language. Near the Uttar Pradesh border this dialect merges into Bhojpuri, while it merges with Bagheli near the Madhya Pradesh border. Surgujia also merges into Sadri in the northeast along the border with Jharkhand. Hindi is spoken by many migrants from outside the state, and is a major language in the cities and industrial centres, while many whose dialect is actually Chhattisgarhi record their speech as Hindi in the census. Odia is widely-spoken in eastern Chhattisgarh especially near the Odisha border. Telugu and Marathi speaking minorities can be found along the Telangana and Maharashtra borders respectively. In the eastern Bastar region, Halbi and Bhatri are major languages. In addition, Chhattisgarh has several tribal languages. Kurukh and Korwa are both spoken in the Surguja region. Gondi is a major language in southern Chhattisgarh: Bastar and the adjoining districts. Gondi has many dialects, such as Muria in north Bastar, which transitions to Madia further south and Dorli, transitional between Gondi and Koya, along the borders of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In the east of Bastar. Most Gonds in the north and east of Bastar, as well as the rest of the state, speak regional languages and have largely forgotten their original tongue. Gender ratio Chhattisgarh has a high female-male sex ratio (991) ranking at the fifth position among other states of India. Although this ratio is small compared to other states, it is unique in India because Chhattisgarh is the 10th-largest state in India. The gender ratio (number of females per 1,000 males) has been steadily declining over 20th century in Chhattisgarh. But it is conspicuous that Chhattisgarh always had a better female-to-male ratio compared with national average. Rural women, although poor, are independent, better organised, and socially outspoken. According to another local custom, women can choose to terminate a marriage relationship through a custom called chudi pahanana, if she desires. Most of the old temples and shrines follow Shaktism and are goddess-centric (e.g., Shabari, Mahamaya, Danteshwari) and the existence of these temples gives insight into historical and current social fabric of this state. However, a mention of these progressive local customs in no way suggests that the ideology of female subservience does not exist in Chhattisgarh. On the contrary, the male authority and dominance is seen quite clearly in the social and cultural life. Culture The state hosts many religious sects such as Satnampanth, Kabirpanth, Ramnami Samaj and others. Champaran is