East Champaran is an administrative district in the state of Bihar in India. The district headquarters are located at Motihari.
About district
East Champaran District is functioning from 2 November 1972. The headquarter of district is at Motihari. It is situated at 26° 16′ to 27° 1′ North latitude and 84° 30′ to 85° 16′ East longitudes. Nepal makes its northern boundary, Sitamadhi and Sheohar eastern while Muzaffarpur South and with part of Gopalganj bounds it in western side. The name Champaran owes its origin to Champa-aranya or Champkatanys. Champa or Champaka means Magnolia and aranya means forest. Hence, Champaranya means Forest of Magnolia (CHAMPA) trees. The District comprises an area of 3968.0 km2 with 1344 villages having population of 50,82,868 as per 2011 census. The Administrative set up of the District is decentralized into 6 sub-division, 27 blocks, 27 Circles, 3 Nagar Parishads (Motihari, Raxaul and Dhaka), 6 Nagar Panchayats and 405 Panchayats.
The district occupies an area of 3969 km2 and has a population of 3,933,636 (as of 2001). East Champaran is a part of Tirhut Division (Tirhut). It is currently a part of the Red Corridor.
As of 2011, it is the second most populous district of Bihar (out of 39), after Patna.
Geography
East Champaran district occupies an area of 3,968 square kilometres (1,532 sq mi), comparatively equivalent to Vanuatu’s Espiritu Santo. Gandak, Burhi Gandak and Baghmati are important rivers flowing through this region.
Demographics
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 1,027,835 | — |
| 1911 | 1,095,530 | +0.64% |
| 1921 | 1,114,162 | +0.17% |
| 1931 | 1,231,756 | +1.01% |
| 1941 | 1,376,352 | +1.12% |
| 1951 | 1,443,961 | +0.48% |
| 1961 | 1,681,089 | +1.53% |
| 1971 | 1,956,084 | +1.53% |
| 1981 | 2,425,501 | +2.17% |
| 1991 | 3,043,061 | +2.29% |
| 2001 | 3,939,773 | +2.62% |
| 2011 | 5,099,371 | +2.61% |
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According to the 2011 census East Champaran district has a population of 5,099,371, roughly equal to the United Arab Emirates or the US state of Colorado. This gives it a ranking of 21st in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 1,281 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,320/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 29.01%. Purbi Champaran has a sex ratio of 901 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 55.79%.
Languages
According to the 2011 census, 82.67% of the population spoke Bhojpuri, 7.33% Urdu and 7.06% Hindi as their first language.
Non governmental organization
- Sanmat, an organization to help the underprivileged.
- Redcross
- Champaran Foundation – It is an organization that primarily works among youth and is headed by Shuja Khan Gandhi.