Kutch district

Kutch district (also spelled as Kachchh) is a district of Gujarat state in western India. Covering an area of 45,652 km², it is the largest district of India. The population of Kutch is 21 Lac, literacy rate is 59.79% and the sex ratio is 951. It has 10 Talukas, 1389 villages and 6 Municipalities

Kutch literally means something which intermittently becomes wet and dry; a large part of this district is known as Rann of Kutch which is shallow wetland which submerges in water during the rainy season and becomes dry during other seasons. The same word is also used in the languages of Sanskrit origin for a tortoise. The Rann is famous for its marshy salt flats which become snow white after the shallow water dries up each season before the monsoon rains.

The district is also famous for ecologically important Banni grasslands with their seasonal marshy wetlands which form the outer belt of the Rann of Kutch.

Kutch District is surrounded by the Gulf of Kutch and the Arabian Sea in south and west, while northern and eastern parts are surrounded by the Great and Little Rann (seasonal wetlands) of Kutch. When there were not many dams built on its rivers, the Rann of Kutch remained wetlands for a large part of the year. Even today, the region remains wet for a significant part of year. The district had a population of 1,583,500 of which 30% were urban as of 2001. Motor vehicles registered in Kutch district have their registration Number starting with GJ-12. The district is well connected by road, rail and air. There are four airports in the district, Naliya,Kandla, Mundra, and Bhuj, which is well connected with Mumbai. Being a border district, Kutch has both and an army and an airforce base.

Rann of Kutch

Rann of Kutch (Kutchi language: કચ્છ જો રણ) is a large area of salt marshes located in mostly in Gujarat (primarily the Kutch district), India and the southern tip of Sindh, Pakistan. It is divided into two main parts; Great Rann of Kutch and Little Rann of Kutch.

Geography

The Rann of Kutch is located in the Thar Desert bio-geographic area in the Indian state of Gujarat with some parts in Pakistani province of Sindh. It is a seasonally marshy region, the word Rann meaning "salt marsh", alternating with medaks, elevated pieces of land where vegetation grows.

Kutch is the name of the district in Gujarat where this region is situated. The marsh covers a huge area of around 10,000 square miles and is positioned between the Gulf of Kutch and the mouth of the Indus River in southern Pakistan. To the northeast corner of the Rann of Kutch lies the Luni River, originating in Rajasthan.

Ecological importance

The Rann of Kutch is the only large flooded grasslands zone in the whole Indo-Malayan region. The fact that the area has desert on one side and the sea on the other provides the Rann of Kutch with a variety of ecosystems, including mangroves and desert vegetation. The grassland and deserts of the Rann of Kutch are home to forms of wildlife that have adapted to the often harsh conditions of this vast area. These include endemic and endangered animal and plant species.

Rann (fictional planet)

Rann is a fictional planet in the Polaris star system (formerly the Alpha Centauri System) of the DC Comics Universe whose capital city is Ranagar. Rann is most famous for being the adopted planet of the Earth explorer and hero Adam Strange and for their teleportation device called the Zeta Beam. The planet Rann, along with her famous non-native son, first appeared in Showcase #17 (November–December 1958).

Natives of Rann

Natives of Rann, known as Rannians, are for all intents and purposes the same as Earth-based humans. However, years of reclusive living and apathy brought on by reliance upon their technologically advanced machinery resulted in a society which had stagnated. While entirely apt to continue for some time, Rannians found their gene pool to have deteriorated, resulting in a sterile culture. For decades, no children were born, until Adam Strange fathered a child with Alanna, daughter of Sardath, the man who invented the Zeta Beam. Their daughter, Aleea, remained on Rann with her mother.

Gujarat

Gujarat (/ˌɡʊdʒəˈrɑːt/ Gujǎrāt  [ˈɡudʒ(ə)ɾaːt]) is a state in the western part of India known locally as Jewel of the Western part of India. It has an area of 196,204 km² (75,755 sq mi) with a coastline of 1,600 km (990 mi), most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula, and a population in excess of 60 million. The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the north, Maharashtra to the south, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea, as well as the Pakistani province of Sindh to the west. Its capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. Gujarat is home to the Gujarati-speaking people of India.

The state encompasses major sites of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, such as Lothal and Dholavira. Lothal is believed to be one of the world's first seaports. Gujarat's coastal cities, chiefly Bharuch and Khambhat, served as ports and trading centres in the Maurya and Gupta empires, and during the succession of royal Saka dynasties from the Western Satraps era, whose geographic territories included Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, South Sindh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh states.

Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer  pronunciation  (Rajasthani: जैसलमेर), nicknamed "The Golden city", is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located 575 kilometres (357 mi) west of the state capital Jaipur. Once known as Jaisalmer state it is a World Heritage Site. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone, crowned by a fort, which contains the palace and several ornate Jain temples. Many of the houses and temples are finely sculptured. It lies in the heart of the Thar Desert (the Great Indian Desert) and has a population of about 78,000. It is the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer District.

Origin of name

Jaisalmer is named after Maharawal Jaisal Singh, a Rajput king who founded the city in 1156 AD. "Jaisalmer" means "the Hill Fort of Jaisal". Jaisalmer is sometimes called the "Golden City of India" because the yellow sand and the yellow sandstone used in every architecture of the city gives a yellowish-golden tinge to the city and its surrounding area.

Location

It is the largest district of Rajasthan and one of the largest in the country. on the west & south-west by the Pakistani border,. The length of international border attached to Jaisalmer District is 471 km (293 mi).