Varanasi (district)

Varanasi District ; वाराणसी जिला
State	Uttar Pradesh
Division :	Varanasi
Administrative headquarters :	Varanasi
Area :	1,535 km²
Residents :	3,676,841 (2011)
Population density :	2,395 inhabitants / km²
Website :	varanasi.nic.in

The Varanasi district ( Hindi : वाराणसी जिला ; formerly Benares ) is a district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh . The administrative center is the eponymous city of Varanasi .

geography

Country road near Varanasi

The Varanasi district is located in the Ganges plain in the east of Uttar Pradesh and belongs to the Varanasi division . Neighboring districts are Ghazipur in the northeast, Chandauli in the east, Mirzapur in the south, Sant Ravidas Nagar in the west and Jaunpur in the northwest. The Ganges , the largest river in India and sacred to the Hindus, flows past Varanasi and forms the southeastern border of the district. The tributary Gomti marks the north-eastern border in parts up to its confluence with the Ganges. With an area of 1,535 square kilometers, the Varanasi district is one of the smaller districts of Uttar Pradesh. It is divided into the two Tehsils Pindra and Varanasi.

history

The Benares (Varanasi) district was established by the British after they had brought the Varanasi area under their rule in 1794 and incorporated it into British India . Until 1830, the Mirzapur district also belonged to the Benares district. During the British rule, the district was part of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces ( Northwestern Provinces from 1836 ), which became part of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in 1902 . After Indian independence in 1947, the United Provinces became the state of Uttar Pradesh.

In 1948 the princely state of Benares , which consisted of two exclaves west and south-east of the city of Varanasi, was incorporated into the Varanasi district. In the 1990s, the area of the district shrank when the western part was detached from the Varanasi district as the Sant Ravidas Nagar district in 1996 and the eastern part as the Chandauli district a year later .

population

Lassi seller in Varanasi

According to the 2011 census, the Varanasi district has 3,676,841 inhabitants. Between 2001 and 2011 the population grew by 17 percent. With Varanasi, a city with a population of millions belongs to the district, and so the population density and degree of urbanization are above average: With 2,395 inhabitants per square kilometer, the population density is the second highest of all districts of Uttar Pradesh after the district of Ghaziabad and is almost three times the already high average of the state (829 inhabitants per square kilometer). At 43 percent, the proportion of the urban population is much higher than in other parts of the rural state (the average is only 22 percent). At 76 percent, the literacy rate is well above the Uttar Pradesh average (68 percent).

According to the 2001 census, 84 percent of the residents of the Varanasi district are Hindus , while a minority of 16 percent profess Islam . Most of the Muslims live in Varanasi City: Among the urban population of the district, the Muslim population is almost a third.

Culture and sights

Ghats in Varanasi

The city of Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in India is considered the holiest city of Hinduism. With its countless temples and ghats on the banks of the Ganges, the city attracts large numbers of both Hindu pilgrims and foreign tourists and is therefore one of the most famous places in India. In addition to the city of Varanasi, the district also includes the Buddhist pilgrimage town of Sarnath , where the Buddha is said to have preached his first sermon, and the city of Ramnagar, opposite Varanasi, with the residence of the Maharajas of Benares.

Cities

city	Population (2001)
Baragaon	10,517
Gangapur	6,388
Kandwa	7,762
Kotwa	12,411
Lohta	19,695
Maruadih Rly. Settlement	18,733
Phulwaria	11,732
Ramnagar	39,941
Shivda trace	11,432
Varanasi	1,100,748
Varanasi Cantonment	17,246

Individual evidence

literature

The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Volume 7: Bareilly to Berasiā. New edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1908, pp. 179-187 , keyword: Benares District .

Web links

Commons : Varanasi district - collection of images, videos and audio files

Varanasi District website

[1] Census of India 2011: Primary Census Abstract - Uttar Pradesh (PDF; 1.7 MB).

[2] ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Census GIS India: Religions. )@1@ 2

[3] Census of India 2001: Population, population in the age group 0-6 and literates by sex - Cities / Towns (in alphabetic order) ( Memento from June 16, 2004 in the Internet Archive )