Southwest Garo Hills district | |
---|---|
Country | India |
State | Meghalaya |
Headquarters | Ampati |
Government | |
• Vidhan Sabha constituencies | 3 |
Area | |
• Total | 822 km2 (317 sq mi) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 172,795 |
• Density | 210/km2 (540/sq mi) |
Demographics | |
• Literacy | 56.7% |
Time zone | UTC+05:30 (IST) |
Website | southwestgarohills |
Southwest Garo Hills [1] is an administrative district in the State of Meghalaya, India. The Ampati Civil Sub-Division is upgraded to a full fledged district asSouth West Garo Hills, on 7 August 2012 with its headquarters at Ampati. [2] It was inaugurated by Dr. Mukul Sangma, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Meghalaya, India.
The South West Garo Hills is carved out of present West Garo Hills, Meghalaya, India. The District comprises all the villages falling under the two Community and Rural Development Blocks, [3] viz. Betasing and Zikzak Community and Rural Development Blocks, including 33 (thirty-three) villages under Mukdangra Gram Sevak (GS) Circle and Garobadha Gram Sevak Circle of Selsella Community & Rural Development Block, 24 (twenty-four) villages under Okkapara Songma Gram Sevak Circle and Chengkuregre Gram Sevak Circle of Gambeggre Community & Rural Development Block, 13 (thirteen) villages under Jarangkona Gram Sevak Circle of Dalu Community & Rural Development Block and Anggalgre village of Rongkhongre Gram Sevak Circle of Rongram Community & Rural Development Block.
After the reorganization of the Gram Sevak Circle all the villages annexed from other Community and Rural Development Blocks falls under Betasing Community and Rural Development Block, except for Jarangkona Gram Sevak Circle of Dalu Community & Rural Development Block which falls under Zikzak Community and Rural Development Block.[ citation needed ]
The population of South West Garo Hills is 1,72,495 with 87,135 male and 85,360 female population as per Census 2011, which is as per the new reorganized Gram Sevak Circle of Betasing and Zikzak Community and Rural Development Blocks. The literacy rate of the District is 56.7% as per 2011 Census. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 2,095 (1.21%) and 1,38,168 (80.10%) of the population. [4] Christianity is the dominant religion, with Hinduism and Islam second-largest religions.
Garo is spoken by majority of the residents of the district. Bengali, Hajong and Koch are the major minority languages.
Garo is spoken by 88,216 people, Bengali by 45,586, whereas 31,523 people speak Hajong language, followed by 10,292 speaking Koch language.
Meghalaya is a state in northeast India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills and (b) the Garo Hills. The estimated population of Meghalaya in 2014 was 3,211,474. Meghalaya covers an area of approximately 22,429 square kilometres, with a length-to-breadth ratio of about 3:1.
South Garo Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. As of 2011 it is the least populous district of Meghalaya. The district was established in 1992.
West Garo Hills is an administrative district in Garo Hills of the state of Meghalaya in India. Tura town is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district occupies an area of 3714 km². In 2011, its population was 643,291. As of 2011, it is the second most populous district of Meghalaya, after East Khasi Hills.
Netrokona is a district of the Mymensingh Division in north-east of Bangladesh.
The Nokrek National Park, the core area of the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, is a National park located approximately 2 km away from Tura Peak in West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, India.The Nokrek Biosphere Reserve along with the Nokrek National Park was added by UNESCO to its list of Biosphere Reserves in May 2009. along with the Balpakram National Park in South Garo Hills. The Nokrek area is a hotspot of biodiversity in Meghalaya. Established in 1986, the National Park area comprising around 47.48 km2 (18.33 sq mi) is looked after by the Northern Nokrek Range and the Southern Nokrek Range under the East & West Garo Hills Wildlife Division of the Meghalaya State Forest Department, Government of Meghalaya.
Tura is a municipality in the West Garo Hills district of the Indian state of Meghalaya. One of the largest towns in Meghalaya, Tura is located in the foothills of the Nokrek range of Garo Hills. The climate in Tura is moderate throughout the year, and the town has many interesting and unexplored areas.
