Koraput District
Encyclopedia
Koraput is a tribal dominated district of Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, and known for rich and diverse types of mineral deposits. It is located along the Eastern Ghats
Eastern Ghats
The Eastern Ghats or Eastern Ghauts are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats run from West Bengal state in the north, through Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka. They are eroded and cut through by the...

.

History

In October, 1992, Koraput district was divided, resulting in the creation of Malkangiri
Malkangiri
Malkangiri is a town and a notified area committee in Malkangiri district in the Indian state of Orissa. It is the headquarters of the Malkangiri district. Malkangiri is the new home of the Bangladeshi refugees, who were rehabilitated since 1965 under the Dandakaranya project...

, Rayagada
Rayagada
Rayagada is a municipality in Rayagada district in the Indian state of Orissa. It is the administrative headquarters of Rayagada district.-Geography:...

 and Nabarangpur
Nabarangpur
Nabarangpur, also known as Nabarangapur or Nowrangpur, is a city and a municipality in Nabarangapur district in the Indian state of Orissa. It is the headquarters of Nabarangpur district. Nabarangpur district is situated at 19.14’ latitude and 82.32’ longitude at an average.There 3 Post offices in...

 district.

It is currently a part of the Red Corridor
Red corridor
The Red Corridor is a term used to describe an impoverished region in the east of India that experiences considerable Naxalite communist insurgency...

.

Places Of Interest

  • Gupteswar Shiv Temple
    Gupteswar Cave
    -The Shrine:Gupteswar is a cave shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is a world-famous pilgrim site situated about 55 km away Jeypore, Koraput District in the state of Orissa, India.It is a limestone cave discovered some time ago and has a number of scenic spots around.The main attraction is the...

  • Sabara Srikhetra
    Jagannath Temple (Koraput)
    Sri Jagannath temple is a temple located in Koraput, Orissa. It is not only built as an altar for worship, but also as a multipurpose area for Jagannath consciousness...

  • Upper Kolab Botanical Garden
  • Maliguda Tunnel
    Maliguda Tunnel
    The Maliguda Tunnel is the Biggest broad-gauge railway tunnel in India.The tunnel is 35 km east of Jeypore, India, 50 km from Koraput.. This tunnel was built 10 years ago with Japanese collaboration....

  • Duduma Waterfall
    Duduma Waterfall
    The Duduma Waterfall, high, is formed by the Machkund river in Orissa, India. It is one of the Highest Water falls in Southern India.Its waters support a large hydroelectric project called Machkund Hydro Electric Power Project. . Machkund is an important place for pilgrimage...

  • Bariniput
  • Deomali Hill
  • Batisinhasana & Ganesh Temple

Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj
Ministry of Panchayati Raj
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a branch of the Government of India looking after the ongoing process of decentralization and local governance in the States....

 named Koraput one of the country's 250 most backward districts
Poverty in India
Poverty is widespread in India, with the nation estimated to have a third of the world's poor. According to a 2005 World Bank estimate, 41.6% of the total Indian population falls below the international poverty line of 1.25 a day...

 (out of a total of 640
Districts of India
A district is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. Districts are further subdivided, in some cases into Sub-Divisions, and otherwise directly into tehsils or talukas.District officials include:...

). It is one of the 19 districts in Orissa currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Major Industries

  • Hindustan Aeronautics Limited- Sunabeda
    Sunabeda
    Sunabeda is a township in the state of Orissa, India, ensconced in the lush valleys of the Koraput region. It is also home to Engine Division - Koraput of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited , an aircraft manufacturing company...

  • Koraput:NALCO
    NALCO
    NALCO may refer to:* National Aluminium Company - India's Govt sector Aluminium manufacturer* Nalco Holding Company - formerly known as Nalco Chemical Company* Nalconagar, Angul - a town in Angul District, Orissa, India...

    -Damanjodi
    Damanjodi
    Damanjodi is a small town in the culturally rich and beautiful Koraput district in the Indian state of Orissa. It is primarily a hilly area with outstanding natural beauty and scarce population. A vast majority of the population of Damanjodi comprises the employees of National Aluminium Company ,...

