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Uttar Dinajpur
Uttar Dinajpur
District
	From top-left: Durgapur Rajbari, Mohanta Masjid near Goyalpara, Pramateshwar Mahadeb Mondir, Kulik Bird Sanctuary, Pirpukur Dargah in Raiganj
	Location of Uttar Dinajpur district in West Bengal
	Coordinates: 25°37′N 88°07′E / 25.62°N 88.12°E
Country	India
State	West Bengal
Division	Malda
Headquarters	Raiganj
Government
• Subdivisions	Raiganj Sadar, Islampur
• CD Blocks	Raiganj, Hemtabad, Kaliaganj, Itahar, Islampur, Chopra, Goalpokhar I, Goalpokhar II, Karandighi
• Lok Sabha constituencies	Raiganj
• Vidhan Sabha constituencies	Chopra, Islampur, Goalpokhar, Chakulia, Karandighi, Hemtabad, Kaliaganj, Raiganj, Itahar
Area
• Total	3,140 km2 (1,210 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	3,007,134
• Density	960/km2 (2,500/sq mi)
• Urban	362,228
Demographics
• Literacy	59.1 per cent
• Sex ratio	939 ♂/♀
Languages
• Official	Bengali
• Additional official	English
Time zone	UTC+05:30 (IST)
Website	uttardinajpur.nic.in

Uttar Dinajpur (Bengali pronunciation: [ut̪ːor dinadʒpur]), also known as North Dinajpur, is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Created on 1 April 1992 by the division of the erstwhile West Dinajpur district, it comprises two subdivisions: Raiganj and Islampur.

History

Undivided Dinajpur district was part of the Pundra and Gauda Kingdom of ancient Bengal. The whole of Pundra was part of the Mauryan empire, and Jainism was spread in the region in the fourth century BCE. Their capital was at Pundrabardhan (now in Bangladesh), and two other ancient towns were Gourpur and Kotibarsha, now called Bangarh. Later multiple inscriptions show how the Guptas also controlled Pundra. After the reign of Gauda Kingdom, the district was then ruled by Pala Empire from 750 CE. The Senas overthrew the Palas in 1143. In 1204, Bakhtiyar Khilji defeated the Senas and had Bangarh as its capital. After his murder, it was controlled by various governors sent by the Delhi Sultan from Gauda. In 1586, Mughal Emperor Akbar conquered Bengal and Dinajpur was controlled by the sarkars of Tajpur and Panjara. In 1765, it fell under the rule of the East India Company and was ruled from Murshidabad. In the later part of the 18th century, the district was home to the Sanyasi-Fakir rebellion until the early 19th century. The district remained relatively peaceful all through the rest of the 1800s. In 1905, the people of Dinajpur district protested against the Partition of Bengal. They participated in the Freedom struggle by refusing to pay tax, doing hartals, and launching agitations. In 1947, Dinajpur district was split between India and Pakistan with West Dinajpur remaining with India. In 1992, West Dinajpur district was bifurcated to form Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur districts.^[3]

Geography

Uttar Dinajpur district lies between latitude 25°11' N to 26°49' N and longitude 87°49' E to 90°00' E occupying an area of 3,142 km² (1,213 sq mi) enclosed by Panchagarh, Thakurgaon and Dinajpur districts of Bangladesh on the east, Kishanganj, Purnia and Katihar districts of Bihar on the west, Darjeeling district and Jalpaiguri district on the north and Malda district and Dakshin Dinajpur district on the south. Uttar Dinajpur is well connected with the rest of the state through National Highways, State Highways and Railways. NH-27 and NH-12 pass through the heart of the district.

The regional topography is generally flat with a gentle southerly slope towards which the main rivers like Kulik, Nagar, Mahananda. The District forms a part of the basin lying between Rajmahal hills on the east. The older alluvium is estimated to be Pleistocene age. Uttar Dinajpur is bestowed with a very fertile soil. The soil is very rich in nature due to the alluvial deposition which helps to grow Paddy, Jute, Mesta and Sugarcane etc. Raiganj on the banks of the River Kulik is the District Headquarters where the Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary, the second largest bird sanctuary in Asia, is situated. In Uttar Dinajpur district, there are two sub-divisions, Raiganj and Islampur, 110 km (68 mi) apart from each other. There are four municipalities, nine blocks and 99 Panchayats covering 1577 villages.

