Barbil is a town and a

Municipal Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

in the Kendujhar district (also known as Iron Town) of the state of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

, India. The region around Barbil has one of the largest deposits of iron ore and manganese ore in the world. It is a major source of revenue generation for both the central and the state governments. According to sources, 45% to 48% ST and SCs are living here. It is a fifth scheduled area under the constitution of India.

Geography

Barbil is located at . It has an average elevation of . Barbil is fully surrounded by hills. The Kiriburu range runs parallel to it. The surrounding hills are densely forested with predominantly Sal trees. The close proximity to forest has led to several incidents of wild elephants being spotted in the town.

Climate

Barbil has, like all of Odisha, a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Aw''). It nonetheless has lower average temperatures than most of the state because of higher elevation. Summer afternoons remain sweltering, but winter mornings can be quite cool.

Demographics

According to the 2011 India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Barbil had a population of 66,540. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Barbil has an average literacy rate of 72.18%. 16% of the population is under 6 years of age. An additional 50,000 people come to Barbil for work. According to sources, 45% to 48% ST and SCs are living here.

Administrations

Tahasildar and Executive Magistrate

Economy

The economy of Barbil is reliant on

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

mining industry and steel manufacturing industry. The iron ore mines in the Barbil - Joda region caters to some of the largest steel plants of India like

Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, with its primary operations based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel ...

Jamshedpur,

SAIL A sail is a tensile structure, which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may b ...

Bokaro and Rourkela.

Transport

Barbil Railway Station under Chakradharpur division is on a byline in the Tatanagar–Bilaspur section of the Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line connecting the mainline at Rajkharshavan station which is about from Barbil. Barbil is connected to Howrah, Bhubaneshwar, Puri, and Tatanagar by train. Jan Shatabdi Express runs from Howrah to Barbil and one passenger train from Barbil to Tatanagar on daily basi
58103/Tatanagar - Barbil Passenger (UnReserved) - Tatanagar to Barbil SER/South Eastern Zone - Railway Enquiry
Barbil is also connected to Bhubaneshwar & Puri by a daily-running Barbil-Puri Intercity Express train. Rourkela - Barbil Intercity Express (Daily) via

Chakradharpur Chakradharpur is a municipal town situated in the West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, India, positioned strategically on the Chota Nagpur Plateau. Located 62 kilometers west of Jamshedpur, 115 kilometers south of Ranchi, and 101 kilometers ea ...

, Rajkharswan, Chaibasa Dongoaposi, Jhinkpani at one can extend the journey to

Rourkela Rourkela () is a planned city located in the northern district Sundargarh of Odisha, India. It is the third-largest Urban Agglomeration in Odisha after Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It is situated about west of the state capital Bhubaneswar and is ...

or even

Sambalpur Sambalpur () is the fifth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761 (as per 2011 census). Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Samb ...

Vizag Chennai Alleppy, etc. towards the south and Bilaspur Nagpur Mumbai towards West and also via Keonjhar Kendujhar. Jajpur Road, Cuttack Bhubaneshwar for connecting trains. (Puri-Barbil).

Social activities

Organizations in Barbil include Barbil Haalchal, Native Voice, Barbil Bikash Parisad, and N.D.C.C.

Places of interest

Murga Mahadev is a temple beside a picturesque waterfall, dedicated to lord

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Kendujhar district Iron ore mining in India Mining in Odisha