The state of Assam in India has five regional divisions, each comprising a number of districts. The person responsible for the administration of a division is designated as a Divisional Commissioner.
History
In 1874, Assam was constituted as a Chief Commissioner’s province with the seat of the government in Shillong, the erstwhile capital of Assam, which is now in Meghalaya. To better administer the six districts of Goalpara, Kamrup, Sonitpur, Nagaon (formerly, Nowgong), Sivasagar (formerly, Sibsagar) and Lakhimpur, (the districts in the Brahmaputra valley, also called Assam Valley), the Judge of Assam Valley was given the additional charge of a commissioner in 1880. In 1905, the offices of the Judge and the Commissioner were segregated in the Assam Valley; in addition to adding a separate Commissioner’s office for the administration of the Hill Districts and Surma Valley.
List of divisions
Historical divisions (until 2015)
| Division Name | Divisional Office | Districts |
|---|---|---|
| Hills and Barak Valley | Dispur | Cachar, Dima Hasao, Hailakandi, Karbi Anglong, and Karimganj |
| Lower Assam | Guwahati | Baksa, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Dhubri, Goalpara, Nalbari, Kamrup Metropolitan, Kamrup Rural, and Kokrajhar |
| North Assam | Tezpur | Darrang, Morigaon, Nagaon, Sonitpur, and Udalguri |
| Upper Assam | Jorhat | Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Sivasagar, and Tinsukia |
Current divisions
| Division Name | Divisional Office | Districts | Population | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barak Valley | Silchar | Cachar, Hailakandi, and Karimganj | 3,612,581 | |
| Hills and Central Assam | Nagaon | Dima Hasao, Hojai, East Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong, Morigaon, and Nagaon | 5,894,460 | |
| Lower Assam | Guwahati | Baksa, Barpeta, Bajali, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Dhubri, Goalpara, Nalbari, Kamrup Metropolitan, Kamrup Rural, Kokrajhar, and South Salmara-Mankachar, Tamulpur | 13,179,980 | |
| North Assam | Tezpur | Biswanath, Darrang, Sonitpur, and Udalguri | 4,246,834 | |
| Upper Assam | Jorhat | Charaideo, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Sivasagar, and Tinsukia | 7,840,943 |
Proposed divisions (new)
| Division Name | Divisional Office | Districts |
|---|---|---|
| Assam Hills | Diphu | Dima Hasao, East Karbi Anglong, and West Karbi Anglong |
| Barak Valley | Silchar | Cachar, Hailakandi, and Karimganj |
| Bodoland | Kokrajhar | Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, and Udalguri |
| Central Assam | Nagaon | Hojai, Morigaon, and Nagaon |
| Kamrup | Guwahati | Darrang, East Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Kamrup Rural, and South Kamrup |
| Lower Assam | Bongaigaon | Barpeta, Bajali, Bongaigaon, Dhubri, Goalpara, Nalbari, and South Salmara-Mankachar |
| North Assam | Tezpur | Biswanath, Lakhimpur, and Sonitpur |
| Upper Assam | Jorhat | Charaideo, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, and Tinsukia |
Municipal corporations
Municipal corporation (present)
- Guwahati
Municipal corporation (proposed)
- Silchar
- Dibrugarh
Oldest recognised and constantly inhabited urban areas
The list of the oldest urban areas based on the earliest years of formation of the civic bodies, constituted before India’s Independence of 1947.
| Type | Formation period | Urban areas |
|---|---|---|
| Municipal board region | Prior to India’s independence in 1947 |
|