per-capita GDP 3.2 times India’s average.
Amul – Anand milk co-operative federation products are well known all over India, and it is Asia’s biggest dairy.

Cultural Facts About Gujarat

At the height of about 2000 ft, Palitana in Gujarat is the only place in the world with more than 900 Jain temples.
Did you know the fact that Gujarat has the highest number of vegetarian people compared to any other state in India.
The world’s first 'vegetarian outlets' of fast food brands Domino’s, Pizza Hut, and Subway, were opened in Ahmedabad.
Despite the common belief, Gujarat is not the land of vegetarians. Bhatiyar Gali in Ahmedabad is the best proof of it.
Did you know the fact that one in every five Indian American is a Gujarati whereas one in every 20 Indians is a Gujarati.
An average income of a Gujarati family in North America is three times more than the average income of an American family.
At Ahmedabad’s New Lucky Restaurant, diners eat their meals sitting at tables scattered between 12 coffins. Weird but true.
If it was a nation it would have been 67th richest nation in the world above many European and Asian economies like Ukraine.
Armabada, a town in Kutch District of Gujarat, has the world’s first lake where a rare species of ‘upside down jellyfish’ lives.
Gujarat is the safest state in India. It’s crime rate is 8.2 which is the least in India even after considering 2002 communal riots.
87.9% of the total roads in the state are asphalt surfaced. 98.86% village connectivity with all‐weather roads, the highest in India.
Gujarat produces about 98% of India’s required amount of Soda Ash and gives the country about 78% of its national requirement of salt.
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad(IIMA) is Asia’s 1st and world’s 45th ranked management college located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
As per RBI report, in year 2006–07, 26% out of total bank finance in India was in Gujarat. This figure has since increased exponentially.

Economic Facts About Gujarat

The Gujaratis own more than 17,000 hotels and motels in the US, with one million rooms representing over 50 percent of U.S. economy lodges.
Gujarat has the longest coastline in India. It is 1,596 km long, and no part of this western state of India is more than 160 km from the sea.
Ahmedabad is the city with the lowest crime rate among all Tier-I and Tier-II cities of India as per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.
The Lakshmi Vilas Palace in Vadodara is the largest private residence built in India. It is four times bigger than the Buckingham Palace in London.
Consumption of sugar is highest in Gujarat as compared to any other state in India. Use of sugar in most of the Gujarati recipes explains this fact!
First Indian state to impose a complete ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages, Gujarat also has the most number of vegetarian people in the country.
Originating from the Sanskrit word ‘Gurjaratra’, it means the “Land of Gurjaras”. The Gurjara tribe ruled the region between 8th and 9th centuries C.E.
Patang Bazaar, a Kite Market in Ahmedabad, stays opens 24 hours of the day during the International Kite Festival Week (Uttarayan) held annually in the month of January.
Gujaratis number five per cent of India‘s population living on six per cent of surface area, but hold more than 30 per cent equity of all Indian stocks in the share market.
Global restaurant chains like Subway and Pizza Hut have opened their pure vegetarian outlets in Ahmedabad. These are their first completely vegetarian restaurants in the world.
Ahmedabad in Gujarat is now home to the world’s largest cricket stadium. The new stadium can seat 1,10,000 spectators and has parking space for 3,000 cars and 10,000 two-wheelers.
The state owned Wide Area Network is the largest IP-based ICT network in Asia Pacific Region and second largest in the world, connecting 26 districts and 225 talukas through 12,000 nodes.

Geographical Facts About Gujarat

Commercial banks in Gujarat have total NRI deposits of Rs. 17,500 crores, of which FCNR deposits are worth Rs. 9,370 crores as of 2006. These figures have increased exponentially since then.
Gujarat has its own version of Leh’s Magnetic Hill. The hills in Tulsi Shyam near Gujarat’s Amreli district, act against gravity - like Leh’s Magnetic Hill objects and cars appear rolling uphill.
The capital of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, is considered to be the greenest capital city in Asia, with almost 50% of its land covered with greenery. Till 1970, Ahmedabad was the capital city of Gujarat.
Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary in Gujarat is one of the last places on earth where the endangered wild ass sub-species Indian Wild Ass (Khur) belonging to Asiatic Wild Ass species Onager can be spotted.
The richest city in India is Surat; ahead of Bangalore and Madras, with an average annual household income of Rs.450,000. according to the report of The National Council of Applied Economic Research.
There are about 65.5 million speakers of Gujarati worldwide, making it the 26th most spoken native language in the world. Along with Romany and Sindhi, it is among the most western of Indo-Aryan languages.
Gujarat ranks first nationwide in gas-based thermal electricity generation with national market share of over 8% and second nationwide in nuclear electricity generation with national market share of over 1%.
Dedicated to the Indian Independence movement leader, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Statue of Unity stands tall at 182 metres. The statue is located on the river island Sadhu Bet in Narmada district, Gujarat.
The oil refinery at Jamnagar is the world’s largest grass-roots refinery. It is operated by Reliance Petroleum Limited, which is one of the group companies of Reliance Industries Limited founded by Dhirubhai Ambani.

