South Garo Hills district


South Garo Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. As of 2011 it is the least populous district of Meghalaya. The district was established in 1992.

Geography

The district headquarters are located at Baghmara. The district occupies an area of 1850 km2. South Garo Hills has only 5 assembly constituency at that time but presently it has 3.

Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named South Garo Hills one of the country's 250 most backward districts. It is one of the three districts in Meghalaya currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme.

Districts

Administrative divisions

South Garo Hills district is divided into four blocks:
NameHeadquartersPopulationLocation
BaghmaraBaghmara
ChokpotChokpot
GasuaparaNagrajora
RongaraRongara

Demographics

According to the 2011 census South Garo Hills district has a population of 142,334, roughly equal to the nation of Saint Lucia. This gives it a ranking of 604th in India. The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 41.19%. South Garo Hills has a sex ratio of 944 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 72.39%.

Languages

Languages spoken here include A'Tong, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by 10,000 people in Bangladesh and India.

Flora and fauna

In 1986 South Garo Hills district became home to Balphakram National Park, which has an area of. It shares Nokrek National Park with two other districts.
It is also home to the Siju and Baghmara Pitcher Plant Wildlife Sanctuaries.