Hamirpur district is in the Indian state of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

. The headquarters of the district are in the town of Hamirpur. With an area of , it is the smallest district of Himachal Pradesh.

History

Carved out from

Kangra District Kangra district is the most populous district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Dharamshala is the administrative headquarters of the district. History Kangra is known for having one of the oldest serving Royal Dynasty in the world, the Katoch of ...

in 1972, Hamirpur District is closely associated with the Katoch dynasty. It was part of the old

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

-Trigarta empire. Panin referred to the people of this kingdom as great warriors and fighters. The Katoch dynasty predominated during the period of Raja Hamir Chand, who ruled from 1700 to 1740 and built the fort at Hamirpur The present town derived its name from this ruler.

Economy

The

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

is the largest employer for residents of Hamirpur, who form large bulks of the

Dogra Regiment The Dogra Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. The regiment traces its roots directly from the 17th Dogra Regiment of the British Indian Army. When transferred to the Indian Army like its sister regiments, the numeral prefix w ...

, Jammu and Kashmir Rifles regiment, the Grenadiers, the Rajput regiment, Hodson's Horse and Scinde Horse. Thousand of locals also serve in the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

, and paramilitary forces. The Indian Army conducts an open army rally under the Hamirpur Army recruitment office every year, where thousands of youngsters try to join the Indian Army.

Geography

Hamirpur district is situated between 31°25′N and 31°52′N and between 76°18′E and 76°44′E. Hamirpur (town), the district headquarters, is situated at an altitude of 780 m with the highest point being the Awah Devi peak at an altitude of 1250 m. Shivalik Ranges

The district shares borders with the neighboring districts of Mandi to the east, Bilaspur to the south, Una to the west, and Kangra to the north. The River Beas separates Hamirpur from Kangra and is a parent river to two tributaries, namely Maan Khad and Kunah Khad ('Khad' is a word used to describe a rivulet) flowing across either side of Hamirpur district, to the adjacent

Sutlej The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of t ...

. Hamirpur district has a considerable amount of pine forests and it is also surrounded by Shivalik Ranges. Hamirpur is also home to mango trees. It has highest Road density amongst all the districts in India.

Climate

Hamirpur has the quintessential 'hill-station' weather found in most of Himachal Pradesh. During winter, the climate is very cold. Woollen clothing is required from August up to the end of March. During summers, the temperature often crosses 40 °C and cotton is recommended. It does not normally snow in the district but in January 2012 (after 44 years) and February 2019 some parts of Hamirpur district were reported to receive moderate snowfall.

Divisions

The divisions Hamirpur, Barsar, Nadaun, Sujanpur and Bhoranj comprise the district. Hamirpur district divided into 8

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

s: *Hamirpur Sadar *Nadaun *Sujanpur *Barsar *Bhoranj *Tauni devi *Dhatwal (Bijhari) *Galore *Lamblu(sub tehsil) There are five

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, also known as the Vidhan Sabha or the Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of India. Members of the legislative assembly are often directly elected to serve fiv ...

constituencies in this district: Barsar, Hamirpur, Sujanpur, Nadaun and Bhoranj. All of these are part of the Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh Lok Sabha constituency.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Hamirpur district has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 454,768, giving it a rank of 550th-largest in India (out of a total of

640 Year 640 ( DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming y ...

). The district has a population density of , the highest in the state. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 10.19%. Hamirpur has a

sex ratio A sex ratio is 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. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of 1095 (i.e.- females for every 1000 males) again highest in the state, and a

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

of 88.15%, the highest in the state. 6.91% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 24.02% and 0.67% of the population respectively. A large proportion of the people in this district serve in the defense services, thus also known as “Veer Bhoomi” (English: Land of the heroes). At the 2011 Census of India, 76% of the population declared their first language to be Pahari, 14.1% chose

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, 3.55% – Kangri, and 0.75% – Dogri.

Famous Temples

* Baba Balak Nath Temple, Doetsidh: It is one of the most famous temples of Himachal Pradesh, and is thronged by pilgrims from all over Himachal and Punjab. It is popularly known as "Baba" and "Deotsidh" among the people of Himachal and Punjab. Only men and boys are allowed to go near the main idol of Baba Balak Nath, while women and girls can pay their homage to baba from a distance. * Gasota Mahadev Temple

Politics

Politics in Hamirpur district is dominated by the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

and the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

References

External links

Hamirpur district website

District Profile

Cultural & Tourism Heritage of the District

Developmental Data of the District

Army Rally Bharti 2021 Himachal Pradesh
*https://himachaltourism.gov.in/destination/hamirpur/ {{Authority control Hamirpur district, Himachal Pradesh, Districts of Himachal Pradesh 1972 establishments in Himachal Pradesh