Rajasthan: Origin of the name
The State of Rajasthan, before its formation consisted of 19 princely States, the centrally administered territory of Ajmer-Merwara and two chiefships. The entire territory was then known as Rajputana. After integration, the territory came to be known as Rajasthan.
Location of Rajasthan
It extends from 23° 03′ 30′ to 30° 11′ 54′ north latitudes and from 69° 29′ 05′ to 78° 16′ 24″ east longitudes. The Tropic of (“amen passes through its southern tips in Banswara and Dungarpur districts. It has an arca of about 3.42 lakh sq. km. It is bounded on the west and north-west by Pakistan, on the north and nosh-east by Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, on the east and south-east by Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and on the south-west by Gujarat. Its total population in 1971 was 2,57,65,806; in 1981 it was 3,42,61,862 which rose to 4,40,05,990 (2,30,42,780 males and 2,09,63,210 females) in 1991.
The administration of the integrating States was run under different rules and regulations prevalent in those States but after integration in 1950, a uniform pattern of administration was evolved with Jaipur as the capital of the State. The territory was divided into 25 revenue districts. After the merger of Ajmer in 1956 in Rajasthan, the number of districts rose to 26. On 15th April, 1982, a new district, Dhaulptu, was carved out of Bbaratpur. On April 10, 1991, three more districts – Rajsamand, Baran and Dausa were carved out of the then existing districts of Udaipur, Kota and Jaipur respectively. Thus at present (1992-93), there are six Divisions and 30 revenue districts in the State. These are ‘further sub-divided into 90 sub-divisions, 213 tahsils and 87 sub-tahsils.
TOPOGRAPHY OF RAJASTHAN
The Aravali hills form a linear tract across the State running roughly from north Gujarat to Delhi Ridge. In Rajasthan, these are confined between Mount Abu (1158 m. high) in the south-west and Kbetri in the north-east. About three-fifth of the State lies north-west of this tract, leaving two-fifth in the south-east. There are two natural divisions of Rajasthan. The north-west tract is sandy and unproductive with little water, but improves gradually from desert land in the far west and north-west to comparatively fertile and habitable land towards the east. The area includes the Thar (Great Indian) Desert. The south-eastern area is higher (100 to 350 m. above sea level) with several patches of highly dissected plateau. In the south lies the hilly tract of Mawar. To the north-cast of this there is a rugged region following the direction of the Chambal River course. Further north the country levels out; the flat plains of Bharatpur district form part of the alluvial plain of the Yamuna River. It is more fertile and very diversified in character.
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