Banaskantha district

Banaskantha district is one of the thirty-three districts of the Gujarat state of India. The administrative headquarters of the district is at Palanpur which is also its largest city. The district is located in the Northeast of Gujarat and is presumably named after the West Banas River which runs through the valley between Mount Abu and Aravalli Range, flowing to the plains of Gujarat in this region and towards the Rann of Kutch.[2] The district is famous for the Ambaji temple which draws many tourists.[3] It covers an area of 12703  km2 and is the second largest district in the state.

Banaskantha district
District of Gujarat
Clockwise from top-left: Kirti Stambha in Palanpur, Gabbar Temple in Ambaji, Mokeshwar Dam, fields in Vadgam, Manibhadra Jain Temple in Magarwada
Location of Banaskantha district in Gujarat
Location of Banaskantha district in Gujarat
Coordinates: 24°10′23″N 72°25′53″E
Country India
StateGujarat
HeadquartersPalanpur
Area
 • Total12,703 km2 (4,905 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total3,120,506
 • Rank111 of 640 in India
5 of 26 in Gujarat
 • Density250/km2 (640/sq mi)
Languages
 • OfficialGujarati, Hindi
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Vehicle registrationGJ 08
Websitebanaskantha.nic.in

Geography

Banaskantha shares its borders with Rajasthan state in the North, Sabarkantha district in East, Kutch district in West and Patan district and Mehsana district in the South.

Villages

The villages of Idar and Abu are also situated in Banaskantha. This place is also where the Aravalli Mountain range is located.

Economy

The economy of the district is based on agro & food Processing, tourism, textile, and mineral based industries (ceramics). The food processing industry in the district has attracted 57% of the total investment in the district over the last two decades. The district ranks first in the Country in milk production, the Asia's Largest Dairy Cooperative under the Brandname of AMUL is Banaskantha District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Ltd., Palanpur known as Banas Dairy procuring almost 59,58,134 Lit. Milk on 15.01.2018 as Peak receipt. The Banaskantha is also first District having highest Cold Supply Chain of Milk by installing 1280 bulk milk chilling units procuring almost >90% milk as raw chilled milk & rest 10% in cans. Banaskantha District has 1,060 village dairy cooperatives. Societies certified as per ISO 9001 : QMS Standard. The district ranks first in the state in the production of vegetables contributing nearly 17.67% to the total vegetable production of Gujarat. It is the largest producer of potatoes in the state. Bajri, Maize, Tobacco, Castor oil, Jowar, Psyllium are the other major crops of the district. It is also one of the leading producers of Isabgul (Psyllium husk) in the country. It is also the 3rd largest producer of oil seeds in the state after Junagadh district and Jamnagar district.

The district has rich mineral reserves including limestone, marble, granite, building stone, and china clay. It accounts for almost the entire marble reserves (99.3%) of Gujarat and contributes about 15% to the total production of limestone in the state.

Banaskantha District Central Co-operative Bank is one of the most important banks of Gujarat.

It has got prestigious State Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar.[4] The main agriculture is of Bajra crops.

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Banaskantha one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).[5] It is one of the six districts in Gujarat currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[5]

Demographics
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901437,072—    
1911418,450−0.43%
1921440,891+0.52%
1931477,341+0.80%
1941548,737+1.40%
1951696,367+2.41%
1961899,989+2.60%
19711,146,159+2.45%
19811,514,121+2.82%
19911,981,513+2.73%
20012,504,244+2.37%
20113,120,506+2.22%
source:[6]

According to the 2011 census Banaskantha district has a population of 3,120,506,[1] roughly equal to the nation of Mongolia[7] or the US state of Iowa.[8] This gives it a ranking of 111th in India (out of a total of 640).[1] The district has a population density of 290 inhabitants per square kilometre (750/sq mi) .[1] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 24.43%.[1] Banaskantha has a sex ratio of 936 females for every 1000 males,[1] and a literacy rate of 66.39%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 10.49% and 9.11% of the population respectively.[1]

Religions in Banaskantha district (2011)[9]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
 
 92.62%
Islam
 
 6.84%
Other or not stated
 
 0.54%

Language

Languages of Banaskantha district (2011)[10]

  Gujarati (96.35%)
  Hindi (0.91%)
  Marwari (0.60%)
  Others (2.74%)

According to the 2011 Census of India, 96.35% of the population in the district spoke Gujarati and 0.91% Hindi as their first language.[10]

Politics
District No. Constituency Name Party Remarks
Banaskantha 7Vav Geniben Thakor Indian National Congress
8Tharad Shankarbhai Chaudhary Bharatiya Janata Party Speaker[11]
9Dhanera Mavjibhai Desai Independent
10Danta (ST) Kantibhai Kharadi Indian National Congress
11Vadgam (SC) Jignesh Mevani Indian National Congress
12Palanpur Aniket Thaker Bharatiya Janata Party
13Deesa Pravin Mali Bharatiya Janata Party
14Deodar Keshaji Chauhan Bharatiya Janata Party
15Kankrej Amrutji Thakor Indian National Congress

Notable people

References
  1. "District Census Hand Book – Banas Kantha" (PDF). Census of India. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-02-24. Retrieved 2017-02-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2017-02-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University
  5. Ministry of Panchayati Raj (September 8, 2009). "A Note on the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme" (PDF). National Institute of Rural Development. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 5, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  6. Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901
  7. US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 2011-10-01. Mongolia 3,133,318 July 2011 est.
  8. "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved 2011-09-30. Iowa 3,046,355
  9. "Population by Religion - Gujarat". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  10. "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Gujarat". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  11. PTI (2022-12-15). "Gujarat's former State minister Shankar Chaudhary set to become next Assembly Speaker". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
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