# Howrah district

Howrah district (/ˈhaʊrə/, Bengali:) is a district of the West Bengal state in eastern India. Howrah district is one of the highly urbanized area of West Bengal. It has thousands of years of rich heritage in the form of the great Bengali kingdom of Bhurshut. The district is named after its headquarters, the city of Howrah.

## Geography

The Howrah district lies between 22°48′ N and 22°12′ N latitudes and between 88°23′ E and 87°50′ E longitudes. The district is bounded by the Hooghly River and the North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas districts on the east, on the north by the Hooghly district (Arambagh and Shrirampur sub-divisions), and on the south by Midnapore East district (Tamluk sub-division). On the west Howrah district is bordered by the Ghatal sub-division of Midnapore West district, and partly by the Arambagh sub-division of Hooghly district to the north-west, and the Tamluk sub-division of Midnapore East district to the south-west.
Boundaries of the district are naturally determined by Rupnarayan River on west and south-west, and by Bhagirathi-Hooghly river on east and south-east side. On north side, the boundary is an artificial one except for Bally Canal on north-east and Damodar River on north-west.
Annual normal rainfall is 1461 millimetre per year. Annual maximum temperature varies between 32-39 °C, whereas minimum temperature varies between 8-10 °C.

## Divisions

Howrah District is split into the Howrah Sadar subdivision and the Uluberia subdivision. The Howrah Sadar subdivision has 1 municipal corporation with 1 municipality and 5 community development (CD) blocks. The Uluberia subdivision has 1 municipality and 9 community development blocks.
Each block consists of a rural area divided into gram panchayats along with census towns. The district has 30 police stations (Howrah Police Commissionerate has 16 general police stations including 1 Women PS, 1 Cyber Crime PS and Howrah Rural PD has 10 general police stations including 1 Women PS, 1 Cyber Crime PS), 157 gram panchayats and 50 census towns.
| Area | Subdivision | Type | Notes |
| Howrah Municipal Corporation | Howrah Sadar | Municipal Corporation | includes the merged Bally Municipality and total number of wards is sixty six now |
| Bally Jagachha | Howrah Sadar | CD Block | consists of rural area with 8 gram panchayats and six census towns: Bally (different from Bally municipality), Chakapara, Chamrail, Eksara, Khalia and Jagadishpur Durgapur-Avoynagar1, Durgapur-Avoynagar2, Nischinda |
| Domjur | Howrah Sadar | CD Block | consists of rural area with 18 gram panchayats and sixteen census towns: Domjur, Dakshin Jhapardaha, Khantora, Bhandardaha, Makardaha, Kantlia, Tentulkuli, Salap, Bankra, Nibra, Ankurhati, Bipra Noapara, Kalara, Kesabpur, Natibpur, and Mahiari |
| Panchla | Howrah Sadar | CD Block | consists of rural area with 11 gram panchayats and seven census towns: Bikihakola, Beldubi, Deulpur, Gangadharpur, Jujersha, Jala-Biswanathpur, Banaharishpur, Chara-Panchla, Panchla, Subharara and Sahapur |
| Sankrail | Howrah Sadar | CD Block | consists of rural area with 16 gram panchayats and fourteen census towns: Argari, Dhuilya, Andul, Ramchandrapur, Podara, Panchpara, Hatgachha, Jhorhat, Banipur, Mashila, Sankrail, Manikpur, Nalpur, Raghudebbati and Sarenga |
| Jagatballavpur | Howrah Sadar | CD Block | consists of rural area with 14 gram panchayats and two census town: Mansinhapur and Munsirhat |
| Uluberia Municipality | Uluberia | Municipality | |
| Amta I | Uluberia | CD Block | CD block consists of rural area with 13 gram panchayats and Two census town: Amta and Guzarpur |
| Amta II | Uluberia | CD Block | CD block consists of rural area only with 14 gram panchayats and three census town: Khorop, Narit and Joypur |
| Bagnan I | Uluberia | CD Block | CD block consists of rural area with 10 gram panchayats and two census towns: Khalor and Bagnan |
| Bagnan II | Uluberia | CD Block | CD block consists of rural area with 7 gram panchayats and one census town: Naupala |
| Uluberia I | Uluberia | CD Block | CD block consists of rural area only with 9 gram panchayats.The most important village is Bar-Mongrajpur under Hatgacha-1 G.P. |
| Uluberia II | Uluberia | CD Block | CD block consists of rural area with 8 gram panchayats and three census towns: Santoshpur, Balaram Pota and Uttar Pirpur |
| Shyampur I | Uluberia | CD Block | CD block consists of rural area only with 10 gram panchayats |
| Shyampur II | Uluberia | CD Block | CD block consists of rural area only with 8 gram panchayats |
| Udaynarayanpur | Uluberia | CD Block | CD block consists of rural area only with 11 gram panchayats |

