East Khasi Hills is an administrative

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

in the state of

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The district headquarters are located at

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a ...

. The district occupies an

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an ope ...

of 2752 km² and has a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 825,922 (as of 2011). , it is the most populous district of Meghalaya's 12 districts.

History

The former Khasi Hills district was divided into East and West Khasi Hills districts on 28 October 1976. On 4 June 1992, East Khasi Hills District was further divided into two administrative districts of East Khasi Hills District and Ri-Bhoi District.

Geography

Shillong is the district headquarters of East Khasi Hills District. East Khasi Hills District forms a central part of Meghalaya and covers a total geographical area of 2,748 km². It lies approximately between 25°07" & 25°41" N Lat. And 91°21" & 92°09" E Long. The north of the district is bounded by the plain of Ri-Bhoi District gradually rising to the rolling grasslands of the

Shillong Plateau The Shillong Plateau is a plateau in eastern Meghalaya state, northeastern India. The plateau's southern, northern and western ridges form the Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hills respectively. The plateau shows numerous fracture lineaments in satellit ...

interspersed with river valleys, then falls sharply in the Southern portion forming a deep gorges and ravines in

Mawsynram Mawsynram () is a town in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya state in Northeastern India, 69 kilometres from Shillong, the state capital. Mawsynram receives the highest rainfall in India. It is reportedly the wettest place on Earth, wi ...

and Shella-Bholaganj, community and rural development block, bordering

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. The district is bounded by the Jaintia Hills District to the east and the West Khasi Hills District to the west. The East Khasi Hills District is mostly hilly with deep gorges and ravines on the southern portion. The most important physiographic features of the district is the Shillong Plateau interspersed with river valley, then fall sharply in the southern portion forming deep gorges and ravine in Mawsynram and Shella-Bholaganj bordering Bangladesh. Shillong peak, 10 km from the city, offers a panoramic view of the scenic country side and is also the highest point in the district as well as in the State.

Climate

The climate of the district ranges from temperate in the plateau region to the warmer tropical and sub-tropical pockets on the Northern and Southern regions. The whole of the district is influenced by the south-west monsoon which begins generally from May and continues till September. The weather is humid for the major portion of the year except for the relatively dry spell usually between December and March.

Divisions

Administrative divisions

East Khasi Hills division is divided into eight blocks:

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, East Khasi Hills district has a

of 825,922, roughly equal to the nation of Comoros or the US state of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

. This gives it a ranking of 478th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 24.68%. East Khasi Hills has a

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species d ...

of 1008

females Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females ...

for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 84.7%.

Culture

Places of interest

* Kongthong village is a popular tourist destination where people use the

whistled language Whistled languages use whistling to emulate speech and facilitate communication. A whistled language is a system of whistled communication which allows fluent whistlers to transmit and comprehend a potentially unlimited number of messages over ...

and build living root bridges. * Kynrem Falls * Mawlynnong village, located in the Pynsursla block, is known for its cleanliness. The travel magazine ''Discover India'' declared the village as the cleanest in Asia in 2003, and the cleanest in India in 2005.Eco Destination
Department of Tourism, Government of Meghalaya * Nohkalikai Falls one of the tallest falls in India is located near Sohra (Cherrapunjee). * Nohsngithiang Falls *

the headquarters of this district is a hill station with a number of tourist attraction all around. * Sohra ( Cherrapunjee) once the wettest place on the planet, also known for its living root bridges and is a tourist attraction. * Sweet Falls located in Mawshabuit * Umiam Lake an artificial lake on the way to Shillong.

Transport

The headquarters of the district, Shillong which is also the capital city of State, is connected to Guwahati and Silchar by NH 44 of 103 km and 240 km respectively. The nearest Rail head and airport are situated at Guwahati. There is an airstrip suitable for small aircraft at Umroi which is 35 km from Shillong. The agricultural and other products are transported by trucks, jeeps and tractors. Shillong is well connected with other parts of the State by motorable road. Similarly, all the block headquarters in the district are also connected by roads. However, the villages in the interior areas are poorly connected and transport services are inadequate.

Gallery

File:Nohkalikai falls.jpg, Noh Kalikai falls near cherrapunjee File:Cherrapunji.jpg , Highest Rainfall in the world in cherrapunjee File:Shillong.jpg , Shillong-The District Headquarters File:View3_Umiam_Lake.JPG , Umiam Lake

References

External links

East Khasi Hills district

Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council

A BBC photographer's experiences in the East Khasi Hills
{{Coord, 25.5667, N, 91.8833, E, type:adm3rd_source:itwiki, display=title Districts of Meghalaya Populated places established in 1976 1976 establishments in Meghalaya Autonomous regions of India