Porbandar district
Encyclopedia
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...
. The district covers an area of 2,295.35 km². It had a population of 536,835 of which 48.69% were urban as of 2001 census This district was carved out of Junagadh District
Junagadh district
Junagadh District is a district of the Indian state of Gujarat. Its administrative headquarters is the city of Junagadh.-Geography:The district is located on the Kathiawar peninsula in western Gujarat. It is surrounded by Rajkot District , Porbandar District , Amreli District...
. It lies in the Kathiawar
Kathiawar
Kathiawar or Kathiawad is a peninsula in western India, which is part of the Saurashtra region on the Arabian Sea coast of Gujarat state. It is bounded on the north by the great wetland of the Rann of Kutch, on the northwest by the Gulf of Kutch, on the west and south by the Arabian Sea, and on...
peninsula. Porbandar
Porbandar
Porbandar is a coastal city in the Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama...
city is the administrative headquarters of this district. This district is surrounded by Jamnagar district
Jamnagar district
Jamnagar District is located in state of Gujarat, India on the southern coast of the Gulf of Kutch. The headquarters is in Jamnagar. The famous city of Dwarka is situated in this district. The district had a population of 1,904,278 of which 43.91% were urban as of 2001.Jamnagar is a very beautiful...
in the north, Junagadh district
Junagadh district
Junagadh District is a district of the Indian state of Gujarat. Its administrative headquarters is the city of Junagadh.-Geography:The district is located on the Kathiawar peninsula in western Gujarat. It is surrounded by Rajkot District , Porbandar District , Amreli District...
in the south and the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
in the west.
As of 2011 it is the second least populous district of Gujarat (out of 26
Districts of Gujarat
-History:The state was created in 1960 out of the 17 northern districts of the former Bombay State: Ahmedabad, Amreli, Banaskantha, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Dang, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Kheda, Kachchh, Mehsana, Panchmahal, Rajkot, Sabarkantha, Surat, Surendranagar, and Vadodara .In 1964 Gandhinagar...
), after Dang
Dang district
Dang is a district in the state of Gujarat in India. The administrative headquarters of the district are located in Ahwa. The Dangs have an area of 1764 km² and a population of 186,729 ....
.
History
Porbandar is birthplace of Father of the Nation Mahatama Gandhi. Porbandar is also mentioned in the Mahabharata as the native place of Shri Krishna's childhood friend SudamaSudama
Sudama was a childhood friend of Hindu deity Krishna from Mathura, the story of whose visit to Dwaraka to meet Krishna, is mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana...
.
Agriculture
The major crops produced in district are cotton, groundnut, bajraPearl millet
Pearl millet is the most widely grown type of millet. Grown in Africa and the Indian subcontinent since prehistoric times, it is generally accepted that pearl millet originated in Africa and was subsequently introduced into India. The center of diversity, and suggested area of domestication, for...
, gram, wheat, tal and jowar.
Industry
- Cement, Cement Pipes
One cement factory is at Ranavav, outskirts of Porbandar and another oldest one in the city itself.
- Soda Ash
This factory is just outside the city and has its own Thermal Power Station and salt making area.
- Coal making
- Limestone
- Surahstra Chemical Limited.(Birla VXL Limited)
- Surahstra (Hathi) Cement Limited.
- D R Garment Pvt. Ltd.
- GeoSoft Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd.
- Gangotri Dairy Products Pvt. Ltd.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census2011 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...
Porbandar 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 586,062, roughly equal to the nation of Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
or the US state of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. This gives it a ranking of 529th 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 255 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 9.17 %. Porbandar 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 947 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 76.63 %.
Education
Amongst the colleges in PorbandarPorbandar
Porbandar is a coastal city in the Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama...
city, Dr. Virambhai Godhaniya College, founded in 1988 and Maharshi Dayanand Science College affiliated to the Saurashtra University
Saurashtra University
The Saurashtra University is one of the significant universities in Gujarat state in India. This university was established on 23 May 1967 in Rajkot city, the administrative headquarters of Rajkot district. Presently, 272 colleges in Amreli, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar, Rajkot and Surendranagar...
.
Chhaya, very near Porbandar, is the capital town of Jethwa
Jethwa
Jethwa is a name of a Kshatriya, Rajput clan that claim descent from Makardhwaja son of Lord Hanuman who appears in the Hindu epic Ramayana...
Rajput. In this City Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul is prominent Education Institute. From K.G.P.G.Courses are available; social and educational services in the district are hallmark of achievements of the Gurukul. Shashtri Swami Shree HariPrakashdasji is the founder of this Gurukul. The Gurukul managed by totally dedicated Saints. Selfless service is the Motto of the Gurukul. The meaning of Gurukul is spreading the heritage and culture values.
Notable personalities
- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948) The pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movementIndian independence movementThe term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
. Born in PorbandarPorbandarPorbandar is a coastal city in the Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama...
. - Vijaygupta MauryaVijaygupta MauryaVijaygupta Maurya was a pioneering science writer in the Gujarati Language. He was born as Vijayshankar Morarji Vasu in Porbandar, India in 1909 and has written thousands of articles popularizing science as well as several books.-Early life:...
(1909–1992) Science writer. Born in PorbandarPorbandarPorbandar is a coastal city in the Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama...
.