Ri Bhoi () 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

Nongpoh Nongpoh () is the administrative centre of Ri-Bhoi district in the Indian state of Meghalaya. Nongpoh is located on National Highway 40, fifty-two kilometers from the state capital Shillong and forty-eight kilometers from Guwahati in the state ...

. The district occupies an area of 2378 km² and has a population of 258,840 (as of 2011). As of 2011 it is the second least populous district of Meghalaya (out of 7), after

South Garo Hills 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 Districts of Meghalaya, 7). The district was established in 1992. Geography The district headqu ...

Etymology

The name is derived from the Bhoi sub-tribe of the Khasi people.

History

The district was upgraded from subdivisional level to a full-fledged district on 4 June 1992. The new district, was created from a Civil Sub-division of the

East Khasi Hills district 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 2,748 km2 and has a population of 825,922 (as of 2011). , it is the most ...

Geography

The district lies between 90°55’15 to 91°16’ latitude and 25°40’ to 25°21’ longitude. It is bounded on the north by Kamrup District, on the east by

Jaintia Hills The Khasi and Jaintia Hills are a mountainous region in India that was mainly part of Assam and Meghalaya. This area is now part of the present Indian constitutive state of Meghalaya (formerly part of Assam), which includes the present distri ...

and

Karbi Anglong Karbi may refer to: Places * Karbi, Armenia * Karbi Anglong Plateau, an extension of the Indian Plate in Assam, India * Karbi Anglong district, a district of Assam, north-eastern India Other uses * Karbi people, an ethnic group of North-e ...

District of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, and on the west by

West Khasi Hills West Khasi Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. History The West Khasi Hills district was carved out of the Khasi Hills district, which was divided into West and East Khasi Hills districts on 28 October 1976. ...

District. There are three C and RD Blocks and one administrative unit at Patharkhmah, and the number of villages is 561. Ri Bhoi District covers an area of . The headquarters of the District is at Nongpoh located from the state capital

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 ...

and from

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

in Assam. This District is characterized by rugged and irregular land surface. It includes a series of hill ranges which gradually slope towards the north and finally join the Brahmaputra Valley. The important rivers flowing through this region includes the Umtrew, Umsiang, Umran and Umiam rivers.

Flora and fauna

In 1981 Ri-Bhoi district became home to the Nongkhyllem

Wildlife Sanctuary A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...

, which has an area of .

Economy

House Areca Paddy Jirang Ri-Bhoi Oct24 A7CR 04379

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 Ri-Bhoi 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 three districts in Meghalaya currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Administration

Administrative divisions

Ri-Bhoi district is divided into three blocks:

Transport

South SH3 Jirang Ri-Bhoi Meghalaya Oct24 A7CR 04373

The region is the best in connectivity in the whole state having the only airport at Umroi, the Four-lane from Jorobat to Lad-Umroi and the Shillong Bye-pass in Umroi-Bhoirymbong area to Mawryngkneng of East Khasi Hills and the District is the main connectivity to Assam, Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland and other stations of Meghalaya. The National Highway No.37 origination from

Jorabat Jorabat is a village, suburban fringe and a junction which covers area under both Ri-Bhoi, Ri-Bhoi district, Meghalaya, India and Kamrup Metropolitan district, Assam, India, with greater parts in Kamrup Metropolitan district of Assam and lesser ...

to Shillong passes through the District.

Demographics

Population

According to the 2011 census Ri-Bhoi 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 258,840, roughly equal to the nation of

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. This gives it a ranking of 580th 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 34.02%. Ri Bhoi 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 951

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 77.22%. Scheduled Tribes make up 88.89% of the population.

Religion

Languages

Khasi is the main language of the area. The main dialect spoken in Ri-Bhoi is Karow which is spoken in Nongpoh and its surrounding localities and the other native spoken dialects are Iapngar in Ri Bhoi and Mihngi, Nongtung in Far Eastern Ri Bhoi, Mynar in Far Western Ri Bhoi and Jirang area. It is more popularly known to other people as the Bhoi language. Languages used in the district include Amri, a

Tibeto-Burman The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people speak ...

language related with Karbi, with 125 000 speakers and

Tiwa Tiwa and Tigua may refer to: * Tiwa Puebloans, an ethnic group of New Mexico, US * Tiwa (Lalung), an ethnic group of north-eastern India * Tiwa language (India), a Sino-Tibetan language of India * Tiwa languages, a group of Tanoan languages of the ...

spoken by around 2,000 Tiwas. There are number of tribes exist in Ri-Bhoi like Marngars and Mikirs.

References

External links

Ri Bhoi district website
{{coord, 25, 54, N, 91, 53, E, type:adm3rd_source:itwiki, display=title 1992 establishments in Meghalaya Districts of Meghalaya Autonomous regions of India