Geography

Kutch is situated on the western border of India. It has sea at one side and desert covering the other side. The border of Kutch is guarded by the highest hill.

12km from the village of Khavda in Bhuj, the highest hill guards the Kutch region. It is 1515 feet high and in present days is a tourist attraction with tourists tracking on the hill. From Bhuj this hill is 85 km and is covered with different kinds of trees and tall grass.

According to Geologists, thousands of years ago, the land of Kutch was at the sea bed and due to activities of the crust of the earth, this land emerged above the sea.

The region of Kutch is located 22 degree north of the tropic of cancer i.e. at 44'-11' or 24degree from the north pole, 41-25'north latitude and 68 degree, 09'-46' and 71 degree, 54'-47' east degree of longitude. On its north and northwest lies Pakistan, on the east Banarskantha and Maherana, while on its southeast is Surendranagar and its south has the Bay of Kutch and the district of Rajkot. The Arabic Sea lies to its southwest and west. The total area of Kutch is of 45692 square km, of which 23310 square km is desert. Kutch comprises Gujrat's 23.27% area. It has a total 949 villages and 10 cities.

It is known that Kutch region is prone to tectonic quakes. Earthquakes often occur in this region and this affects its geographical situations. These earthquakes affect the atmosphere, its land and its minerals. The land of 'Allah Bandh' in the middle of the Sidhu River is because of one such earthquake, which stopped the rivers flow.

Kutch's deserts in the world, is unique as it doesn't have sand. It is a desert where the land is full of salt and salt stones. The land is smooth and dry.

This 23,143 square km desert is geographically divided into two, small and big deserts. The big desert is situated on the south, northwest direction and northeast direction. Its area is 18,000 sq. km, while the small is in the southeast quarter. Its area covers 5,143 square km.

100 years ago when Hkra and Sindhu rivers used to flow in this region, it was a fertile land. But because of geographical changes, the flow of these rivers changed and it became dry and barren.

Here, the rainwater won't seep but slowly goes into the land. The water from Bay of Kutch and sea water from channel of Kari mixes with this rainwater and when it dries, the salt from the water covers the land. Thus, the layers of salt have been built here. The salt in the land attracts moisture from the atmosphere and that makes the surface smooth and full of moisture. That is the reason that the land here stays hard even in hard summer days. A mirage emerges on this white salty land when the sunbeam hits the land.

Kutch is a wonderful land and so has its special place in the places of tourist attractions in the world.