Rajasthan is a state in northwestern India. It covers 342,239 square kilometres (132,139 sq mi) or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by poupulation. It is on India's northwestern side, where it comprises most of the wide and inhospitable Thar Desert  (also known as the Great Indian Desert) and shares a border with the Pakistani provinces of Punjab to the northwest and Sindh  to the west, along the Sutlej-Indus River valley. It is bordered by five other Indian states: Punjab to the north; Haryana  and uttar Pradesh  to the northeast; Madhya Pradesh  to the southeast; and Gujarat  to the southwest. Its geographical location is 23°.3' to 30°.12' North latitude and 69°.30' to 78°.17' East longitude, with the Tropic of Cancer passing through its southernmost tip.