Rajasthan is the largest state of India in terms of area. Most of its area is occupied by the Great Indian Desert (Thar Desert). The borders of Rajasthan are shared with Pakistan in the west, Madhya Pradesh in the southeast, Gujarat in the southwest, Punjab in the north, and Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to the northeast. Total area of Rajasthan is about 342,239 square kilometers, occupying 11 percent of the total geographical area of India. Jaipur is the capital city of Rajasthan. The main features of geography of Rajasthan include the Thar desert and the Aravali range. The Aravalli range runs from the southwest to the northeast of the state, covering more than 850 km of area.
Rajasthan has India's largest desert known as the Thar desert. It is also called as the 'Maru-kantar'. Bikaner, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer are the three cities of Rajasthan, in close proximity to the desert. At one side of the Aravali range, there is the desert and the forest belt is on the other side. The forest vegetation occupies about 9.36 percent of the total geographical region of Rajasthan. The only hill station in Rajasthan is the Mount Abu. It has the highest peak of the Aravali range, known as the Guru Shikhar Peak.
The geography of Rajasthan is enriched with variable topographic features. The dry and the parched region is predominant in the major portions of the state. The main features of topography are rolling sand dunes, river-drained plains, rocky terrain, wetlands, plateaus, barren tracks or land filled with the thorny shrubs, wooded regions and ravines.
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