  • Koraput:BILT|BILT-Jeypore
  • Koraput:Kolab|Kolab Hydroelectric Power Station
  • Koraput:Machkund|Machkund Hydroelectric Power Station

Demographics

According to the 2011 census
2011 census of India
The 15th Indian National census was conducted in two phases, houselisting and population enumeration. Houselisting phase began on April 1, 2010 and involved collection of information about all buildings...

 Koraput district has a population
Demographics of India
The demographics of India are inclusive of the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people , more than a sixth of the world's population. Already containing 17.5% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing...

 of 1,376,934, roughly equal to the nation of Swaziland
Swaziland
Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...

 or the US state of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

. This gives it a ranking of 356th in India (out of a total of 640
Districts of India
A district is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. Districts are further subdivided, in some cases into Sub-Divisions, and otherwise directly into tehsils or talukas.District officials include:...

). The district has a population density of 156 PD/sqkm . Its population growth rate
Family planning in India
Family planning in India is based on efforts largely sponsored by the Indian government. In the 1965-2009 period, contraceptive usage has more than tripled and the fertility rate has more than halved , but the national fertility rate is still high enough to cause long-term population growth...

 over the decade 2001-2011 was 16.63 %. Koraput has a sex ratio
Sex ratio
Sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. The primary sex ratio is the ratio at the time of conception, secondary sex ratio is the ratio at time of birth, and tertiary sex ratio is the ratio of mature organisms....

 of 1031 females
Women in India
The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few millennia. From equal status with men in ancient times through the low points of the medieval period, to the promotion of equal rights by many reformers, the history of women in India has been eventful...

 for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate
Literacy in India
Literacy in India is key for socio-economic progress, and the Indian literacy rate grew to 74.04% in 2011 from 12% at the end of British rule in 1947. Although this was a greater than sixfold improvement, the level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84%, and India currently has the...

 of 49.87 %.

Languages

Languages include Bhatri, which falls within the Oriya language
Oriya language
Oriya , officially Odia from November, 2011, is an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. It is mainly spoken in the Indian states of Orissa and West Bengal...

 group but only shares about 60% lexical similarity
Lexical similarity
In linguistics, lexical similarity is a measure of the degree to which the word sets of two given languages are similar. A lexical similarity of 1 would mean a total overlap between vocabularies, whereas 0 means there are no common words....

 with Oriya, spoken by about 600 000; and Bhunjia, spoken by approximately 7000 Bhunjia
Bhunjia
The Bhunjia are a scheduled tribe found in the state of Orissa in India. There homeland is the Sunabeda plateau which is roughly between 21° 25° North and 21° 30° north latitude and 82° 35° East longitude...

 Adivasi
Adivasi
Adivasi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India...

s.

Naxalism

Naxalism is a serious matter of concern in south Orissa, including Koraput district, since around 2000. Earlier, the naxalite
Naxalite
The word Naxal, Naxalite or Naksalvadi is a generic term used to refer to various militant Communist groups operating in different parts of India under different organizational envelopes...

 activities were confined to districts such as Malkangiri
Malkangiri
Malkangiri is a town and a notified area committee in Malkangiri district in the Indian state of Orissa. It is the headquarters of the Malkangiri district. Malkangiri is the new home of the Bangladeshi refugees, who were rehabilitated since 1965 under the Dandakaranya project...

, which share its borders with the neighboring states. With time, the naxal activities has spread to Koraput as well as other districts like Rayagada
Rayagada
Rayagada is a municipality in Rayagada district in the Indian state of Orissa. It is the administrative headquarters of Rayagada district.-Geography:...

 or Nabarangpur
Nabarangpur
Nabarangpur, also known as Nabarangapur or Nowrangpur, is a city and a municipality in Nabarangapur district in the Indian state of Orissa. It is the headquarters of Nabarangpur district. Nabarangpur district is situated at 19.14’ latitude and 82.32’ longitude at an average.There 3 Post offices in...

. The inaccessible hilly terrain, dense forests, lack of development, grievances of the tribals and poor, and the absence of administration have been conducive to the spread of left-wing extremism in Orissa. The seriousness of the problem was underlined by a co-ordinated Naxalite attack on the District Headquarters and armoury at Koraput on February 6, 2004.

Naxal group, namely People's War Group (PWG), has carried out numerous operations (attacks on rich farmers, police, bureaucrats and politicians, loots from godowns) within last few years in Koraput as well as in its neighboring districts.

External links

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