1.Gujarat is derived from Sanskrit (Gurjar-Rashtra), the Gurjar nation. Gujarat was known as Gurjaratra (country ruled or protected by the Gurjars) or Gurjarabhumi (land of the Gurjars) for centuries prior to the Mughal period.
2.Gujarat has the longest sea shore compared to any other Indian state.
3.Gujarat has been one of the main centres of the Indus Valley Civilization. It contains major ancient metropolitan cities from the Indus Valley such as Lothal, Dholavira, and Gola Dhoro. India’s first port was established at the ancient city of Lothal.
4.It is locally known as Jewel of the West.
5.Gujarat has seventeen airports, which makes it the state with highest number of operating airports in India.
6.Did you know the fact that Gujarat has the highest number of vegetarian people compared to any other state in India.
7.Gandhinagar is the greenest capital city in whole Asia.
8.The first capital of Gujarat was Ahmedabad; the capital was moved to Gandhinagar in 1970.
9.In year 2010, Forbes listed Ahmedabad as the world’s 3rd fastest growing city in the world.
10.Gujarat is the safest state in India. It’s crime rate is 8.2 which is the least in India even after considering 2002 communal riots.
11.Gujarat is having the least crime against women among all Indian states after Goa.
12.The oil refinery at Jamnagar is the world’s largest grass-roots refinery. It is operated by Reliance Petroleum Limited, which is one of the group companies of Reliance Industries Limited founded by Dhirubhai Ambani.
13.Ahmedabad is the city with the lowest crime rate among all Tier-I and Tier-II cities of India as per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.
14.The richest city in India is Surat; ahead of Bangalore and Madras, with an average annual household income of Rs.450,000. according to the report of The National Council of Applied Economic Research.
15.The percentage of man-days lost in Gujarat due to labour unrest is 0.42 per cent, the lowest in India.
16.The world’s third largest denim manufacturer is Ahmedabad’s Arvind Mills.
17.The state of Gujarat’s GDP has been growing at 12 per cent a year for the last 12 years, as fast as China‘s.
18.Gujarat is one of the most prosperous states of the country, having a per-capita GDP 3.2 times India’s average.
19.Gujarat is the only state in India to have a statewide gas grid of 2,200 km.
20.Gujaratis number five per cent of India‘s population living on six per cent of surface area, but hold more than 30 per cent equity of all Indian stocks in the share market.
21.The state owned Wide Area Network is the largest IP-based ICT network in Asia Pacific Region and second largest in the world, connecting 26 districts and 225 talukas through 12,000 nodes.
22.Did you know the fact that one in every five Indian American is a Gujarati whereas one in every 20 Indians is a Gujarati.
23.The Patel surname runs into multiple sheets of pages in the New Jersey Telephone Directory.
24.The world’s first pure vegetarian Subway and Domino’s outlet was opened in Ahmedabad.
25.The Gujaratis own more than 17,000 hotels and motels in the US, with one million rooms representing over 50 percent of U.S. economy lodges.
26.Gujaratis are key players in the multi-billion dollar diamond export business all over the world from Africa to the UK and US. 80 per cent of all diamonds sold anywhere in the world are polished in Surat. The only non-Jews in the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem diamond bourse are Gujaratis.
27.Commercial banks in Gujarat have total NRI deposits of Rs. 17,500 crores, of which FCNR deposits are worth Rs. 9,370 crores as of 2006. These figures have increased exponentially since then.
An average income of a Gujarati family in North America is three times more than the average income of an American family.
28.Over 60% of Indian Population in North America is Gujarati.
29.The first all vegetarian Pizza-Hut was opened in Ahmedabad.
30.Gujarat is the only home of Asiatic Lions.
31.Gujarat is the only present natural habitat of lions outside Africa.
32.India’s only Liquid Chemical Port Terminal at Dahej, developed by Gujarat Chemical Port Terminal Co. Ltd.
33.Gujarat has two of the three Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals in the country (Dahej and Hazira)
34.The Maharaja Sayajirao University(MSU) in the city of Vadodara is largest university in Gujarat and India Today has ranked it at tenth place in their list of India’s best universities, while Hindustan Times has ranked it at sixth place.
35.87.9% of the total roads in the state are asphalt surfaced. 98.86% village connectivity with all‐weather roads, the highest in India.
36.100% of Gujarat’s 18,000 villages have electricity connection.
37.Gujarat ranks first nationwide in gas-based thermal electricity generation with national market share of over 8% and second nationwide in nuclear electricity generation with national market share of over 1%.
38.Gujarat has largest OFC network of more than 50,000 km.
39.The British East India Company set its first footsteps in Surat in 1818.
40.Over 20% of the S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Gujarat
41.As per RBI report, in year 2006–07, 26% out of total bank finance in India was in Gujarat. This figure has since increased exponentially.
42.Gujarat produces about 98% of India’s required amount of Soda Ash and gives the country about 78% of its national requirement of salt.
43.Gujarat is the largest producer of milk in India.
44.Amul – Anand milk co-operative federation products are well known all over India, and it is Asia’s biggest dairy.
45.Gujarati has also been the language spoken by two of South Asia`s most prominent leaders: the Father of the Indian Nation, Mahatma Gandhi and the Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. They were both Gujaratis from trading communities. One a Bania, the other a Khoja.
46.Surat is the third cleanest city in India after Chandigarh and Mysore
47.Gujarat holds many records in India for economic development:
· 20% of India’s Industrial Output
· 9% of India’s Mineral Production
· 22% of India’s exports
· 24% of India’s textile production
· 35% of India’s pharmaceutical products
· 51% of India’s petrochemical production
48.If it was a nation it would have been 67th richest nation in the world above many European and Asian economies like Ukraine.
49.The world’s largest ship breaking yard is in Gujarat near Bhavnagar at Alang.
50.Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad(IIMA) is Asia’s 1st and world’s 45th ranked management college located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
51.Ahmedabad is ranked:
2nd in Real Estate – Ahead of Bangalore,Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai & Delhi.
3rd in Policy Initiatives – Ahead of Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta, Mumbai & Delhi.
4th in Manpower – Ahead of Bangalore,Chennai, Mumbai & Delhi.
52.Rajkot is 9th cleanest city of India.
53.At the height of about 2000 ft, Palitana in Gujarat is the only place in the world with more than 900 Jain temples.
54.There are about 65.5 million speakers of Gujarati worldwide, making it the 26th most spoken native language in the world. Along with Romany and Sindhi, it is among the most western of Indo-Aryan languages.
55.Gujarati was the first language of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the ” Father of the Nation of India”,Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the “Father of the Nation of Pakistan” and Vallabhbhai Patel, the “Iron Man of India.” Other prominent personalities whose first language is or was Gujarati include Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Morarji Desai, Narsinh Mehta, Dhirubhai Ambani and J. R. D. Tata.
(Reference : http://ingujarat.in/information/amazing-facts-of-gujarat/ & www.girnationalpark.com)