West Garo 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 ...

Garo Hills The Garo Hills (Pron: ˈgɑ:rəʊ) are part of the Garo-Khasi range in Meghalaya, India. They are inhabited by the Garo people. It is one of the wettest places in the world. The range is part of the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion. De ...

of 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 ...

. Tura town is the administrative headquarters of the district. 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 3714 km². In 2011 its

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 ...

was 643,291. As of 2011 it is the second most populous district of Meghalaya (out of 7), after

East Khasi Hills East Khasi Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. The district headquarters are located at Shillong. The district occupies an area of 2752 km² and has a population of 825,922 (as of 2011). , it is the most ...

. West Garo Hills district is located at the westernmost part of Meghalaya. The district is bounded by East Garo Hills district on the east, by

South Garo Hills district 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 (out of 7). The district was established in 1992. Geography The district headquarters are located at ...

on the south-east,

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 ...

state on the north and north-west and

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 ...

on the south.

History

In 22 October 1976 the Garo Hills district was bifurcated into two districts: West Garo Hills district and East Garo Hills district. The West Garo Hills district was further divided into two districts: the present day West Garo Hills district and

in June 1992.

Economy

In 2006 the

Ministry of Panchayati Raj The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a branch of the Government of India. Ministry of Panchayati Raj looks into all matters relating to the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The ministry is headed by a ...

named West Garo Hills one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the three districts in Meghalaya currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Mahendraganj international border crossing

Mahendraganj-Baksiganj international border crossing is at Mahendraganj town in West Garo HIlls district in India on NH12 to Baksiganj in

Mymensingh division Mymensingh Division ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ বিভাগ) is one of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It has an area of and a population of 11,370,000 as of the 2011 census. It was created in 2015 from districts prev ...

, Bangladesh. It is an international crossing being further developed as part of the

Bharatmala The Bharatmala Pariyojna ( 'India garland project') is an ecosystem of road development which includes development of tunnels, bridges, elevated corridors, flyovers, overpass, interchanges, bypasses, ring roads etc. to provide shortest, jam f ...

.Bharatmala
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Phulbari-Dhubri Bridge on Brahmaputra river

* Phulbari-Dhubri Bridge: After the completion of Phulbari-Dhubri Bridge on Brahmaputra river, the district will be connected to West Bengal via Dhubri, Assam. A rail line extending from Dhubri till Mahendraganj International border can change the economy of the entire region. The Phulbari-Dhubri Bridge will be the longest bridge in the country.

Divisions

Administrative divisions

West Garo Hills district is divided into six blocks, after the creation of

South West Garo Hills district Southwest Garo Hills is an administrative district in the State of Meghalaya, India. The Ampati Civil Sub-Division is upgraded to a full fledged district as South West Garo Hills, on 7 August 2012 with its headquarters at Ampati. It was inaugura ...

Demographics

The district have a Christian majority (most being from

Garo Garo may refer to: People and languages * Garo people, a tribal people in India ** Garo language, the language spoken by the Garo tribe Places * Kingdom of Garo, a former kingdom in southern Ethiopia * Garo, Colorado * Garo Hills, part of the Ga ...

community) with having significant

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and Muslim population (most being from

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 ...

community). According to the 2011 census West Garo Hills district has a

of 643,291, roughly equal to the nation of

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

or the US state of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. This gives it a ranking of 514th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

over the decade 2001-2011 was 24.02%. West Garo 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 979

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 Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

of 68.38%. Tura has a mixed population of

Garos Garos is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territo ...

or A'chiks (as they prefer to call themselves),

Bengalis Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of ...

, Nepalis, Assamese, members of other ethnic groups such as the Hajong, Rabhas and Koches, Bodo and a fair sprinkling of South Indians in the Catholic Church, the teaching profession and the paramilitary forces.

Languages

(or A'chik) is the most spoken language in the district. Other languages clubbed under Garo include A'Tong. Kamtapuri, locally known as Deshi is the second largest language. Hajong, Koch and Rabha are the next largest languages. Assamese is spoken by a small minority. The Muslim non-tribals along with the Rabhas, Koches and Hajongs of the plain belt mostly study Assamese as their MIL, whereas Hindu non-tribals study Bengali as their MIL. A small minority of

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 ...

speakers are in the district.

Culture

Places of Interest

Some places of interest in Garo Hills are Siju Cave, Nokrek Peak, Siju Bird Sanctuary, Imilsang Dare falls, Sosibibra and Rongdong falls. Some places worth visiting in West Garo Hills are * Bhaitbari / Wadagokgre Excavation Site * Pelga Waterfalls * Tura Peak Range * Nokrek Peak in Nokrek National Park * Nokpante Institution * Rongai Valley * Phulbari River side

Flora and fauna

In 1986 West Garo Hills district, along with its sister districts South and East Garo Hills, became home to

Nokrek National Park Nokrek National Park, the core area of Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, is a national park located approximately 2 km away from Tura Peak in West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, India. UNESCO added the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve to its list of Bio ...

. The park has an area of .

Notable people

* P A Sangma, Most famous leader from Meghalaya. He was the Speaker of Indian Parliament and Chief Minister of Meghalaya. *

Conrad Sangma Conrad Kongkal Sangma (born 27 January 1978) is an Indian politician who is the 12th and current Chief Minister of Meghalaya. He assumed presidency of the National People's Party in 2016 after the death of his father who was former Chief Min ...

, Present Chief Minister of Meghalaya. *

Agatha Sangma Agatha Kongkal Sangma (born 24 July 1980) is an Indian politician serving as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha representing the Tura constituency of Meghalaya. At the age of 29, she is the youngest member of parliament ever in India to be appo ...

, Ex Union Minister and present MP from Garo Hills. She is also the first woman MP from Meghalaya. * Larry Sangma, A budding cricketer. Played for Meghalaya team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy.

References

External links

West Garo Hills website
{{Coord, 25.5167, N, 90.2167, E, type:adm3rd_source:itwiki, display=title Districts of Meghalaya Minority Concentrated Districts in India 1976 establishments in Meghalaya Autonomous regions of India