Goalpara, Pron: ) is the district headquarters of

Goalpara district Goalpara district is an administrative district of the Indian state of Assam. History It was a princely state ruled by the Koch kings and the then ruler of the undivided kingdom. Today the erstwhile Goalpara district is divided into Kokrajha ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, India. It is situated to the west of

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

Etymology

The name Goalpara is said to have originated from the word "Gwaltippika" meaning Guwali village, or The village of the milk men (

Yadav Yadav refers to a grouping of traditionally non-elite, Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern state ...

). In local dialect, "para" means village.

Geography

Goalpara is located on the bank of the river

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. I ...

. It has an average elevation of 35 metres (114 feet). Goalpara is endowed with scenic beauty. Hulukanda Hill, located at the heart of Goalpara on the bank of the Brahmaputra river, is one of the natural scenic views in the town, with various kinds of waterfowl and monkeys. There are some other bodies of water such as Hashila beel, Kumri beel, and Urpad Beel. The Urpad Beel becomes the centre of migratory birds during Oct-March. The evergreen forests on low hills create an undulating landscape. Goalpara district consists of 8 blocks: *Balijana *Jaleswar *Kharmuza *Krishnai *Kuchdhowa *Lakhipur *Matia *Rangjuli

Demographics

As of

2011 Indian Census The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Goalpara had a total population of 53,430, of which 26,970 were males and 26,460 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 6,125. The total number of literates in Goalpara was 39,627 which constituted 74.2% of the population with male literacy of 77.1% and female literacy of 71.2%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Goalpara was 83.8%, of which male literacy rate was 87.3% and female literacy rate was 80.2%. The

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

population was 6,158 and 1,702 respectively. Goalpara had 11,617 households in 2011.

Religion

The largest religious group in the town are Muslims constituting 53.65% of the population. Hindus make up 44.99% and 1.36% are others.

Languages

Assamese is the official language of the district and is spoken by 77.9% of the population, while

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

is spoken by 16.8% and

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

spoken by 3.6%, as per 2011 census. The Goalpariya is the most commonly spoken dialect of Assamese in the town.

Education

Some of the major educational institutions are:

Schools

* Sainik School, Goalpara * Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Goalpara

Colleges

* Goalpara College, Goalpara * Dudhnoi College,Dudhnoi,Goalpara * Bikali College, Dhupdhara, Goalpara

Politics

Goalpara district consists of four assembly constituencies which are Goalpara East, Goalpara West, Jaleshwar and Dudhnoi. The first three are part of Dhubri (Lok Sabha constituency). Following are the present MLA's of Goalpara- *Goalpara East: AK Rasheed Alam ( INC) *Goalpara West: Abdur Rashid Mondal ( INC) *Jaleswar : Aftabuddin ( INC) *Dudhnoi : Jadav Swargiary ( INC)( SC)

Notable people

* Abbas Uddin Ahmed, singer *

Ashraful Haque Syed Ashraful Haq is a former Bangladeshi cricketer. He was the architect of Bangladesh's first ever ICC Trophy victory, over Fiji in May 1979. His 7/23 from 9.2 overs completely destroyed the Fiji middle order, leading Bangladesh to a 22 r ...

, Bollywood actor *

Adil Hussain Adil Hussain () is an Indian actor who has worked in Indian cinema, including art house cinema and mainstream Bollywood, as well as international cinema, in films such as '' The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' and '' Life of Pi'' (both 2012). He re ...

, actor and theatre personality * Baharul Islam, actor and theatre personality * Birubala Rabha, Indian activist who campaigns against witchcraft and witch hunting * Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha, spiritual master *

Jugal Kishore Choudhury Jugal Kishore Choudhury (1918 in Goalpara, Assam - 1998) was an Indian architect and urban planner known for his concrete architectural designs. Biography He studied at the Sir J. J. School of Art in Bombay. He then continued his studies in ...

, modernist architect

References

{{Assam Cities and towns in Goalpara district Dudhnoicollege.ac.in