Lakhimpur district

This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Lakhimpur.

Not to be confused with Lakhimpur Kheri District.

Lakhimpur district
—  District  —
District location in Assam
Country	India
State	Assam
Capital	North Lakhimpur
Area
– Total	2,277 km2 (879.2 sq mi)
Population (2001)
– Total	889,010
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Website	http://www.lakhimpur.nic.in

Lakhimpur (Assamese: লখিমপূৰ জিলা) is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters are located at North Lakhimpur.

History

Lakhimpur figures largely in the annals of Assam as the region where successive invaders from the east first reached the Brahmaputra. The Baro Bhuyans, originally from the western provinces of India, were driven out by the Sutiya (a Shan race), and these in their turn gave place to their more powerful brethren, the Ahoms in the 13th century. The Burmese, who had ruined the native kingdoms, at the end of the 18th century, were in 1826 expelled by the British under the Treaty of Yandaboo. They placed the southern part of the state, together with Sibsagar under the rule of Raja Purandhar Singh; but it was not till 1838 that the whole was taken under direct British administration.

Once Lakhimpur district used to have several districts of Arunachal Pradesh within it and was known as 'Lakhimpur Frontier Tract'. After independence, the district used to have within its fold present day Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Dhemaji districts. Its headquarters were at Dibrugarh.

In 1976, Dibrugarh district was separated from Lakhimpur.^[1] This was repeated on 14 October 1989, with the formation of Dhemaji district.^[1]

Geography

Lakhimpur district occupies an area of 2,277 square kilometres (879 sq mi),^[2] comparatively equivalent to Indonesia's Yapen Island.^[3]

A beautiful place on Mother Nature's lap, located in the north-east corner of the Indian State of Assam, the district of Lakhimpur lies on north bank of the mighty river Brahmaputra. It is bounded on the north by Lower Subansiri and Papumpare Districts of the state of Arunachal Pradesh and on the east by Dhemaji District. Majuli, the largest River-island belonging to Jorhat District is on the south and Gohpur sub division of Sonitpur District is on the West. The Brahmaputra is navigable for steamers in all seasons as far as Dibrugarh, in the rainy season as far as Sadiya; its navigable tributaries within the district are the Subansiri, Ranganadi and Dikrong. The exact location of the district is 26.48’ and 27.53’ northern latitude and 93.42’ and 94.20' east longitude (approx.).

The name 'Lakhimpur' is believed to have come from word “Lakshmi”, the Hindu goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. The word “pur” has two meanings—first one is “full”, so 'Lakhimpur' means 'full of paddy'. The second meaning is "City", so 'Lakhimpur' means 'The City of Wealth and Prosperity'. Besides, the district has alluvial soil which is very fertile. Also fish, vegetables, milk etc. were abundant.

The district has two sub divisions -- Dhakuakhana and North Lakhimpur (sadar). Dhakuakhana Sub Division consists of two Police stations viz. Dhakuakhana and Ghilamara. North Lakhimpur Sub-division consists of 4 Police stations viz. North Lakhimpur, Boginadi, Laluk and Bihpuria. The district is inhabited by Assamese belonging to Ahom, Kalita, Koch castes. There is also a significant population of Mising, Deori, Sonowal Kachari and Khamti. A large population of Bengali Muslim inhabit Naoboisa area who mostly had settled between 1900 and 1920. There are also many migrant communities like Bengali Hindu, Bihari and Nepali.

Forests are mainly tropical rain forest. Important reserved forests includes Ranga Reserve, Kakoi Reserve, Dulung Reserve and Pabho Reserve. Some varieties are Hollokh (Terminalia myriocarpa), Ajhar (Lagerstroemia speciosa), Simolu (Bombax ceiba or Salmalia malabarica), Sum (Machilus), Gomari (Gmelina arborea), Sisu (Dalbergia sissoo), Silikha (Terminalia chebula), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Nahar (Mesua ferrea) etc. Wild elephants, buffaloes, tigers, deer etc. are there in the forests. Varieties of bird species are observed in swampy areas.

The great Subansiri River has legends of once famous gold washing. But as of now there is no any major exploration of minerals in the district, except some minor exploration for petroleum by ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) near Dhakuakhana.

Economy

In 2006 the Indian government named Lakhimpur one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).^[4] It is one of the eleven districts in Assam currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).^[4]

Divisions

There are four Assam Legislative Assembly constituencies in this district: Bihpuria, Naobaicha, Lakhimpur, and Dhakuakhana.^[5] Dhakuakhana is designated for scheduled tribes.^[5] Bihpuria is in the Tezpur Lok Sabha constituency, whilst the other three are in the Lakhimpur Lok Sabha constituency.^[6]

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Lakhimpur district has a population of 1,040,644,^[7] roughly equal to the nation of Cyprus^[8] or the US state of Rhode Island.^[9] This gives it a ranking of 435th in India (out of a total of 640).^[7] The district has a population density of 457 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,180 /sq mi) .^[7] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 17.06 %.^[7] Lakhimpur has a sex ratio of 965 females for every 1000 males,^[7] and a literacy rate of 78.39 %.^[7]

Flora and fauna

In 1996 Lakhimpur district became home to the Bardoibum-Beelmukh Wildlife Sanctuary, which has an area of 11 km² (4.2 sq mi).^[10] It shares the park with Dhemaji district.

See also

• Lakhimpur (Lok Sabha constituency)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Law, Gwillim (2011-09-25). "Districts of India". Statoids. http://www.statoids.com/yin.html. Retrieved 2011-10-11. 
2. ^ Srivastava, Dayawanti et al. (ed.) (2010). "States and Union Territories: Assam: 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. 1116. ISBN 978-81-230-1617-7. 
3. ^ "Island Directory Tables: Islands by Land Area". United Nations Environment Program. 1998-02-18. http://islands.unep.ch/Tiarea.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-11. "Yapen 2,278km2" 
4. ^ ^{a b} Ministry of Panchayati Raj (September 8, 2009). "A Note on the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme". National Institute of Rural Development. http://www.nird.org.in/brgf/doc/brgf_BackgroundNote.pdf. Retrieved September 27, 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "List of Assembly Constituencies showing their Revenue & Election District wise break - up". Chief Electoral Officer, Assam website. http://ceoassam.nic.in/Gen_Informations/2.1%20-%20DEOs%20wise%20ACs%20breakup.pdf. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
6. ^ "List of Assembly Constituencies showing their Parliamentary Constituencies wise break - up". Chief Electoral Officer, Assam website. http://ceoassam.nic.in/Gen_Informations/2.2%20-%20PC-wise%20LAC%20breakup.pdf. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "District Census 2011". Census2011.co.in. 2011. http://www.census2011.co.in/district.php. Retrieved 2011-09-30. 
8. ^ US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html. Retrieved 2011-10-01. "Cyprus 1,120,489 July 2011 est." 
9. ^ "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/apportionment-pop-text.php. Retrieved 2011-09-30. "Rhode Island 1,052,567" 
10. ^ Indian Ministry of Forests and Environment. "Protected areas: Assam". http://oldwww.wii.gov.in/envis/envis_pa_network/index.htm. Retrieved September 25, 2011. 

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• Official site
• [1]

External links

• District Administration website