Assam is a state located in the North East of India having two international borders – with Bhutan on the north and Bangladesh to its west.
This state has borders with seven other northeastern states which include Arunachal Pradesh (on the north and north east), Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura towards southeast and Meghalaya to the south which is landlocked between Assam and Bangladesh.
Assam is the ‘Gateway to Northeast India’ as the only connection between the North East and the Rest of India is the narrow strip of Siliguri Corridor or Chicken’s Neck (840 sq.kms) located in West Bengal. To visit any state in the North East from anywhere in India, one has to pass through this Siliguri Corridor and then into Assam!
Assam has an area of 78,438 sq. km and is ranked as the 16th largest state of India. Its population is roughly 2.7 crores which makes it the 14th most populated state of the country.
Over the years, Assam has been troubled with a huge increase of Bangladeshi immigrants which has diluted the demographics of the state. Assam has been blessed with a decent literacy rate of 64.28% according to the 2001 census. The city of Guwahati boasts of the presence of an IIT (Indian Institute of Technology).
The state of Assam is the land of the river Brahmaputra and has a forest cover of 35.48%. It is home to as many as 5 National Parks, two of which – Kaziranga and Manas are World Heritage Sites!
The Kaziranga National park has the Great One-horned Rhinoceroses living in it while the Manas National Park has endangered endemic wild animals like the Assam Roofed Turtle, Golden Langur and others.
The Capital of the state is Dispur which is a suburb of Guwahati, the biggest and the most popular city of Assam. The state is currently under the rule of the Congress-I with the Chief Minister being Tarun Kumar Gogoi who has been holding the office since 2001.
The main opposition party is Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). The Governor of the State is Shiv Charan Mathur. The state has been troubled by the presence of the militant group ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) which continues to have an armed struggle to liberate Assam from India and form a sovereign nation. The Indian Army therefore has a significant presence in the state and battles not only the ULFA but other militant groups as well like the NDFB (National Democratic Front of Bodoland).
The official language of the state is Assamese. The other officially recognized languages are Bengali, Bodo and Karbi (both Tibeto-Burman languages).
The ancient river of Brahmaputra flows across the entire state and along with the Barak River makes the state extremely fertile. At the same time, the floods caused by Brahmaputra are a constant threat.
There is also plenty of rainfall in Assam which makes agriculture as the backbone of the state economy. Rice is the main food crop grown here. Assam is a massive producer of Tea in not only India but also in the entire world. Besides Tea plantations, Assam has also been a leader in the country in Oil and Natural Gas production.
The state of Assam is divided into 27 districts (in bold) and are as below with their district headquarters:
This state has borders with seven other northeastern states which include Arunachal Pradesh (on the north and north east), Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura towards southeast and Meghalaya to the south which is landlocked between Assam and Bangladesh.
Assam is the ‘Gateway to Northeast India’ as the only connection between the North East and the Rest of India is the narrow strip of Siliguri Corridor or Chicken’s Neck (840 sq.kms) located in West Bengal. To visit any state in the North East from anywhere in India, one has to pass through this Siliguri Corridor and then into Assam!
Assam has an area of 78,438 sq. km and is ranked as the 16th largest state of India. Its population is roughly 2.7 crores which makes it the 14th most populated state of the country.
Over the years, Assam has been troubled with a huge increase of Bangladeshi immigrants which has diluted the demographics of the state. Assam has been blessed with a decent literacy rate of 64.28% according to the 2001 census. The city of Guwahati boasts of the presence of an IIT (Indian Institute of Technology).
The state of Assam is the land of the river Brahmaputra and has a forest cover of 35.48%. It is home to as many as 5 National Parks, two of which – Kaziranga and Manas are World Heritage Sites!
The Kaziranga National park has the Great One-horned Rhinoceroses living in it while the Manas National Park has endangered endemic wild animals like the Assam Roofed Turtle, Golden Langur and others.
The Capital of the state is Dispur which is a suburb of Guwahati, the biggest and the most popular city of Assam. The state is currently under the rule of the Congress-I with the Chief Minister being Tarun Kumar Gogoi who has been holding the office since 2001.
The main opposition party is Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). The Governor of the State is Shiv Charan Mathur. The state has been troubled by the presence of the militant group ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) which continues to have an armed struggle to liberate Assam from India and form a sovereign nation. The Indian Army therefore has a significant presence in the state and battles not only the ULFA but other militant groups as well like the NDFB (National Democratic Front of Bodoland).
The official language of the state is Assamese. The other officially recognized languages are Bengali, Bodo and Karbi (both Tibeto-Burman languages).
The ancient river of Brahmaputra flows across the entire state and along with the Barak River makes the state extremely fertile. At the same time, the floods caused by Brahmaputra are a constant threat.
There is also plenty of rainfall in Assam which makes agriculture as the backbone of the state economy. Rice is the main food crop grown here. Assam is a massive producer of Tea in not only India but also in the entire world. Besides Tea plantations, Assam has also been a leader in the country in Oil and Natural Gas production.
The state of Assam is divided into 27 districts (in bold) and are as below with their district headquarters:
- Tinsukia District - Tinsukia
- Dibrugarh District - Dibrugarh
- Sibsagar District - Sibsagar
- Dhemaji District - Dhemaji
- Jorhat District - Jorhat
- Lakhimpur District - Lakhimpur
- Golaghat District - Golaghat
- Sonitpur - Tezpur
- Karbi Anglong - Diphu
- Nagaon District - Nagaon
- Marigaon District - Marigaon
- Darrang - Mangaldai
- Kamrup Rural - Guwahati
- Nalbari District - Nalbari
- Barpeta District - Barpeta
- Bongaigaon District - Bongaigaon
- Goalpara District - Goalpara
- Kokrajhar District - Kokrajhar
- Dhubri District - Dhubri
- North Cachar Hills - Haflong
- Cachar - Silchar
- Hailakandi District - Hailakandi
- Karimganj District - Karimganj
- Kamrup Metropolitan - Guwahati
- Baksa - Musalpur
- Udalguri District - Udalguri
- Chirang District - Chirang
