Jharkhand was carved out of the southern part of Bihar state on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east.

The industrial city of Ranchi is its capital. Some of the other major cities and industrial centres are Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Sindri, Giridih, Gumla, Deoghar,daltonganj, Hazaribagh and Dhanbad once a part of West Bengal.

Jharkhand is also popularly known as Vananchal (vana plus anchal, meaning land of woods). Jharkhand is famed for its mineral wealth and forestry products.

Jharkhand is now improving much faster than its northern counterpart (Bihar). Its poverty rate declined 2% per year from 1994-2002. Unlike some other Indian states, Jharkhand's poverty reduction was faster in the rural areas than in the urban areas. Its percentage of children immunized improved from 9% in 1998-99 to nearly 50% now according to UNICEF. Jharkhand has made primary education so accessible that 95% of children ages 6-11 are enrolled in school as opposed to 56% in 1993-94.