Bikaner district

Bikaner district
Clockwise from top-left: Junagarh Fort, Karni Mata Temple, Thar Desert, Devikund Sagar, Bhandasar Jain Temple
Location of Bikaner district in Rajasthan
Location of Bikaner district in Rajasthan
Country India
StateRajasthan
DivisionBikaner
HeadquartersBikaner
Government
 • Divisional CommissionerVandana Singhavi, IAS[1]
 • District Collector & MagistrateNamrata Vrishni, IAS[2]
 •  Superintendent of PoliceKavendra Singh Sagar, IPS[3]
 •  I.G. PoliceOm Prakash, IPS[4]
Area
 • Total30,247 km2 (11,678 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total2,363,937
 • Density78/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)
WebsiteBikaner District

Bikaner District is a district of the state of Rajasthan in western India. The historic city of Bikaner is the district headquarters. The district is located in Bikaner Division along with the three other districts of Anupgarh, Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh.

Geography

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Rajasthan Canal near Chhattargarh, Rajasthan (India)
Rajasthan Canal (Indira Gandhi Canal) passing through Thar desert near Chhatargarh Bikaner district

The district is bounded by Ganganagar district and Anupgarh district to the north, Hanumangarh district to the northeast, Churu district to the east, Nagaur district to the southeast, Jodhpur district to the south, Jaisalmer district to the southwest, and Punjab Province of Pakistan to the northwest.

Bikaner district lies in the Thar Desert. The Indira Gandhi Canal, also known as the Rajasthan Canal, runs through the district from northeast to southwest, providing irrigation water for the district.

In October, 2020 an international group of researchers found a lost river that ran through the central Thar Desert ; 1,72,000 years ago.[5]

Climate

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Climate data for Bikaner
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 23.0
(73.4)
25.5
(77.9)
31.8
(89.2)
38.2
(100.8)
41.7
(107.1)
41.6
(106.9)
37.8
(100.0)
36.6
(97.9)
36.7
(98.1)
36.2
(97.2)
30.7
(87.3)
25.3
(77.5)
33.8
(92.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 5.6
(42.1)
8.8
(47.8)
15.0
(59.0)
22.1
(71.8)
26.8
(80.2)
28.8
(83.8)
27.7
(81.9)
26.8
(80.2)
24.7
(76.5)
19.1
(66.4)
12.1
(53.8)
6.9
(44.4)
18.7
(65.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 5
(0.2)
7
(0.3)
10
(0.4)
7
(0.3)
31
(1.2)
46
(1.8)
106
(4.2)
71
(2.8)
34
(1.3)
4
(0.2)
3
(0.1)
1
(0.0)
325
(12.8)
Average precipitation days 0.8 1.0 1.5 0.9 2.6 3.2 6.6 5.6 3.0 0.6 0.3 0.5 26.6
Source: HKO

Administrative set-up

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Bikaner district has 9 sub-divisions, which include Bikaner, Khajuwala, Poogal, Chhatargarh, Lunkaransar, Kolayat, Dungargarh, Nokha and Bajju.

Apart from this, there are 11 tehsils or sub district in the bikaner district.

The above 9 sub-division areas are also tehsils or sub-district areas of the district, and apart from that, a new tehsil or sub-district, Jasrasar, was recently created by the government in the Nokha sub-division area and in the Kolayat sub-division area, tehsil or sub-district Hadan was created.

There are 1498 villages and 290 gram panchayats.[6] There is one municipal corporation (Bikaner) and six municipal councils: Deshnok, Nokha, Dungargarh, Khajuwala, Loonkaransar and Napasar. The collector and district magistrate (DM) of Bikaner is Smt. Namrata Vrishni.

Demographics

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Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901216,478—    
1911236,708+0.90%
1921228,562−0.35%
1931271,449+1.73%
1941360,968+2.89%
1951395,462+0.92%
1961511,317+2.60%
1971665,439+2.67%
1981973,800+3.88%
19911,381,201+3.56%
20011,902,110+3.25%
20112,363,937+2.20%
Source:[7]
Religions in Bikaner district (2011)[8]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
87.71%
Islam
9.97%
Jainism
1.31%
Sikhism
0.85%
Other or not stated
0.16%

According to the 2011 census Bikaner district has a population of 2,363,937, roughly equal to the nation of Latvia or the US state of New Mexico.[9][10] This gives it a ranking of 190th in India (out of a total of 640). The district is 30,247.90 km2 (11,678.78 sq mi). The district has a population density of 78 inhabitants per square kilometre (200/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 41.42%. Bikaner has a sex ratio of 903 females for every 1,000 males, and a literacy rate of 65.92%. 33.86% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 20.88% and 0.33% of the population respectively.[11]

Languages

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Languages of Bikaner District (2011)[12]

  Rajasthani (83.05%)
  Hindi (6.82%)
  Marwari (5.86%)
  Punjabi (1.27%)
  Sindhi (0.98%)
  Others (2.02%)

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 81.09% of the population spoke Rajasthani, 14.94% Marwari, 2.05% Hindi, 1.71% Urdu and 0.98% Sindhi as their first language.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Bikaner Administration". Bikaner.rajasthan.gov.in.
  2. ^ "Bikaner Administration". Bikaner.rajasthan.gov.in.
  3. ^ "कावेंद्र सागर को बनाया बीकानेर का नया एसपी". Dainik Bhaskar (in Hindi). Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Bikaner Administration". Bikaner.rajasthan.gov.in.
  5. ^ "Lost River that flowed through That desert 172k years ago". Wion News.
  6. ^ Bikaner-Rajasthan. "Blocks/ Tehsils/ Panchayats". bikaner.rajasthan.gov.in. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  7. ^ Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901
  8. ^ "Table C-01 Population By Religion - Rajasthan". census.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  9. ^ US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2011. Latvia 2,204,708 July 2011 est.
  10. ^ "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2011. New Mexico - 2,059,179
  11. ^ "District Census Handbook 2011 - Bikaner" (PDF). Census of India. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  12. ^ a b "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Rajasthan". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
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28°01′00″N 73°18′00″E / 28.0167°N 73.3°E / 28.0167; 73.3