Udalguri district

Udalguri district
Udalguri district
District
	Map of Udalguri District
Country	India
State	Assam
Headquarters	Udalguri
Area
• Total	1,852.16 km2 (715.12 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	831,688
• Density	450/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+05:30 (Indian Standard Time)
ISO 3166 code	IN-AS
Website	udalguri.gov.in

Udalguri district (Pron:ˌʊdʌlˈgʊəri,Template:Lang-brx) is one of the 27 districts of Assam state in north-eastern India. Udalguri town is the headquarters of the district.

Etymology

The name of the district is derived from its headquarters, Udalguri. There are three traditions regarding the etymology of Udalguri. According to one tradition, the name is derived from Odal (a tree) and Guri (roots or surrounding) and it was named because originally the town developed around an Odal tree. According to another tradition, this town derived its name because this place was originally a hermitage of sage Uddalaka. According to the third tradition, the name is derived from two Bodo words Ordla (wide and spacious) and Gundri (powdered object).

History

This district was formed on June 14, 2004^[1] as one of the four districts under the Bodoland Territorial Council. This district was carved out by bifurcating Darrang district.^[1] The territory of the present district was earlier Udalguri sub-division of the undivided district. There are Hindu,Christians and Muslim population living together in the district. This was a very peaceful place till mid 80s but various communal clashes took place from time to time. Late Jojaram Sharma was one of the prominent India freedom fighters from Assam lived here.

There is an old Namghar ( Assamese Worship Place), an old Hanuman temple and an old Baptist Christian church in the Udalguri town.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Udalguri district's population is 832 769, an increase of 9.8% over 2001.^[2] The literacy rate is 66.6% and the gender ratio is 966.^[2] There are 449 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,160/sq mi).^[2] The district is multi-ethnic and multi-religious in nature. Bodos forms the largest ethnic group in the district with 49% of the district's population. Other ethnic groups with significant population are Adivasi community with almost 23% and Bengali Muslims with 12% of the district's population. Assamese and Bengali Hindus resides mainly in urban areas. There is also a presence of sizeable Nepali speaking community with estimated 10% of the district's population thinly scattered across the Udalguri district. There are 108,319 Muslims(12.66%) and 110,215 Christians(13.25%) in the district.

Geography

This district is bounded by Bhutan and West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh state in the north, Sonitpur district in the east, Darrang district in the south and Baksa district in the west. Area of the district is 1852.16 km².^[3]

National protected area

Manas National Park (Part)

Divisions

The district has two sub-divisions: Udalguri and Bhergaon. These two sub-divisions are further divided into 9 revenue circles: Udalguri, Majbat, Harisinga, Kalaigaon, Khoirabari, Dalgaon, Patharighat, Mangaldoi and Dhekiajuli.

Three Vidhan Sabha constituencies of this district are Paneri, Majbat, and Udalguri. All of these are part of Mangaldoi Lok Sabha constituency.

Apart from these three Legislative Assembly constituencies, majority of the villages under Kalaigaon Legislative Assembly Constituency and a few villages fall under the Borsola Legislative Assembly Constituency fall in Udalguri District. While Kalaigaon LAC is a part of Mangaldai Lok Sabha Constituency and Borsola LAC is a part of Tezpur Lok Sabha Constituency.

Flora and fauna

In 1990 Udalguri district became home to Manas National Park, which has an area of 500 km² (193.1 sq mi).^[4] It shares the park with four other districts.