Haluaghat is an upazila of Mymensingh District in the Division of Mymensingh, Bangladesh.
Durgapur is an upazila of the Netrokona District in the Mymensingh Division of Bangladesh.
Nalitabari is an upazila of Sherpur District in the Division of Mymensingh, Bangladesh.
The Rabha people are a Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group who live mostly in the Northeast Indian state of Assam, with a lesser population in the adjacent state of West Bengal. They primarily inhabit the plains of Lower Assam and the Dooars, while some are found in the Garo Hills. Most of the Rabhas of Dooars refer to themselves as Rabha, but some of them often declare themselves as Kocha.
Ampati is a district headquarters of South West Garo Hills of Meghalaya state in north-eastern India. South West Garo Hills is curved of present West Garo Hills on 7 August 2012. It is located at the latitude of 25º27.505 and longitude of 089º56.456 and is 52 km away from the district headquarters Tura of West Garo Hills district, Meghalaya. The hill region is mostly inhabited by the Garos, while in the foothills there are Hajongs and Koches. The second largest ethnicity after Garos is Hajong. The district is surrounded by South Salmara district of Assam and Kurigram District of Bangladesh. South West Garo Hills has approximately 35 kilometres of international boundary with Bangladesh on the south and western side. Nearly one third of the total number of villages of the district is declared as border villages by the Border Area Development Department.
The Koch are a small trans-border ethnic group of Assam and Meghalaya in India and northern Bangladesh. The group consists of nine matrilineal and strictly exogamous clans, with some of them preserving a hitherto sparsely documented Boro-Garo language called Koch, whereas others have switched to local varieties of Indo-Aryan languages. It is a Scheduled Tribe in Meghalaya, India. Koches want to preserve language and culture and heritage.
Sitalkuchi is a community development block that forms an administrative division in the Mathabhanga subdivision of the Cooch Behar district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
The Hajong people are an ethnic group from Northeast India and northern parts of Bangladesh. The majority of the Hajongs are settled in India and are predominantly rice-farmers. They are said to have brought wet-field cultivation to Garo Hills, where the Garo people used slash and burn method of agriculture. Hajong have the status of a Scheduled Tribe in India and they are the fourth largest tribal ethnicity in the Indian state of Meghalaya.
Evangelization of Meghalaya began in the 19th century during the British era. In the 1830s, American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society had become active in Northeast to evangelize indigenous tribes to Christianity. Later, they were offered to expand and reach into Sohra Meghalaya, but they lacked the resources to do so and declined. Welsh Presbyterian Mission took the offer and they began work at Sohra mission field. By the early 1900s, other Protestant denominations of Christianity were active in Meghalaya. The outbreak of World Wars forced the preachers to return home to Europe and America. It is during this period that Catholicism took root in Meghalaya and neighbouring region. Currently, Catholics, Presbyterians and Baptists are three most common Christian denominations found in Meghalaya.
Southwest Khasi Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India.
Betasing is the Community & Rural Development Block headquarters situated 7 km from the district headquarters of South West Garo Hills, Ampati.
Hinduism is a minority religion in the Meghalaya state of India constituting 12% of the state's population. The Nartiang Durga Temple in Meghalaya is one of the 51 Shakti peethas on Earth and is considered by Hindus of Meghalaya as the permanent abode of Goddess Durga. Hinduism is a popular religion practice by Rabhas, Hajongs, Kochs, Rajbongshis, Mikirs, Bengalis, Nepalis, Biharis etc.
Sasatgre is a village in the West Garo Hills district, Meghalaya, India. Sasatgre is located on a saddle at the edge of the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve. The economy is largely agrarian, following the traditional jhum system of rotational slash-and-burn cropping to a limited extent. Most of the houses are traditional bamboo buildings. Homestays offer tourists an experience of the traditional Garo way of life.
Chandigre is a village in the West Garo Hills district, Meghalaya, India. Chandigre is located close to the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve. The economy is largely agrarian, following the traditional jhum system of rotational slash-and-burn cropping to a limited extent. Most of the houses are traditional bamboo buildings. The Chandigre Rural Tourist Resort offers tourists an experience of the traditional Garo way of life.