Alipurduar district | |
|---|---|
  .jpg)   Clockwise from top-left: Evening atJaldapara National Park, ruins ofBuxa Fort, Hut used by Toto aboriginals, Jayanti Hills inBuxa Tiger Reserve, Bhutan gate nearJaigaon | |
 Interactive map of Alipurduar district | |
| Coordinates:26°29′20″N89°31′37″E / 26.489°N 89.527°E /26.489; 89.527 | |
| Country |  India |
| State | West Bengal |
| Division | Jalpaiguri |
| Headquarters | Alipurduar |
| Government | |
| • Subdivisions | Alipurduar Sadar |
| • CD Blocks | Madarihat-Birpara,Alipurduar I,Alipurduar II,Kalchini,Falakata,Kumargram |
| • Lok Sabha constituencies | Alipurduars |
| • Vidhan Sabha constituencies | Alipurduars,Kumargram,Falakata,Madarihat,Kalchini |
| • District Magistrate | R. Vimala,IAS[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 3,383 km2 (1,306 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[2] | |
• Total | 1,491,250 |
| • Density | 440.8/km2 (1,142/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 307,456 |
| Demographics | |
| • Literacy | 78.57 per cent |
| • Sex ratio | 949♂/♀ |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Bengali[3][4] |
| • Additional official | English[3] |
| Time zone | UTC+05:30 (IST) |
| Website | alipurduar |
Alipurduar district (Bengali pronunciation:[alipurduard͡ʒela]),[5] is one of the23 districts of the state ofWest Bengal inIndia. The district is the part ofJalpaiguri Division.[6]Alipurduar city is the headquarters of the district. It was made a district by bifurcatingJalpaiguri district on June 25, 2014.[7] This is the easternmost district of West Bengal. It is situated in the WesternDooars natural region, in the foothills of the Bengal Himalayas.[8]
The Dooars in Alipurduar district were under the control ofKingdom of Bhutan from early 17th-century till 1865 whenBritish East India company captured the area in theDuar War under theTreaty of Sinchula and were added to the district of Jalpaiguri in 1869 and later finally to theIndian Union in 1949.
Like all the Duars underDruk Gyalpo ofBhutan, it was under the jurisdiction ofTongso Penlop, below the Tongso Penlop were Subah who in turn appointedMondal, Laskar or Uzir to look after the Duars.[9]
Apart from theAlipurduar municipality andFalakata municipality, the district contains eightcensus towns and rural areas of 66gram panchayats under sixcommunity development blocks:Madarihat-Birpara,Alipurduar-I,Alipurduar–II,Kalchini,Falakata andKumargram.[10] Geographically the district lies between 26.4°N to 26.83°N and 89°E to 89.9°E.
The nine census towns arePaschim Jitpur,Chechakhata,Alipurduar Railway Junction,Bholar Dabri,Sobhaganj,Jaygaon andUttar Latabari andUttar Kamakhyaguri.[11]
Alipurduar railway division has at least 710 km of railway track. It is the largest division of theNortheast Frontier Railway zone. In Alipurduar district, there are two major stations,Alipurduar Junction (APDJ) andNew Alipurduar (NOQ). There are other stations in the district viz.Falakata Railway Station,Kamakhyaguri Railway Station,Dalgaon Railway Station,Hasimara railway station,Kalchini railway station,Rajabhatkhawa,Mujnai railway station,Madarihat railway station,Hamiltonganj railway station,Samuktala Road Junction railway station,Salbari railway station etc.[citation needed]
There are 5 assembly constituency in Alipurduar district :
As per order of theDelimitation Commission in respect of thedelimitation of constituencies in the West Bengal, the area under Kumargram block and sevengram panchayats under Alipurduar–II block, viz. Bhatibari, Kohinoor, Parokata, Mahakalguri, Shamuktala, Turturi and Tatpara–I constitutes the Kumargram assembly constituency of West Bengal. The Majherdabri gram panchayat under Alipurduar–II block and the area under Kalchini block constitutes the Kalchini assembly constituency. The Alipurduar municipality, the Alipurduar Railway Junction census town, and the gram panchayats of Chaporer Par–I, Chaporer Par–II and Tatpara–II under Alipurduar–II block and ten gram panchayats of Alipurduar–I block, viz. Banchukamari, Parorpar, Shalkumar–I, Vivekananda–I, Chakowakheti, Patlakhawa, Shalkumar–II, Vivekananda–II, Mathura and Tapsikhata form the Alipurduars assembly constituency. The other gram panchayat of Alipurduar–I block, viz. Purba Kanthalbari forms the Falakata assembly constituency along with the area under Falakata block. Madarihat block is part of Madarihat assembly constituency. Kumargram, Kalchini and Madarihat constituencies is reserved forScheduled tribes (ST) candidates. Falakata constituency is reserved forScheduled castes (SC) candidates. All these five assembly constituencies are part ofAlipurduars (Lok Sabha constituency), which is reserved for ST candidates.[12]
As of the 2011 census, Alipurduar district had a population of 1,491,250, of which 1,183,704 were rural and 307,456 were urban. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 456,706 (30.62%) and 382,112 (25.62%) of the population respectively.[2]
| Hinduism | 80.07% | |||
| Islam | 8.74% | |||
| Christianity | 7.52% | |||
| Buddhism | 2.37% | |||
| Tribal religion | 1.00% | |||
| Other or not stated | 0.31% | |||
| Religion | Population (1941)[14]: 90–91 | Percentage (1941) | Population (2011)[13] | Percentage (2011) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hinduism | 144,898 | 45.17% | 1,194,102 | 80.07% |
Tribal religion | 141,716 | 44.17% | 14,866 | 1.00% |
Islam | 29,856 | 9.31% | 130,339 | 8.74% |
Christianity | 1,385 | 0.43% | 112,091 | 7.52% |
Buddhism.svg) | --- | --- | 35,318 | 2.37% |
| Others[b] | 2,963 | 0.93 | 4,534 | 0.31% |
| Total Population | 320,818 | 100% | 1,491,250 | 100% |
Hindus are the majority in all blocks. Muslims are spread evenly throughout the district, but Christians, traditional religions and Buddhists are concentrated in the tea garden areas.
At the time of the 2011 census, 53.93% spokeBengali, 16.80%Sadri, 9.70%Nepali, 3.67%Hindi, 3.17%Rajbongshi, 3.13%Kurukh, 2.38%Boro, 1.39%Bhojpuri, 1.32%Santali and 1.23%Rabha as their first language. The remaining 3.28% spoke other languages.[15]
Kalonunia rice was awarded theGeographical Indication (GI) status tag from theGeographical Indications Registry under theUnion Government of India on 02/01/2024 (valid until 11/03/2034). It is a common and widely cultivated crop indistricts ofCooch Behar,Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar along with some parts ofDarjeeling &Kalimpong districts of West Bengal.[18][19][20][21]
State Agricultural Management & Extension Training Institute (SAMETI) fromNarendrapur, proposed the GI registration of Kalonunia rice. After filing the application in March 2021, the rice was granted the GI tag in 2024 by the Geographical Indication Registry inChennai, making the name "Kalonunia rice" exclusive to the rice grown in the region.[22] It thus became the third rice variety from West Bengal afterTulaipanji rice and the 26th type of goods from West Bengal to earn the GI tag.[citation needed]
The GI tag protects the rice from illegal selling and marketing, and gives it legal protection and a unique identity.[citation needed]
Cities, towns and locations inAlipurduar district | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cities,municipal andcensus towns | |||
| Locations other than cities and towns | |||
| Tea estates | |||
| Related topics | |||
Places adjacent to Alipurduar district | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||
