Bokaro, officially known as Bokaro Steel City (), is an industrial planned city in Jharkhand, India. Bokaro is the administrative headquarters of Bokaro district. The city is located on the banks of Garga River and on the fringes of Bokaro river and is surrounded by hill ranges at Giridih and Ramgarh districts.
Marafari is the oldest settlement in Bokaro which was just a village during the time of Mughals and Sultanates.
The city is an emerging industrial and educational hub. Despite this, the city has a cosmopolitan culture with people belonging to different ethnicity from South India as well as North India, representing its unique attributes, giving the city the character of Mini India while having a strong influence of Bihari and Bengali culture.The city is also the political power center of Jharkhand, where important politicians reside. The city hosts numerous tourist spots, which include zoo, dam, parks and shopping mall. Several big corporations operate in Bokaro. It lies on the mineral-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau and a Coal Bed Methane(Gas) reserves of 45 billion cubic metres. Bokaro has one of the most important coalfields of India in nearby areas which are Jharia, Kulti, West Bokaro, East Bokaro and Ramgarh.
Geography
Bokaro district consists of undulating uplands on the Chota Nagpur Plateau with the Damodar River cutting a valley right across. It has an average elevation of above mean sea level. The highest hill, Lugu Pahar, rises to a height of . The East Bokaro Coalfield located in the Bermo-Phusro area and small intrusions of Jharia Coalfield make Bokaro a coal-rich district. In 1965, one of the largest steel manufacturing units in the country, Bokaro Steel Plant, operated by Steel Authority of India Limited, was set-up at Bokaro Steel City. The Damodar Valley Corporation established its first thermal power station at Bokaro (Thermal). The long, high earthfill dam with composite masonry cum concrete spillway, Tenughat Dam, across the Damodar River, is operated by the Government of Jharkhand. The average annual rainfall is . The soil is generally infertile and agriculture is mostly rain-fed.
Bokaro Steel City is located at . The city stands at an elevation of above sea level and has an urban area of . Bounded on the east by Dhanbad and Purulia, on the west by Ramgarh and Hazaribagh, on the north by Giridih and on the south by Ranchi. It is accessible through National Highway NH-143 and NH-18. The city has the total area of 183 km. It includes the suburban area of Chas Municipal Corporation. There are many national highways crossing the city of Bokaro. Each sector has shopping centres, playgrounds, schools, recreational areas and health centres as entire city is planned with avenues and residential areas as well as commercial areas. Bokaro was one of the first planned cities in the state of Jharkhand.
thumb|left|Sector 4D, SAIL Township built in late 1970s