Banaskantha district is one of the thirty-four districts of the

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of India. The administrative headquarters and largest city is

Palanpur Palanpur (Gujarati language, Gujarati: ) is a city and a headquarters of Banaskantha district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Palanpur is the ancestral home to an industry of Indian diamond merchants. Etymology Palanpur in early times is said ...

. The district is in northeastern Gujarat where the West Banas River runs through the valley between

Mount Abu Mount Abu (), known as Arbudgiri in Jain tradition, is a hill station in the Aravalli Range in the Sirohi district of the state of Rajasthan in western India. Here, the mountain forms a rocky plateau 22 km long by 9 km wide. It is ref ...

and

Aravalli Range The Aravalli Range (also spelled ''Aravali'') is a mountain range in North India, Northern-Western India, running approximately in a south-west direction, starting near Delhi, passing through southern Haryana and Rajasthan, and ending in Ahme ...

, flowing to the plains of Gujarat in this region. The district is famous for the Ambaji temple which draws many tourists. It has an area of 12,703 km² and was the second largest district in the state until January 2025, when

Vav-Tharad district Vav-Tharad is a Districts of India, district of Gujarat, India. It is located on the eastern side of the Rann of Kutch and southern side of the Rajasthan State touches its borders, its headquarters is at the city of Tharad. Vav-Tharad was carved ...

was carved out of the western part of the district and remaining area of 6,176 km² remains the same.

Geography

Banaskantha shares its borders with

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

state in the North,

Sabarkantha district Sabarkantha district is one of the 33 districts of Gujarat state of India, located in the Northeast India, northeastern part of the state. The administrative headquarters of the district are located in Himatnagar and the National Highway no. 48 pa ...

in East,

in West and

Patan district Patan district is one of the 34 districts of Gujarat state in western India. Its main city is Patan. This district is located in northern Gujarat and bounded by Vav-Tharad district in the north, Banaskantha district in the northeast, Mehsana dis ...

and

Mehsana district Mehsana district (alternate spelling "Mahesana") is one of the 33 districts of Gujarat state in western India. Mehsana city is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district has a population of over 1.8 million and an area of over ...

in the South.

Economy

It is the site of

Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University (SDAU) is a State Agricultural University in India. It is approximately from Palanpur town in Banaskantha District of Gujarat. History The Gujarat Agricultural University started functionin ...

. In 2006 the

Ministry of Panchayati Raj The Ministry of Panchayati Raj () is a branch of the Government of India. The Ministry is in charge of the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The Ministry is headed by a minister of cabinet rank / Min ...

named Banaskantha one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of

640 Year 640 ( DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming y ...

). It is one of the six districts in Gujarat currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Banaskantha district has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 3,120,506, roughly equal to the nation of

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

or the US state of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. This gives it a ranking of 111th in India (out of a total of

). 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. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...

over the decade 2001-2011 was 24.43%. Banaskantha has a

sex ratio A sex ratio is 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. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of 936

females An organism's sex is female (symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and male ...

for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

of 66.39%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 10.49% and 9.11% of the population respectively.

Language

According to the 2011 Census of India, 96.35% of the population in the district spoke Gujarati and 0.91%

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

as their first language.

Politics

Notable people

* Galbabhai Nanjibhai Patel, Founder Chairman of

Banas Dairy Banas Dairy () (Banaskantha District Cooperative Milk Federation, Palanpur) is a Division (business), division of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation which is registered under the Gujarat State Co-op Act 1961 and ownership lies with the ...

* Parthi Bhatol, Politician & Former Chairman of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (

Amul The Anand Milk Union Limited commonly known as Amul is an Indian dairy brand owned by the cooperative society, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), based in Anand, Gujarat. GCMMF is controlled by 3.6 million milk producers. ...

); Former

Chairman *

Chandrakant Bakshi Chandrakant Keshavlal Bakshi was an Indian Gujarati language, Gujarati-language author from Gujarat, India and a former Sheriff of Mumbai. He was known for his bold and new concepts in writing during his time in Gujarati literature. He is also ...

, author born in

. *

Parbatbhai Patel Parbatbhai Patel is a Gujarati politician who served as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Banaskantha constituency in Gujarat in the 17th Lok Sabha. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Parliament of India from Banaskanth ...

, former MP from

Banaskantha Banaskantha district is one of the thirty-four districts of the Gujarat state of India. The administrative headquarters and largest city is Palanpur. The district is in northeastern Gujarat where the West Banas River runs through the valley betw ...

; Former Minister of State Water Resources (Independent Charge), Water Supply, Government of Gujarat * Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary, former Minister of State of Home Affairs and former MP for Banaskantha * Harisinh Chavda, former MP for Banaskantha * B. K. Gadhvi, former MP and Minister of State, Banaskantha * Mukesh Gadhvi, former MP for Banaskantha *

Jayasimha Siddharaja Jayasiṃha, who assumed the title Siddharāja, ruled the Kingdom of Gujarat between 1092 and 1142. He was a member of the Chaulukya (also called Solanki) dynasty. Jayasimha's capital was located at Anahilapataka (modern Patan) in present-day ...

, ruler of Gujarat from the

Chaulukya dynasty The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extended ...

; great-grandfather of

Prithviraj Chauhan Prithviraja III (IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; 22 May 1166 – February 1192), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chahamanas of Shakambhari, Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, w ...

Pranav Mistry Pranav Mistry (born 14 May 1981) is an Indian computer scientist and inventor. He is the former President and CEO of STAR Labs (Samsung Technology & Advanced Research Labs). He is currently the founder and CEO of TWO, an Artificial Reality star ...

, inventor of Sixthsense and vice president of

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

, USA * Ranchordas Pagi, scout for the Indian Army during the 1965 and 1971 war * Mehul Choksi, Diamond merchant *

Nirav Modi Nirav Deepak Modi (born 27 February 1971) is an Indian-born Belgian fugitive who was charged by Interpol and the Government of India for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonesty including delivery of property, corr ...

, Diamond merchant *

Bharat Shah Bharat Shah (born 5 August 1944) is an Indian businessman, diamond merchant, film financer and film distributor who primarily works in Hindi films, under his banner VIP Films. He has produced several Bollywood films, such as '' Dil Se..'' (199 ...

, Bollywood film producer * Dineshchandra R. Agrawal, Chairman & MD (CMD) of DRA Infracon *

Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI (; born 12 June 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (; ), is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo described him ...

, Pakistani cricketer

References

External links

*
Banaskantha District profileDISTRICT PROFILE - Rural.nic.in
*Collectorate - District Banaskanth

* {{Authority control Banaskantha district, Districts of Gujarat