Jharkhand (; Hindi: [d͡ʒʱɑːɾkʰəɳɖ]; lit. 'the land of forests') is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of 79,716 km2 (30,779 sq mi). It is the 15th largest state by area, and the 14th largest by population. Hindi is the official language of the state. The city of Ranchi is its capital and Dumka its sub-capital. The state is known for its waterfalls, hills and holy places; Baidyanath Dham, Parasnath, Dewri and Rajrappa are major religious sites. The state was formed on 15 November 2000, after carving out what was previously the southern half of Bihar. Jharkhand suffers from what is sometimes termed a resource curse: it accounts for more than 40% of the mineral resources of India, but 39.1% of its population is below the poverty line and 19.6% of children under five years of age are malnourished. Jharkhand is primarily rural, with about 24% of its population living in cities. It is amongst the leading states in terms of economic growth. In 2017–18, the GDP growth rate of state was at 10.22%.

Dhanbad is the second-most populated city in the Indian state of Jharkhand after Jamshedpur. It ranks as the 42nd largest city in India and is the 34th largest million-plus urban agglomeration in India. Dhanbad shares its land borders with Paschim Bardhaman district and Purulia district of West Bengal and Bokaro, Giridih and Jamtara districts of Jharkhand. The city is called the 'Coal Capital of India' for housing one of the largest coal mines of India. The prestigious institute, Indian School of Mines (now IIT Dhanbad) is situated in Dhanbad. Apart from coal, it has also grown in information technology. Dhanbad is the 96th fastest growing city of the world by the City Mayors Foundation. It is the 56th cleanest city of India, according to the 2019 Swachh Survekshan cleanliness survey. It showed a great change in the city which was considered the dirtiest city in the 2018 Swachh Survekshan. Dhanbad Municipal Corporation works for increasing green cover in the city. Among the rail divisions of Indian Railway, Dhanbad Rail Division is the second-largest in revenue generation after the Mumbai division. Dhanbad ranked as the top city in India with the highest 4G mobile phone network availability in India by a survey of Opensignal.