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, municip ...

in the state of

Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The district headquarters are located at

Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...

. The district occupies an

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a 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 open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

of 2,748 km² and 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 825,922 (as of 2011). , it is the most populous 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 Ri Bhoi () is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. The district headquarters are located at Nongpoh. The district occupies an area of 2378 km² and has a population of 258,840 (as of 2011). As of 2011 it is the sec ...

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 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, ...

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 List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. 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 in its 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 countryside and is also the highest point not just in the district but the State as well.

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 The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

or the US state of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. This gives it a ranking of 478th in India (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 ...

). 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 24.68%. East Khasi Hills 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 1008 females 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 84.7%. East Khasi Hills is the most diverse district of Meghalaya with having people from all the parts of India.

Culture

Places of interest

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

whistled language Whistled speech is a form of speech surrogacy in which whistling is used to mimic speech. Speakers of more than 80 languages have been found to practice various degrees of whistled speech, most of them in rugged topography or dense forests, whe ...

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 Nohkalikai Falls is the tallest plunge waterfall in India. The waterfall is located in the Indian state of Meghalaya, near Cherapunji (now known as Sohra), one of the wettest places on Earth. Nohkalikai Falls are fed by the rainwater collected ...

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 Living root bridges are a kind of tree shaping in which rivers are spanned by bridges formed out of the roots of ficus plants. Due to their being made from living, growing trees, they "show a very wide variety of structural typologies, with ...

and is a tourist attraction. * Sweet Falls located in Mawshabuit * Umiam Lake an artificial lake on the way to Shillong. * Elephant Falls, a waterfall in 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