Guntur (District)

Guntur
State	Andhra Pradesh
Administrative headquarters :	Guntur
Area :	11,391 km²
Residents :	4,889,230 (2011)
Population density :	429.2 inhabitants / km²
Website :	Official website of the district

The district of Guntur (Telugu: గుంటూరు జిల్లా) is one of 13 districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh . The administrative seat of the district is the eponymous city of Guntur .

origin of the name

The meaning of the word Guntur is not clearly understood. It comes either from Gundu (rock), Gunta (pond) or from Kunta (area of 1/3 acre).

history

The Guntur district has been settled for a long time. The oldest traces of settlement date from the 5th century BC. He shares the history of the region with numerous dynasties that alternated in reign. During the colonial period he belonged to the Madras reign. From this, the federal state of the same name emerged after independence. Because the state was ethnically mixed, the Telugu-speaking residents of this state wanted all Telugus-speaking residents of India to be united in a separate state. In 1953, the state of Andhra was created from 11 districts (including Guntur) . In 1956 the Telugu-speaking residents of the state of Hyderabad were added, and the state of Andhra Pradesh was created. When Andhra Pradesh was divided in 2014, Guntur remained in the now smaller state of Andhra Pradesh.

geography

The district is centrally located in Andhra Pradesh . Its northern and northeastern borders with the district Krishna is the river Krishna . In the southeast Guntur borders on the Bay of Bengal , in the south on the Prakasam district , in the west on the Mahbubnagar district and in the northwest on the Nalgonda district . The latter two districts have been part of the new state of Telangana since 2014 .

Sri Sringeri Muth in Guntur

With 11,391 km², Guntur is one of the medium-sized districts of the state of Andhra Pradesh. 1,619 km² (14.2 percent) of the area is forested. The main rivers are Krishna, Gundlakamma, Chandravanka, Naagileru and Ponnur.

climate

The climate is divided into four seasons. March to May is summer time with great drought and high temperatures. The southwest monsoon from June to mid-October brings the most abundant rain. The northeast monsoon from mid-October to the end of December brings somewhat lower, but still significant amounts of rain. And January and February are winter with cooler temperatures. The long-term average of rainfall in the district is 881 mm per year. The southwest monsoon brings 545 mm and the northeast monsoon 251 mm of the annual rainfall. Otherwise there will be little rain. This leads to the drying up of the cultivated areas in the dry season, which lasts from January to May. The coldest month is December (average 23.37 ° - daily minimum 18 °, maximum 29 °), the warmest May (average 33.08 ° - minimum 27 °, maximum 39 °). During the Mosun season there is a humidity of up to 80 percent. This falls to 30 percent in the dry period.

population

The last census in 2011 counted 4,889,230 inhabitants. Of these, 2,441,128 were men (49.9 percent) and 2,448,102 women. In 2001 the Dalit numbered 818,005 (18.3 percent) and the Adivasi 208,157 (4.7 percent) people. Of the total number of residents, 1,656,745 people (33.89 percent) lived in urban areas in 2011. Thus 2 out of 3 inhabitants still lived in the country. The majority of the population of Guntur District speaks Telugu . There are 694 inhabited villages in the entire district.

Population of the district by confession

The majority of the residents profess Hinduism. Significant religious minorities are the Muslims with almost 11 percent and the Christians with almost 3 percent of the population. The approximately 3,000 Jainas form a small minority. The following table shows the exact religious composition of the population:

year	Buddhists		Christians		Hindus		Jainas		Muslims		Sikhs		Other		not specified		Total
year	number	%	number	%	number	%	number	%	number	%	number	%	number	%	number	%	number	%
2001	181	0.00%	131,713	2.95%	3,834,204	85.87%	2,841	0.06%	487.839	10.92%	577	0.01%	166	0.00%	7,623	0.17%	4,465,144	100.00%
Source: 2001 India Census

Population development

As everywhere in India, the population in the Guntur district grew rapidly over decades. Although the increase between the last two censuses was only 9.5 percent, it is still significant in absolute terms. From 2001 to 2011 the population still increased by over 420,000 people. The following table shows the exact numbers:

Significant places

The most populous place in the district is the main town Guntur with more than 500,000 inhabitants. Another big city is Tenali . Other major cities with over 90,000 inhabitants are Narasaraopet and Chilakaluripet .

economy

Most of the working population is employed in agriculture. The main crops are rice, tobacco, cotton and chilli. Besides agriculture, industry plays a small role. In addition to cement factories and a jute mill, tobacco and silk are processed.