Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed "The Golden city", is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone and is crowned by the ancient Jaisalmer Fort. This fort contains a ...

is the largest district in the Indian state of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

, and the third largest district in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Located in

Marwar Marwar (also called Jodhpur region) is a region of western Rajasthan state in North Western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. The word 'maru' is Sanskrit for desert. In Rajasthani languages, "wad" means a particular area. English tran ...

(Jodhpur Division), the city of

is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is around from the city of

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Ki ...

, and around from

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

, the capital of Rajasthan. As of the 2011 population census, it is the least populous district out of all 33 districts in Rajasthan.

Geography

With an area of 32,401sq km, Jaisalmer is the largest district in Rajasthan, and the third-largest in the country by area. The Jaisalmer district lies in the

Thar Desert The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's Li ...

, which straddles the border of India and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It is bound in the northeast by Bikaner District, in the east by

Jodhpur District Jodhpur District is a district in the State of Rajasthan in western India. The city of Jodhpur is the administrative headquarters of the district. As of the 2011 census, it is the second highest populated district of Rajasthan (out of 33), af ...

, in the south by

Barmer District Barmer District is a district in Rajasthan state of India. It is located in the western part of Rajasthan state forming a part of the Thar Desert. Barmer is the third largest district by area in Rajasthan and fifth largest district in India. Oc ...

, and in the west and north by

. The district is located within a rectangle lying between 26°.4’ –28°.23' north parallel and 69°.20'-72°.42' east meridians. The international border adjacent to the district is around long. Jaisalmer is almost entirely a sandy landscape, forming a part of the great Indian desert. The general aspect of the area is that of an interminable sea of sandhills, of all shapes and sizes, some rising to a height of almost . The hills in the west are covered with log bushes, while those in the east feature tufts of long grass. Water is scarce, and generally

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

; the average depth of the wells is said to be about . There are no perennial streams, and only one small river, the Kakni, which, after flowing a distance of , spreads over a large surface of flat ground and forms a lake called the Bhuj-Jhil. The climate is hot and dry. Throughout Jaisalmer crops such as bajra,

jowar ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a grass species cultivated for its grain, which is used for food for humans, animal feed, and ethanol produc ...

, motif, and til, are grown; spring crops of wheat and

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

are very rare. Owing to the scant rainfall,

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

is almost unknown except for small areas irrigated by lift canals of

Indira Gandhi Canal The Indira Gandhi Canal (originally, Rajasthan Canal) is the longest canal in India. It starts at the Harike Barrage near Harike, a few kilometers downriver from the confluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers in Punjab state, and ends in irrigat ...

Project.

Climate

Economy

In 2006, the

Ministry of Panchayati Raj The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a branch of the Government of India. Ministry of Panchayati Raj looks into all matters relating to the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The ministry is headed by a m ...

named Jaisalmer one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the twelve districts in Rajasthan currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Jaisalmer district has a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 669,919, roughly equal to the nation of

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

or the US state of

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

. This gives it a ranking of 508th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

over the decade 2001–2011 was 32.22%. Jaisalmer has a

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species devia ...

of 849

females Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females a ...

for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

of 58.04%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 14.80% and 6.33% of the population respectively.

Languages

At the time of the 2011 census, 51.07% of the population spoke

Rajasthani Rajasthani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Rajasthan, a state of India * Rajasthani languages, a group of languages spoken there * Rajasthani people, the native inhabitants of the region * Rajasthani architecture * Rajasthani art ...

, 40.95% Marwari, 2.80%

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, 2.56% Sindhi and 1.02%

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Marwari is the local language, while

Dhatki Dhatki (धाटकी; ڍاٽڪي), also known as Dhatti (धाटी; ڍاٽي) or Thari (थारी; ٿَري), is one of the Rajasthani languages of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. Dhatki is closely related ...

and Sindhi is spoken in border areas and by Hindu refugees from nearby Thar regions of Sindh.

Administration

Jaisalmer district has four sub-divisions: Jaisalmer,

Pokaran Pokhran is a village and a municipality located, outside of Jaisalmer city in the Jaisalmer district of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is a remote location in the Thar Desert region and served as the site for India's first underground nucle ...

Bhaniyana Bhaniyana is a census village mostly of the ethnic group Rajput,Jaat, Paliwal, Maheshwari and Banjara, in the Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan, India. It is located 110 km east of Jaisalmer and 36 km south of Pokaran. Bhaniyana has a p ...

, and Fatehgarh. Jaisalmer and Pokaran are the ''nagar palikas'', while 744 villages come under 140 ''gram panchayats''. District developmental activities are being looked after by three ''panchayat samities'', that is, Jaisalmer, Sam, and Sankra.

Tourism

Jaisalmer is one of the largest tourism district in

. About 276,887 tourists visit the district every year, out of which about 100,000 tourists are foreigners. Some of the tourist attractions in Jaisalmer are: *

Jaisalmer Fort Jaisalmer Fort is situated in the city of Jaisalmer, in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is believed to be one of the very few "living forts" in the world (such as Carcassonne, France), as nearly one fourth of the old city's population still re ...

* Patwa Haveli * Salim Singh's Haveli * Nathmal's Haveli *Mehra Haveli * Mandir Palace * Gadsisar Lake * Government Museum *Tanot Mandir *

Longewala Longewala is a border town in the Thar Desert in the western part of Jaisalmer district, in the state of Rajasthan, India. See also * List of military disasters * Battle of Longewala The Battle of Longewala (4–7 December 1971) was one ...

* Pokharan *

Thar desert The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's Li ...

Bada Bagh Bada Bagh, also called Barabagh (lit. "grand garden" in Hindustani) is a garden complex located about six kilometers north of Jaisalmer in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Overlooking a mango grove sits a set of royal chhatri cenotaphs constructe ...

Lodhruva Lodrawa (aka Lodurva, Lodarva or Laudrava) is a village in Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan, India. It is located 15 kilometers to the north-west of Jaisalmer. Lodrawa was the ancient capital of the Bhati dynasty until Rawal Jaisal founded the Jais ...

* Akal Wood Fossil Park *

Ramdevra Ramdevra is a village situated about 12 km to the north of Pokhran in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan in India. Ramdevra was established by Baba Ramdev Pir, who was son of ruler of Pokhran Ajmal Singh Tanwar. Gram Panchayat of Ramdevra is on ...

*Maru Udyan *Mohangarh Every year, Maru Mahotsav is celebrated for the tourists.

is also a big attraction for the

Baba Ramdevji Baba Ramdev (or Ramdevji, or Ramdeo Pir, Ramsha Pir (1352–1385 AD; V.S. 1409–1442) is a Hindu deity of Gujarat and Rajasthan, India. He was a fourteenth-century ruler, said to have miraculous powers, who devoted his life uplifting the do ...

's pilgrims.

References

External links

Official Website of Jaisalmer District
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaisalmer District Districts of Rajasthan Districts in Jodhpur division Thar Desert