Bihar (Hindi:बिहार, Urdu: بہار, IPA2: bɪhaːr, pronunciation) is a state in eastern India. Bihar, which is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size 38,202 sq mi (99,200 km²) and 3rd largest by population, has close to 85 per cent rural population. Almost 58 per cent of Biharis are below 25 years of age , which is the highest in India. It is a land–locked state, although the outlet to the sea through the port of Kolkata is not far away. Bihar lies mid-way between the humid West Bengal in the east and the sub humid Uttar Pradesh in the west which provides it with a transitional position in respect of climate, economy and culture. It is bounded by the country Nepal in the north and by Jharkhand in the south. The Bihar plain is divided into two unequal halves by the river Ganga which flows through the middle from west to east. Bihar has notified forest area of 6,764.14 km², which is 7.1 per cent of its geographical area. Hindi and Urdu are the official languages of the state, whilst the majority of the people speak one of the Bihari languages (once considered to be dialects of Hindi) - Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Maithili or Angika.

Ancient Bihar, also called Magadha, was a center of power, learning and culture in Ancient India. From Magadha arose India's first empire, the Maurya empire as well as one of the world's greatest pacifist religion, Buddhism. Magadha empires, notably under the Maurya and Gupta dynasties, unified large parts of northern South Asia under a central rule . Its capital Patna, earlier known as Pataliputra, was an important center of Indian civilization.

Today Bihar lags behind the other Indian states in human and economic development terms, , whilst ethnic Biharis living in other states of India are victims of racist hate crimes and prejudice. Economists and social scientists claim that this is a direct result of the skewed policies of the central government like freight equalisation policy , its apathy towards Bihar , lack of Bihari sub-nationalism (resulting in no spokesperson for the state) , and the Permanent Settlement of 1793 by the British East India Company . The current state government has however made significant strides in improving governance. The improved governance has led to an economic revival in the state through increased investment in infrastructure, better health care facilities, greater emphasis on education, and a reduction in crime and corruption.Indian and global business and economic leaders feel that Bihar now has good opportunity for sustainable economic development, and as such have shown interest in investing in the state.

Etymology of the name

The name Bihar is derived from the Sanskrit vihār (Devanagari: िवहार), means "abode". The region roughly encompassing the present state was dotted with Buddhist vihara, which were the abodes of Buddhist monks in the ancient and medieval period.