Golden facts about Gujarat

Here are some facts about Gujarat which all of you might not know:

• Dholavira is the site of the world's oldest reservoir and Lothal contains the ancient ruins of the world's first dockyard. These are both located in Gujarat. 
• Out of the 562 princely states in India prior to Independence, as many as 366 were in Gujarat. 
• The Rann of Kutch is famous for its white salt desert, rare ecosystem, fossils and wildlife. The Indian Wild Ass, called the Ghor Khur resides here.
• The Champaner_Pavagadh Archealogical Park near the Pavagadh Hills in Gujarat has been recognised by UNESCO as a "World Heritage Site".
• Gujarat is the exclusive natural habitat of lions outside Africa. According to the 13th Asiatic Lions population estimate, conducted in 2010, a total of 411 lions dwell inn the Gir Forest National Part and the surrounding areas. 
• The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi was born in Porbandar, Gujarat. The city of Gandhinagar is named after him. 
• India's first Marina Wildlife Sanctuary and first Marine National Park were created in the Gulf of Kutch off the Gujarat coast in 1980 and 1982 respectively. 
• There are about 46.1 Million speakers of 'Gujarati' worldwide, making it the 26th most spoken native language in the world. Gujarat's literary history can be traced back to 1000 AD.
• Gujarat is known as 'the land of fairs and festivals' because over 2000 festivals are celebrated here. 
• Gujarat has the most, 44 of the 205 to be precise, protected mosques of the country according to the Archeological Survey of India.
• At the height of about 2000 feet, Palitana in Gujarat is the only place in the world with more than 900 Jain temples. 
• Over 25% of the Indian population in North America is Gujarati. 
• Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat is the greenest capital of Indian and one of the greenest of the world. It has 32,00,000 trees and a 22 trees per person ratio. 
• Gujarat has the highest rate of eye donation in India. It contributes 25% of the total eye donations in the country. 
• Every minute, on average, one person in Gujarat donates blood. 
• The Government of Gujarat was the first State Government in Asia to set up a separate Department of Climate Chance and only the fourth such state/province in the world. 
• Gujarat has the highest coastline of any state in India at 1600 kms. 
• The first expressway in India links Ahmedabad and Vadodara in Gujarat. 
• On 31st July 2010, Ahmedabad set a world record planting 7.5 lakh spalings in a day by public participation in 12 hours, breaking the earlier record of 5.5 lakh saplings planted in a day in the whole of Pakistan. 
• Ahmedabad's Bus Rapid Transit System was awarded the best sustainable transport system in the world by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy in January 2010. 
• Gujarat is home to the world's largest ship breaking and recycling yard in Alang, near Bhavnagar. 
• Ahmedabad gained the nickname 'the Manchester of the East' on account of its booming textile industry. 
• 10 of the 25 richest Indians are of Gujarati origin. 
• Tata Motor's Nano, the world's cheapest car, is manufactured in Sanand,Gujarat.  
• Madhapar, a village in Kutch, Gujarat is Asia's richest village. The population of 15,000 in 2009 reputedly have per capita fixed deposits in the bank averaging 1,200,000 pounds. 
• The percentage of working days lost due to industrial strife is 0.42 per cent, the lowest in India. 
• More than 8 out of the 10 of the world's diamonds are processed in Surat in Gujarat. 
• The SEZ in Dahej in Gujarat is the only Indian SEZ to appear in the top 25 list published by FDI, a magazine of the Financial Times. 
• Ahmedabad is ranked the third fastest growing city in the world by Forbes. 
• I am a resident of Gujarat since 20 years now and I did not know some of the facts. All these facts are either collected from various government websites or taken from a brochure of Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2011. 

Other interesting links:
Gujarat Tourism Website

Vibrant Gujarat Summit Official Website

A.R. Rahman's song about Vibrant Gujarat

Gujarat Tourism Ad featuring Amitabh Bachchan

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Please share it with your friends and family who want to visit Gujarat and who might not know a lot of things about the State.

If you need any other information then you can write it in the comments and I will reply. Google is also an option. :D


Cheers


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