West Champaran district
District
Gandaki River near Valmikinagar
Gandaki River near Valmikinagar
Official seal of West Champaran district
Seal
Location of West Champaran district in Bihar
Location of West Champaran district in Bihar
Coordinates (Bettiah): 26°48′N 84°30′E / 26.800°N 84.500°E / 26.800; 84.500
CountryIndia
StateBihar
DivisionTirhut
HeadquartersBettiah
Tehsils18
Government
 • Lok Sabha constituenciesPaschim Champaran, Valmiki Nagar
 • Vidhan Sabha constituenciesValmiki Nagar, Ramnagar, Narkatiaganj, Bagaha, Lauriya, Nautan, Chanpatia, Bettiah, Sikta
Area
 • Total5,228 km2 (2,019 sq mi)
 • Rank1 (in bihar)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total3,935,042
 • Density750/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Demographics
 • Literacy58.06 per cent
 • Sex ratio906
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)
PIN Code
8454XX
Major highwaysNH 28B
Websitehttp://westchamparan.bih.nic.in/

West Champaran is an administrative district in the state of Bihar in India, located just 60 km (37 mi) west of Birgunj. It is the largest district in Bihar with an area of 5,228 km²(2,019sq mi). It is a part of Tirhut Division.[1] The district headquarters are located in Bettiah. The district is known for its open border with Nepal. One of the major location in West Champaran is Kumar Bagh for SAIL Special Processing Unit and Bhitiharwa where Mahatma Gandhi started Satyagrah Aandolan.

West Champaran is the largest sugarcane producing district of Bihar in 2022.[2]

Geography

West Champaran district occupies an area of 5,228 square kilometres (2,019 sq mi),[3] comparatively equivalent to Canada's Amund Ringnes Island.[4]

Flora and fauna

In 1989 West Champaran district became home to Valmiki National Park, which has an area of 336 km2 (129.7 sq mi). It is also home to two wildlife sanctuaries: Valmiki (adjacent to its namesake national park) and Udaypur Wildlife Sanctuary.[5] Fauna include the Bengal tiger.[6][7]

Sub-Divisions

West Champaran district comprises the following Sub-Divisions: Bettiah, Bagaha, and Narkatiaganj.

Blocks: Bettiah, Sikta, Mainatand, Chanpattia, Bairia, Lauria, Bagaha - 1, Bagaha - 2, Madhubani, Gaunaha, Narkatiaganj, Manjhaulia, Nautan, Jogapatti, Ramnagar, Thakraha, Bhitaha, Piprasi

The district is well connected by roads and railways to all major cities.

Politics

Lok Sabha constituencies in the district are Paschim Champaran, Valmiki Nagar.

Vidhan Sabha constituencies in the district are Valmiki Nagar, Ramnagar, Narkatiaganj, Bagaha, Lauriya, Nautan, Chanpatia, Bettiah, Sikta

District No. Constituency Name Party Alliance Remarks
West Champaran 1 Valmiki Nagar Dhirendra Pratap Singh Janata Dal (United) MGB
2 Ramnagar Bhagirathi Devi BJP NDA
3 Narkatiaganj Rashmi Varma BJP NDA
4 Bagaha Ram Singh BJP NDA
5 Lauriya Vinay Bihari BJP NDA
6 Nautan Narayan Prasad BJP NDA
7 Chanpatia Umakant Singh BJP NDA
8 Bettiah Renu Devi BJP NDA
9 Sikta Birendra Prasad Gupta CPI(ML)L MGB

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901762,628—    
1911812,855+0.64%
1921826,679+0.17%
1931913,931+1.01%
19411,021,217+1.12%
19511,071,382+0.48%
19611,325,122+2.15%
19711,587,019+1.82%
19811,972,610+2.20%
19912,333,666+1.70%
20013,043,466+2.69%
20113,935,042+2.60%
source:[8]
Religions in West Champaran district (2011)[9]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
 
 77.44%
Islam
 
 21.98%
Other or not stated
 
 0.58%

According to the 2011 census West Champaran district has a population of 3,935,042,[10] roughly equal to the nation of Liberia[11] or the US state of Oregon.[12] This gives it a ranking of 63rd in India (out of a total of 640).[10] The district has a population density of 750 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,900/sq mi).[10] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 28.89%.[10] Pashchim Champaran has a sex ratio of 906 females for every 1000 males,[10] and a literacy rate of 58.06%. 9.99% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Tribes made up 14.08% and 6.35% of the population respectively.[10]

Languages

Languages of West Champaran district (2011)[13]

  Bhojpuri (91.86%)
  Hindi (3.32%)
  Urdu (2.97%)
  Bengali (0.99%)
  Others (0.86%)

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 91.86% of the population in the district spoke Bhojpuri, 3.32% Hindi and 2.97% Urdu as their first language.[13]

Languages include Bhojpuri, a tongue in the Bihari language group with almost 51,000,000 speakers, written in both the Devanagari and Kaithi scripts.[14]

Culture

The city is the birthplace of poet Gopal Singh Nepali. Mahatma Gandhi started the Champaran Satyagraha movement from here in 1917 along with nationalists Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha and Brajkishore Prasad.

Notable people


See also

References

  1. ↑ http://tirhut-muzaffarpur.bih.nic.in Archived 2015-03-16 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ "Bihar Economic Survey 2022-23". state.bihar.gov.in. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  3. ↑ Srivastava, Dayawanti et al. (ed.) (2010). "States and Union Territories: Bihar: Government". India 2010: A Reference Annual (54th ed.). New Delhi, India: Additional Director General, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Government of India. pp. 1118–1119. ISBN 978-81-230-1617-7. {{cite book}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  4. ↑ "Island Directory Tables: Islands by Land Area". United Nations Environment Program. 1998-02-18. Archived from the original on 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2011-10-11. Amund Ringnes Island 5,255km2
  5. ↑ Indian Ministry of Forests and Environment. "Protected areas: Bihar". Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2011.
  6. ↑ Jhala, Y. V.; Gopal, R.; Qureshi, Q., eds. (2008), Status of the Tigers, Co-predators, and Prey in India (PDF), TR 08/001, National Tiger Conservation Authority, Govt. of India, New Delhi; Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2013
  7. ↑ Jhala, Y. V., Qureshi, Q., Sinha, P. R. (Eds.) (2011). Status of tigers, co-predators and prey in India, 2010. National Tiger Conservation Authority, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. TR 2011/003 pp-302
  8. ↑ "Table A-02 Decadal Variation in Population Since 1901: Bihar" (PDF). census.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  9. ↑ "Table C-01 Population by Religion: Bihar". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "District Census Handbook: West Champaran" (PDF). Census of India. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  11. ↑ US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-01. Liberia 3,786,764 July 2011 est.
  12. ↑ "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2011-09-30. Oregon 3,831,074
  13. 1 2 "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Bihar". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  14. ↑ M. Paul Lewis, ed. (2009). "Bhojpuri: A language of India". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (16th ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
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