Demographics

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1901	401,121	—
1911	428,300	+0.66%
1921	376,366	−1.28%
1931	403,576	+0.70%
1941	451,684	+1.13%
1951	528,607	+1.59%
1961	760,199	+3.70%
1971	1,087,269	+3.64%
1981	1,415,653	+2.67%
1991	1,897,045	+2.97%
2001	2,441,794	+2.56%
2011	3,007,134	+2.10%
source:^[4]

According to the 2011 census Uttar Dinajpur district has a population of 3,007,134,^[3] roughly equal to the nation of Albania^[5] or the US state of Mississippi.^[6] This gives it a ranking of 124th in India (out of a total of 640).^[3] The district has a population density of 956 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,480/sq mi) .^[3] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 22.9%.^[3] Uttar Dinajpur has a sex ratio of 936 females for every 1000 males,^[3] and a literacy rate of 59.1%. 12.05% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 26.87% and 5.41% of the population respectively.^[3]^[7]

Religion

Religion in Uttar Dinajpur district (2011)^[8]
			Percent
Islam			49.92%
Hinduism			49.31%
Christianity			0.56%
Others			0.21%

Religion in present-day Uttar Dinajpur district
Religion	Population (1941)^[9]^: 88–91^[10]^: 106	Percentage (1941)	Population (2011)^[8]	Percentage (2011)
Islam	266,415	53.61%	1,501,170	49.92%
Hinduism	200,051	40.25%	1,482,943	49.31%
Tribal religion	29,763	5.99%	1,622	0.05%
Others ^[a]	740	0.15%	21,399	0.72%
Total Population	496,969	100%	3,007,134	100%

Language

Languages of Uttar Dinajpur district (2011).^[11]

Bengali (68.06%)

Surjapuri (13.22%)

Urdu (9.48%)

Santali (3.77%)

Hindi (3.76%)

Rajbongshi (1.03%)

Others (0.62%)

According to the 2011 census, 68.06% of the population spoke Bengali, 13.22% Surjapuri, 9.48% Urdu, 3.77% Santali, 3.76% Hindi and 1.03% Rajbongshi as their first language.^[11]^[12]

Bengali is the main language but a sizeable number of Urdu, Hindi and Maithili speaking people live in Islampur sub-division. It is one of the most backward districts of India educationally and economically owing to state neglect. The Bengali dialects spoken in the district are Varendri and Shershabadia.

Divisions

Sub-divisions

Uttar Dinajpur District comprises two subdivisions:

Assembly constituencies

As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies in the West Bengal, the district is divided into nine assembly constituencies:^[13]

S No.	Name	Lok Sabha constituency	MLA
28	Chopra	Darjeeling	Hamidul Rahman	All India Trinamool Congress
29	Islampur	Raiganj	Abdul Karim Chowdhury	All India Trinamool Congress
30	Goalpokhar		Md. Ghulam Rabbani	All India Trinamool Congress
31	Chakulia		Minhajul Arfin Azad	All India Trinamool Congress
32	Karandighi		Goutam Paul	All India Trinamool Congress
33	Hemtabad (SC)		Satyajit Barman	All India Trinamool Congress
34	Kaliaganj (SC)		Soumen Roy	Bharatiya Janata Party
35	Raiganj		Vacant	Vacant
36	Itahar	Balurghat	Mosaraf Hussen	All India Trinamool Congress

Hemtabad and Kaliaganj constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. Along with six assembly constituencies from Darjeeling district, Chopra constituency forms the Darjeeling (Lok Sabha constituency). Islampur, Goalpokhar, Chakulia, Karandighi, Hemtabad, Kaliaganj and Raiganj constituencies forms the Raiganj (Lok Sabha constituency). Along with six assembly constituencies from South Dinajpur district, Itahar forms the Balurghat (Lok Sabha constituency).

Villages

Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Uttar Dinajpur one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).^[14] It is one of the eleven districts in West Bengal currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).^[14] but now Dalkhola the main commercial, business town with well-connected railway and roadways, increasing the economy of Dalkhola and Uttar Dinajpur District. Other important urban regions include Raiganj, Islampur and Kaliaganj.

Tourism

In 1985, Uttar Dinajpur district became home to the Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary, which has an area of 1.3 km² (0.5 sq mi).^[15]

Other tourist places include:

Swaminath Temple at Swaminath
Rajbari at Rajbari Gate
Shiv Mandir at Itahar
Danhasori Pithasthal at Chandigram
Shree Shree Ma Bhabani Devi Than at Bouaha
Shidhi binayak Mandir at, Maharaja Hat

Transport

Major railway stations are Raiganj(RGJ), Radhikapur (RDP), Kaliyagunj, Dalkolha and Aluabari Road Jn (Islampur). Dalkolha is most important stoppage of long-distance train.^{[citation needed]} NH 27 and NH 12 are two National Highways in this District.^{[citation needed]} Radhikapur-Kolkata (RDP-KOAA) Express train and Radhikapur-Howrah Kulik Express (RDP-HWH) are the two direct train for Raiganj to South Bengal Communication. Although RDP-SGUJ DEMU is the only direct train for Raiganj to North Bengal Communication. NBSTC, SBSTC are transport corporations serving the area.^{[citation needed]} Siliguri More is that point zone which connect four district zone North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, North Bengal and South Bengal through High Ways.