## Demographics

According to the 2011 census Howrah district has a population of 4,850,029, roughly equal to the nation of Singapore or the US state of Alabama. This gives it a ranking of 23rd in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 3,306 inhabitants per square kilometre (8,560/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 13.31%. 63.38% of the population lives in urban areas. Haora has a sex ratio of 935 females for every 1000 males and a literacy rate of 83.85%. 63.38% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 14.82% and 0.31% of the population respectively.
Total area in Howrah District is 1467 km$^2$. Total population is 4,273,099 as per census 2001 records. 57.91% of the population live in Howrah Sadar subdivision and rest 42.09% live in Uluberia subdivision. Population Density: 2913 per km$^2$.

### Religion

Religions of Howrah District (2011) :
| Religion | Religion | Percent | Percent |
| Hinduism | Hinduism | 72.90% | 72.90% |
| Islam | Islam | 26.20% | 26.20% |
| Other or not stated | Other or not stated | 0.90% | 0.90% |
Religion in Howrah district :
| Religion | Population (1941)$^{:75}$ | Percentage (1941) | Population (2011) | Percentage (2011) |
| Hinduism | 1,184,863 | 79.50% | 3,535,844 | 72.90% |
| Islam | 296,325 | 19.88% | 1,270,641 | 26.20% |
| Others | 9,116 | 0.61% | 43,544 | 0.90% |
| Total Population | 1,490,304 | 100% | 4,850,029 | 100% |
Hindus are the majority population. Muslims, unlike the rest of Bengal, are more concentrated in urban areas than Hindus. Muslims are a significant minority in Panchla (46.62%), Uluberia I (43.92%), Uluberia II (39.36%) and Bagnan I (36.74%) blocks and make up a significant minority (44.79%) in Uluberia city.

### Language

Languages of Howrah District (2011)
According to the 2011 census, 84.99% of the population spoke Bengali, 10.92% Hindi and 2.86% Urdu as their first language. Hindi and Urdu are mainly spoken in urban areas.

## Assembly constituencies

The district is divided into 16 assembly constituencies: Sankrail and Uluberia North constituencies will remain reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. The division is represented in the Lok Sabha by the Howrah (Lok Sabha constituency) and Uluberia (Lok Sabha constituency) .
| S No. | Name | Lok Sabha constituency | MLA | Party |
| 169 | Bally | Howrah | Rana Chatterjee | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 170 | Howrah Uttar | Howrah | Gautam Chowdhuri | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 171 | Howrah Madhya | Howrah | Arup Roy | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 172 | Shibpur | Howrah | Manoj Tiwary | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 173 | Howrah Dakshin | Howrah | Nandita Chowdhury | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 174 | Sankrail (SC) | Howrah | Priya Paul | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 175 | Panchla | Howrah | Gulsan Mullick | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 176 | Uluberia Purba | Uluberia | Bidesh Ranjan Bose | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 177 | Uluberia Uttar (SC) | Uluberia | Nirmal Maji | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 178 | Uluberia Dakshin | Uluberia | Pulak Roy | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 179 | Shyampur | Uluberia | Kalipada Mandal | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 180 | Bagnan | Uluberia | Arunava Sen | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 181 | Amta | Uluberia | Sukanta Kumar Paul | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 182 | Udaynarayanpur | Uluberia | Samir Kumar Panja | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 183 | Jagatballavpur | Srerampur | Sitanath Ghosh | All India Trinamool Congress |
| 184 | Domjur | Srerampur | Kalyan Ghosh | All India Trinamool Congress |