Bihar at a Glance: Geography, Districts and Rivers

Bihar GK is the scoring edge in BPSC. These are the basic facts every aspirant must know before moving to deeper topics.

Formation and administration

• Bihar became a separate province in 1912, carved out of the Bengal Presidency. 22 March is celebrated as Bihar Diwas.
• Orissa was separated in 1936, and Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in the year 2000.
• The capital is Patna, on the south bank of the Ganga.
• Bihar has 38 districts grouped into 9 divisions: Patna, Tirhut, Saran, Darbhanga, Kosi, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Munger and Magadh.

Legislature and representation

• Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha): 243 seats.
• Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad): 75 seats.
• Lok Sabha: 40 seats; Rajya Sabha: 16 seats.

Physical regions

Bihar has three natural regions: the Himalayan foothill (Bhabar and Terai) region in the north-west, the Ganga plain in the middle and the southern plateau fringe with hills such as the Kaimur range and Rajgir hills.

Major rivers

• Ganga flows west to east and divides Bihar into north and south.
• Kosi is known as the Sorrow of Bihar because of frequent floods and course changes.
• Gandak, Burhi Gandak, Bagmati and Kamla are major northern rivers.
• Sone, Punpun, Falgu and Kiul are important southern rivers.

One-line facts

• Madhubani painting, Sujni embroidery and Sikki craft are famous art forms of Bihar.
• Major languages: Hindi, Bhojpuri, Maithili and Magahi.

Continue with Ancient Bihar and test yourself with the Bihar GK quiz.