Narayanpur district is one of the 28 districts of Chhattisgarh State in Central India. It is one of the two districts created on May 11, 2007. It was carved out from the erstwhile Bastar district. This district occupies an area of 6640 km² and it had a population of 110,800 in 2001. Narayanpur town is the administrative headquarters of this district. This district comprises 366 villages. It is currently a part of the Red Corridor.
As of 2011 it is the least populous district of Chhattisgarh (out of 18).
The present district collector and magistrate of Narayanpur is Mr. Dharmesh Sahu, IAS.
Jagadalpur is the nearest major town to Narayanpur and it is around 120 KM away. National High-way is situated at a distance of around 50 KM from Narayanpur. Nearest railway stations to Narayanpur, from where inter-state trains run are Jagadalpur and RajaNandagaon and they are located at a distance of 120 KM and 180 KM respectively.
Being a part of Bastar division with a large presence of Naxalite insurgents, transportation and medical facilities are the two major concerns for people who live here.
Abujhmad Peace Marathon is the largest sports event of Narainpur.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census Narayanpur district has a population of 139,820, roughly equal to the nation of Saint Lucia. This gives it a ranking of 606th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 20 inhabitants per square kilometre (52/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 19.49%. Narayanpur has a sex ratio of 998 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 49.59%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 3.56% and 77.36% of the population respectively.
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 53.89% of the population in the district spoke Gondi, 18.14% Halbi, 13.73% Chhattisgarhi, 11.36% Santali and 1.27% Bengali as their first language.
Current district populations are 150771 recorded (Because Handawada area populations was not included in 2011 census) in Narayanpur district. Handawada area populations was included in Bijapur District before.
Geography[edit]
Narayanpur District is divided into two administrative blocks:[8]
- Narayanpur, having 45 Graama Panchayats with 176 villages (172 inhabited), is spread over an area of 2760 km2.
- Orchha, having 24 Gram Panchayats with 237 villages (209 inhabited), is spread over an area of 3880 km2.
Orchha comprises the Abujhmad region, the unsurveyed zone in central India and home to Primitive Tribal Group Madia Gond and Muriya Gond.
Narayanpur receives an average annual rainfall of 1300 mm.
Politics
Narayanpur is under Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, whose MP is Deepak Baij from the Indian National Congress. The MLA from Narayanpur assembly constituency is Chandra Kashyap from the Indian National Congress.