One of the 29 states of India, Gujarat is located in the west of the country. During the period of colonialism, it was part of the British colonial province of Bombay. It became independent as a result of the reorganization of the administrative-territorial division of the country by linguistic boundaries. In 1960, the Indian government passed the Reorganization Act that stipulated the division of Bombay into the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
The region's titular ethnic group is the Gujarati (91.5% of the total population of the state) who speak Gujarati and profess Hinduism predominantly. The Bharatiya Janata Party receives a significant electoral support in the province and dominates the regional political field in the past 20 years - a peculiarity of Gujarat.
The acutest problem in interethnic relations is the inter-confessional conflict between representatives of the Hindu and Muslim communities. The Muslims, who are quite numerous in Gujarat (more than 9% of the population), consider themselves to be a discriminated minority. The last major outbreak of the conflict was recorded in 2007.