Amravati Division, also known as Varhad, is an Indian one of the six administrative

divisions of Maharashtra Maharashtra is an Indian state that was formed on 1 May 1960 with 26 initial districts. Since then, 11 additional districts have been created, the most recent of which is Palghar district. The state currently has 36 districts. These districts are ...

state in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Amravati and

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

divisions constitute the ancient

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the west Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Forming the eastern part of the state, it comprises Amravati Division, Amrav ...

region. Amravati Division is bound by

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

state to the north,

Nagpur Division The Nagpur Division is one of six administrative divisions of the state of Maharashtra in India. Nagpur is the easternmost division in the state, with an administrative headquarters in the city of Nagpur. It covers 51,336 km² (19,821 m ...

to the east,

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

state to the southeast, Marathwada region ( Aurangabad Division) to the south and southwest, and Nashik Division to the west. * Area: 46,090 km² * Population (2011 census): 11,258,117 * Districts: Akola,

Amravati Amravati (/Marathi phonology, əmᵊɾɑʋᵊt̪iː/) is a city in Maharashtra located in the Vidarbha region. It is the ninth largest city in Maharashtra, India & second largest city in the Vidarbha region in terms of population. It is the ...

, Buldhana,

Washim Washim (Vatsagulma) is a city and a municipal council, Municipal Council in Washim district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Washim is the district headquarters of Washim district. History Washim was known earlier known as Vatsagulma and ...

, Yavatmal * Largest City:

* Literacy: 93.03% * Area under irrigation: 2,582.02 km² * Railways:

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

249 km, meter gauge 227 km,

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

188 km.

History

Amravati Division roughly corresponds to the former province of Berar, which was ruled by the

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

Maharajas of

till 1803. In 1853, it was occupied by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

, who decided to administer the province although it remained under the nominal sovereignty of the

Nizam of Hyderabad Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I wh ...

. In 1903, Berar Province was renamed Berar Division and added to the British-administered Central Provinces, which in 1936 was renamed Central Provinces and Berar. Upon Indian independence, the Central Provinces and Berar were reorganised as the Indian state of

. In 1956 the Indian states were reorganised on linguistic grounds, and Amravati and Nagpur divisions were transferred to

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created in 1950 from the erstwhile Bombay Province, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Province (in British India roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Mah ...

, which was split on linguistic lines into the states Maharashtra and

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

in 1960. Amravati is the largest city in the division followed by Akola and Yavatmal. Chikhaldara, the only hill station in

, is situated in

Amravati District Amravati district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �mɾaːʋət̪iː is a Districts of Maharashtra, district of Maharashtra state in central India. It is the administrative headquarter of Amravati division, which is one of the two ...

. Also the famous Melghat Tiger Reserve is situated in

and Akola districts.

Demographics

As per the 2011 Census of India, Amravati Division had a population of 11,258,117 in the year 2011.

Languages

Marathi is the most spoken language, which is also the sole official language of the region. There are significant minorities of Urdu and Hindi speakers in Amravati Division.

Religion

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 72.12% of the population of Amravati Division followed

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, 13.45%

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, 13.37%

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, 0.19%

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and the remaining 0.87% of the population followed other religions or stated no religion.

Administration

A Divisional Commissioner, an IAS officer appointed by the Government of Maharashtra, administers the division. Divisional Commissioners have included: * Ganesh P. Thakur (2011–2012) * D. R. Bansod (2013–2014) * Dnyaneshwar Sadashivrao Dhok Rajurkar (2014–present) The division is subdivided into five

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

: * Akola *

* Buldhana * Yavatmal *

References

External links

Official website of the Amravati Divisional Commissioner
{{Berar Divisions of Maharashtra Berar Vidarbha