Orissa extends from 17o 49'N to 22o 34'N latitude and from 81o 29'E to 87o 29'E longitude on the eastern coast of India. It has an area about 155,707 Sq Km. according to the Census of India 1991. It is bounded by West Bengal in north-east, Bihar in the north, Madhya Pradesh in the west, Andhra Pradesh in the south and the Bay of Bengal in the east. Orissa was separated from Bihar and came into existence on 1 April 1936. The capital was established at the historic city of Cuttack, located at the apex of the Mahanadi delta. In 1956, it shifted to Bhubaneswar, a planned modern town of the post-independence period.

Physiographically, Orissa can be divided into three broad regions-The Coastal plains, the Middle mountainous country, the Plateaus and rolling up lands.