Maharashtra IS India's third largest state in area and second largest in population after Uttar Pradesh. It is bordered by the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The Arabian Sea makes up the state's western coast. Mumbai, India's largest city, is the capital of Maharashtra. Mumbai is an international city as well as the financial capital of the country.

Economy
Macro-economic trend
This is a chart of trend of gross state domestic product of Maharashtra at market prices estimated by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.

Year Gross State Domestic Product
1980 166,310
1985 296,160
1990 644,330
1995 1,578,180
2000 2,386,720

Maharashtra's is India's leading industrial state contributing 13% of national industrial output. 64.14% of the people are employed in agriculture and allied activities. Almost 46% of the GSDP is contributed by industry. Major industries in Maharashtra include chemical and allied products, electrical and non-electrical machinery, textiles, petroleum and allied products. Other important industries include metal products, wine, jewellery, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, machine tools, steel and iron castings and plastic wares. Food crops include mangoes, grapes, bananas, oranges, wheat, rice, jowar, bajra, and pulses. Cash crops include groundnut, cotton, sugarcane, turmeric, and tobacco. The net irrigated area totals 33,500 square kilometres.

Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra houses the headquarters of almost all major banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and mutual funds. Within Mumbai is located Bollywood, the centre of India's Hindi film and television industry. India's largest stock exchange Bombay Stock Exchange, oldest in Asia, is located in the city. After successes in the information technology in the neighbouring states, Maharashtra has set up software parks in Pune,Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur and Nasik, Now maharashtra is second largest exporter of software with exports of Rs 18000cr(20% of india's exports).

Maharashtra ranks first nationwide in coal-based thermal electricity as well as nuclear electricity generation with national market shares of over 13% and 17% respectively.

Divisions
Districts • Nagpur • Chandrapur • Bhandara • Gondia • Gadchiroli • Amravati • Akola • Washim • Hingoli • Nanded • Wardha • Yavatmal • Buldana • Thane • Mumbai (Suburban) • Mumbai (City) • Raigad • Ratnagiri • Sindhudurg • Nashik • Ahmednagar • Pune • Satara • Sangli • Kolhapur • Nandurbar • Dhule • Jalgaon • Aurangabad • Jalna • Parbhani • Beed • Latur • Osmanabad • Solapur •
Major cities • Nagpur • Amravati • Thane • Mumbai • Navi Mumbai • Pune • Ahmednagar • Aurangabad • Kolhapur • Solapur • Jalgaon • Pimpri-Chinchwad •