Allahabad district

Allahabad District, also called Prayagraj District, is one of the major & largest districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and Allahabad city is the district headquarters.

Administrative structure

Allahabad district is a part of Allahabad Division. Allahabad District is divided into blocks within tehsils. As of 2011, there are 23 blocks in eight tehsils.^[1][2][3] The Allahabad division includes the districts of Fatehpur, Kaushambi and Allahabad, with the western Allahabad District becoming part of the new Kaushambi district.^[4] The administrative divisions are Phulpur, Koraon, Meja, Sadar, Soraon, Handia, Bara and Karchana. Allahabad District has three police zones: City area, Gangapaar, and Yamunapaar.

Geography

The three rivers of India - Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical river of Sarasvati - meet at a point in the Allahabad District. That point is called Sangam. It is considered holy by Hindus. Allahabad was the capital of United Province before independence.

Education

Allahabad is one of the largest educational hub. It has many major educational institutes such as the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Moti Lal Nehru National Institute of Technology, University of Allahabad, Nehru Gram Bharati Deemed to be University, CMP Degree College, Ewing Christian College, and Gautam Buddha Technical University affiliated number of Engineering Colleges, MotiLal Nehru Medical College, JK Institute - these provides higher education.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Allahabad District has a population of 5,959,798,^[5] roughly equal to the nation of Eritrea^[6] or the US state of Missouri.^[7] This gives it a ranking of 13th in India (out of a total of 640).^[5] As of 2011 it is the most populous district of Uttar Pradesh (out of 71).^[5] The district has a population density of 1,087 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,820/sq mi).^[5] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 20.74%.^[5]

Allahabad District has a sex ratio of 902 females for every 1000 males,^[5] and a literacy rate of 74.41% which is close to the all-India average of 74%.^[5] This rate is the highest in the region.^[8]

Languages

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 94.91% of the population in the district spoke Hindi (or a variant of Hindi), 2.69% Urdu and 1.86% Awadhi as their first language.

People in the district speak Awadhi, a language in the Hindi continuum spoken by over 4 million people, mainly in the Awadh region; and Bagheli, which has a lexical similarity of 72-91% with Hindi and is spoken by about 3 million people in Bagelkhand.

Religion

Hinduism is the majority religion in the district with 85.69% followers. Islam is the second most popular religion with approximately 13.38% following it. Around 0.93% stated 'Other Religion', approximately 0.90% stated 'No Particular Religion'.

The Prayag Kumbh Mela is a major Hindu event. Allahabad has a Triveni Sangam. Akshayavat is a sacred fig tree. There is a Roman Catholic Diocese of Allahabad.