East Central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Its borders are as follows: Telangana (previously part of Andhra Pradesh) to the south, Odisha (Orissa) to the east, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to the west, and Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand to the north and northeast. Raipur is the capital city. 52,199 square miles (135,194 square kilometers) in area. Pop. 25,540,196 (2011).
The state of Chhattisgarh is situated in the upper Mahanadi River basin, which is made up of the Chhattisgarh Plain. The actual basin is situated between 800 and 950 feet (250 and 300 meters) above sea level. It is a structural plain with topographic differences brought about by widespread denudation, or the erosion and weathering of the land. This region is characterized by knolls, valleys flanked by belts of clayey soils, and undulating interfluves, or areas between nearby watercourses. The Chhattisgarh Plain is roughly 100 miles (160 km) broad and is bordered to the north by the Chota Nagpur plateau, to the west by the Maikala Range, to the northeast by the Raigarh hills, to the southeast by the Raipur upland, and to the south by the Bastar plateau.