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 Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri, and Goalpara district.
The name of the district Goalpara is said to have originally derived from 'Gwaltippika' meaning 'Guwali village' or the village of the milk men. The history of Goalpara goes back to several centuries. The district came under British rule in 1765. Before this, the area was under the control of the Koch dynasty. In 1826 the British accessed Assam and Goalpara was annexed to the North-East Frontier in 1874, along with the creation of district headquarters at Dhubri.
On 1 July 1983 two districts were split from Goalpara: Dhubri and Kokrajhar. On 29 September 1989 Bongaigaon district was created from parts of Goalpara and Kokrajhar.

Geography

The district headquarters are located at Goalpara. Goalpara district occupies an area of, comparatively equivalent to South Korea's Jeju-do.

Economy

In 2006 the Indian government named Goalpara one of the country's 250 most backward districts. It is one of the eleven districts in Assam currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme.

Political divisions

There are four Assam Legislative Assembly constituencies in this district: Dudhnoi, Goalpara East, Goalpara West, and Jaleswar. Dudhnoi is designated for scheduled tribes. Dudhnoi is in the Gauhati Lok Sabha constituency, whilst the other three are in the Dhubri Lok Sabha constituency.

Demographics

Goalpara district is inhabited by people of every community of Assam, including Deshee Muslims,Bengali Muslims, Assamese people, Bengali Hindus, Koch Rajbongshi, Garo people,Rabha people, Tiwa, Bodo-Kachari peoples, Nepali people and tea tribes etc. Among them, Bengali Muslims are dominant group, followed by indigenous Deshee muslims,Rajbongshi, Nath Jogee, Rabha,Bodo,Garo Kalita, Fisherman, Brahmin people. According to the 2011 census Goalpara district has a population of 1,008,183, roughly equal to the nation of Cyprus or the US state of Montana. of which 171,657 are children between 0–6 years of age. Goalpara has a sex ratio of 964 females for every 1000 males. The crude literacy rate of the district is 55.91%, while the effective literacy rate of 7+ population is 67.4%.

Tourism

Tourist spots in the district include: