Varanasi district
The district Varanasi (Hindi: वाराणसी जिला; formerly Benares ) is a district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Administrative center is the eponymous city of Varanasi.
Geography
The district Varanasi is located in the Gangetic Plain in eastern Uttar Pradesh and belongs to Varanasi Division. Neighboring districts are Ghazipur in the northeast, Chandauli in the east, in the south of Mirzapur, Sant Ravidas Nagar in the west and Jaunpur in the northwest. The Ganges, India 's largest power and sacred river of the Hindus, flows past Varanasi and forms the south-eastern border of the district. The tributary Gomti marked up to its confluence with the Ganges in parts the north-eastern boundary. With an area of 1,535 square kilometers of district Varanasi is one of the smaller districts in Uttar Pradesh. It is divided into two Tehsils Pindra and Varanasi.
History
The district Benares (Varanasi ) was established by the British after they had in 1794 brought the area of Varanasi under its rule and incorporated into British India. By 1830, included the district Mirzapur district to Benares. During the British reign, the district part of the ceded and Conquered Provinces was ( 1836 North Western Provinces ), which were in 1902 a part of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. After the Indian independence in 1947 showed the state of Uttar Pradesh from the United Provinces.
In 1948, the princely state of Benares, which was west and southeast of the city of Varanasi from two enclaves, incorporated in the District of Varanasi. In the 1990s, reduced the area of the district, as in 1996, the western part as a district Sant Ravidas Nagar and one year the eastern part were solved as district Chandauli from the district of Varanasi later.
Population
According to the 2011 census, the district Varanasi has 3,676,841 inhabitants. Between 2001 and 2011 the population grew by 17 percent. With Varanasi a city of millions is part of the district, and as the population density and degree of urbanization are above average: The population density is 2,395 inhabitants per square kilometer according to the district Ghaziabad, the second highest of all districts of Uttar Pradesh and is nearly three times the already high average of the state ( 829 inhabitants per square kilometer). The proportion of urban population is 43 percent much higher than in other parts of the rural state ( the average is only 22 percent). The literacy rate is 76 percent, well above the average of Uttar Pradesh (68 percent).
According to the 2001 census, 84 percent of the inhabitants of the district of Varanasi Hindus to Islam is a minority committed by 16 percent. Most Muslims live here in Varanasi City: Under the urban population of the district, the Muslim population is almost one-third.
Culture and sights
The city of Varanasi is one of India's oldest cities considered the most sacred city of Hinduism. The city attracts with its numerous temples and the ghats on the Ganga bank large amounts of both Hindu pilgrims and foreign tourists and is therefore one of the most famous places of India. Besides the city of Varanasi district to include the Buddhist pilgrimage site Sarnath, where the Buddha is said to have held his first sermon, and the city of Varanasi Ramnagar Situated opposite the residence of the Maharaja of Benares.