Maharashtra, state in western India, bordered on the northwest by Gujarat state; on the north by Madhya Pradesh state; on the east by Chhattisgarh state; on the south by Andhra Pradesh state, Karnataka state, and Goa state; and on the west by the Arabian Sea.The capital of Maharashtra is Mumbai.

The name Maharashtra first appeared in a 7th-century inscription and in a Chinese traveler's account. Its name may have originated from rathi, meaning "chariot driver" and referring to builders and drivers of chariots who formed a maharathis, a "fighting force."

The chief crops are rice, wheat, durra, millet, sugarcane, groundnuts, and cotton. The livestock raised include buffalo and other cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry. Among industries, the manufacture of cotton and wool textiles is dominant. Other industries involve engineering, transport, and the production of sugar, industrial alcohol, chemicals, and food.

Major industrial towns are Mumbai ( Bombay ), Jalgaon, Latur, Sholapur, Nagpur and Pune.

Area 118,800 square miles (307,690 square km). Population: (1991) 78,937,187.

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