Odisha

Odisha is a state in eastern India with a long coastline and Bhubaneswar as its capital. It was formed on 1 April 1936 as Orissa Province. Odia and English are its official languages.

The state covers 155,707 square kilometres, the eighth largest in India, and had 41,974,218 residents at the 2011 census, the eleventh largest state population. It has 30 districts in three revenue divisions and a 147 seat unicameral Legislative Assembly, and it sends 21 members to the Lok Sabha and 10 to the Rajya Sabha.

Odisha holds about a fifth of India’s coal, a quarter of its iron ore and a third of its bauxite reserves. Its gross domestic product is estimated at 11.07 lakh crore rupees, about 120 billion US dollars, the fifteenth largest among states. Literacy was 79.0 per cent in 2024 and the Human Development Index was 0.610 in 2022. The highest point is Deomali at 1,672 metres.

Sources: Wikipedia, Odisha, citing the Census of India 2011.