Gujarat (, Gujarati: [ˈɡudʒəɾɑt] (listen)) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about 1,600 km (990 mi) is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some 196,024 km2 (75,685 sq mi); and the ninth-most populous state, with a population of 60.4 million. It is bordered by Rajasthan to the northeast, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to the south, Maharashtra to the southeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and the Pakistani province of Sindh to the west. Gujarat's capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. The Gujaratis are indigenous to the state and their language, Gujarati, is the state's official language. The state encompasses 23 sites of the ancient Indus Valley civilisation (more than any other state). The most important sites are Lothal (the world's first dry dock), Dholavira (the fifth largest site), and Gola Dhoro (where 5 uncommon seals were found). Lothal is believed to have been 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 in the Western Satraps era. Along with Bihar, Mizoram and Nagaland, Gujarat is one of four Indian states to prohibit the sale of alcohol. The Gir Forest National Park in Gujarat is home to the only wild population of the Asiatic lion in the world.The economy of Gujarat is the fourth-largest in India, with a gross state domestic product (GSDP) of ₹19.44 trillion (US$240 billion) and has the country's 10th-highest GSDP per capita of ₹243,761 (US$3,100). Gujarat ranks 21st among Indian states and union territories in human development index. The state traditionally has low unemployment and is widely considered one of the most industrially developed states of India and a manufacturing hub.

Velda is a name given to the hypothetical ancestress of the Cantabrian people and Haplogroup V (mtDNA). She was coined in the book The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes. Theoretically, based on DNA studies, she lived in the region of the Cantabrian mountains about 15,000 BC. Even today, Haplogroup V is found with particularly high concentrations in the people of Cantabria (15%) of northern Iberia but specially in the Sami people of northern Scandinavia: Swedish Sami (68%), Finnish Sami (37%) and Norwegian Sami (33%). Seventeen thousand years ago the plains of northern Europe were completely deserted; all life, animal and human, was compressed into the Ukraine, southern France, Italy and the Iberian peninsula. Velda, the fourth of the seven daughters, lived in northern Spain in the mountains of Cantabria, a few miles behind what is now the port of Santander. Today, about 5% of native Europeans belong to the clan of Velda; they are more frequent in western Europe than in the east. Many of Velda’s children have travelled a long way from Velda’s home in the hills of Cantabria. A small group found their way as far north as it is possible to travel, reaching the very top of Scandinavia, where they are to be found among present-day Saami of Finland and northern Norway.»