Bihar (Hindi, Urdu, pronunciation (help·info)) is a state of the Indian union situated in north India. Its capital is Patna.
To Bihar's north is the country of Nepal. On its other three sides Bihar is surrounded by the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh to the west, Jharkhand to the south and West Bengal to the east. Culturally, it is a part of the Hindi heartland of India. Bihar is also the birth place of the first president of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and legendary freedom fighters like Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, Basawon Singh (Sinha), Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha,Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan , Dr. Sri Krishna Sinha and Maulana Mazharul Haque.
Geography & climate
Geography Bihar is mainly a vast stretch of very fertile flat land. It has several rivers: Ganga, Son, Bagmati, Kosi, Budhi Gandak, and Falgu to name a few. Central parts of Bihar have some small hills, for example the Rajgir hills. The Himalayan mountains are to the north, in Nepal. To the south is the Chota Nagpur plateau, which was part of Bihar until 2000 but now is part of a separate state called jharkhand
Climate: Bihar is mildly cold in the winter (the lowest temperatures being around 5 to 10 degrees Celsius; 41 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit). Winter months are December and January. It is hot in the summer (40 to 45 degrees Celsius; 104 to 114 degrees Fahrenheit). April to mid June are the hot months. The monsoon months of June, July, August, and September see good rainfall. October & November and February & March have pleasant climate.
Economy
Bihar is one of the slow growing states of India. The economy is mainly based on agricultural and trading activities.Agriculture is mainly dependent upon the vagaries of the nature.Till the mid fifties, 25% of India's sugar output was from Bihar.Dalmianagar was a large agro - industrial town
Politics
Bihar was an important part of India's struggle for independence.Gandhi became the mass leader only after the Champaran Satyagraha that he launched on the repeated request of a local leader, Rajkumar Shukla, he was supported by great illumanaries like Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha and Brajkishore Prasad.
Transport & travel
Bihar has two airports - Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport, Patna and Gaya. Patna airport is connected to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Ranchi.Bihar is well-connected by railway lines to the rest of India.
Language & literature
Hindi (Official language of State), Urdu- (2nd official language of State government), Bhojpuri, Maithili, Bangla and Magadhi (Magahi) vajjika(spoken in samastipur and near about area)are the major languages spoken in Bihar.
Art
Madhubani Art of Mithila Region, Patna Kalam of Magadha Region.
Education
Historically, Bihar has been a major centre of learning, home to the universities of Nalanda (one of the earliest universities of India dating back to the fifth century) and Vikramshila.Bihar saw a revival of sorts during the later part of the British rule when they established a University at Patna along with a few other centres of high learning, viz. Science College, Patna, Prince of Wales Medical College (Now Patna Medical College and Hospital), and Bihar Engineering College (Now National Institute of Technology, Patna).
