Madhya Pradesh is located in central India. The state covers area of 308,000 sq km and has a population of approximately 72.6 million. It has a density of 236 persons per sq km as per 2011 provisional census. Until November 2000, Madhya Pradesh was the largest state in India, when the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out of it for ease of administering a large state. It has a sex ratio of 930 and the literacy rate of 70.63% as per the 2011 provisional census.