Historical Facts About Gujarat

Built by Maharaja Sayaji Rao Gaekwad III in 1890, the palace is spread over 500 acres of land. Reputed to be the largest private residence built in India, it is four times bigger than the Buckingham Palace of London.
Gujarat is derived from Sanskrit (Gurjar-Rashtra), the Gurjar nation. Gujarat was known as Gurjaratra (country ruled or protected by the Gurjars) or Gurjarabhumi (land of the Gurjars) for centuries prior to the Mughal period.
The first sea port in India was established in the city of Lothal. The ancient inhabitants of Gujarat had trading and commercial ties with Egypt, Bahrain and Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) between the period 1000 B.C to 750 B.C.
The Shatrunjaya hill in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, is the world’s only mountain having more than 850 marble carved temples. The site is considered to be sacred by the Svetambara Jains. The Digambara Jains have only one temple on the hill.
The Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary was setup in 1965 with a total area of 1412 km2. It is the only area in Asia where Asiatic lions can be found. The last Asiatic Lion census in 2015 revealed the lion population to be at 523.
The Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) in the city of Vadodara is largest university in Gujarat and India Today has ranked it at tenth place in their list of India’s best universities, while Hindustan Times has ranked it at sixth place.
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, has been ranked first among business schools in India by National Institute Ranking Framework and many other B-School ranking surveys. IIM (A) is also among the top 50 premier B-Schools in the world.
The Sardar Sarovar Dam, near which the popular attraction of Statue of Unity is situated, is the second largest concrete dam in the world in terms of the volume of concrete used to construct dam after the Grand Coulee dam across River Columbia, US.
Gujarat has been one of the main centres of the Indus Valley Civilization. It contains major ancient metropolitan cities from the Indus Valley such as Lothal, Dholavira, and Gola Dhoro. India’s first port was established at the ancient city of Lothal.
Gujarati has also been the language spoken by two of South Asia`s most prominent leaders: the Father of the Indian Nation, Mahatma Gandhi and the Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. They were both Gujaratis from trading communities. One a Bania, the other a Khoja.
Located in the town of Prabhas Patan on the western coast of Gujarat, Somnath temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. From ancient times, the site of Somnath has been a pilgrimage spot and the temple is believed to the first among twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva in India.
Gujaratis are key players in the multi-billion dollar diamond export business all over the world from Africa to the UK and US. 80 per cent of all diamonds sold anywhere in the world are polished in Surat. The only non-Jews in the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem diamond bourse are Gujaratis.
Gujarat has some of the world’s largest entities. The Jamnagar Oil Refinery, owned by the Reliance Industries is the biggest oil refinery on the planet. The Alang shipyard in Gujarat, is the world’s biggest ship breaking yard, recycling almost half of all ships salvaged around the world.
Surat is a major world hub for diamond cutting and polishing and is considered to be one of the richest cities in India in terms of per capita income. Almost 8 out 10 diamonds sold in the world are polished in Surat. It is also the third cleanest city in India after Chandigarh and Mysore.
‘Raan of Kutch’ is a large salt marsh located in the Thar Desert in Gujarat’s Kutch District. Spread over an area of 7500 km2, it is considered to be one of the largest salt desert in the world. With an area of 45674 km2, Kutch is the largest district in India. Kutch means ‘something that becomes wet and dry intermittently’.
Gujarati was the first language of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the ” Father of the Nation of India”,Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the “Father of the Nation of Pakistan” and Vallabhbhai Patel, the “Iron Man of India.” Other prominent personalities whose first language is or was Gujarati include Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Morarji Desai, Narsinh Mehta, Dhirubhai Ambani and J. R. D. Tata.
Anand Milk Union Limited, better known as AMUL is based out of Anand in Gujarat. An Indian dairy cooperative, AMUL is managed by the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. which is the largest food products marketing organisation in India and is jointly owned by 3.6 million milk producers in Gujarat. AMUL started the White Revolution in the country and today India is the world’s largest producer of milk and milk products.
Founded by Lord Krishna, Dwarka is said to have existed more than 10,000 years ago and is believed to be the first capital of Gujarat. Today this coastal city is one of the ‘Char Dhams’ (four religious seats) as per Hindu beliefs. Badrinath, Puri and Rameshwaram are the other three. The Dwarkadish temple, dedicated to Lord Krishna was originally built around 2500 years back, but was destroyed by Mahmud Shah. It was later rebuilt in the 16th century.

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